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Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

With late comeback, ‘M’ 

wins share of Big Ten title

By MATTHEW KENNEDY 

Daily Sports Writer

Two days into the Big Ten 

Outdoor 
Championships, 
the 

Michigan 
women’s 
track 
and 

field team was nowhere close to 
following up its Big Ten Indoor 
Championship with another title. 
The Wolverines were in sixth place 
with one day remaining, and even 
worse, they were 33 points behind 
the leader, Minnesota.

To most, the deficit would appear 

to be too grand. But for Michigan, 
they knew their best day was still in 
store.

“We were down a lot, to be 

honest,” said Michigan coach James 
Henry. “We just had to take care 
of what we could control, and that 
was to get people into the finals 
and compete as best you can in the 
finals.”

The Wolverines entered the day 

with 23 points, but quickly gained 
six points when sophomore Claire 
Kieffer-Wright claimed third place 
in the high jump with a height of 
1.82 meters.

Things started to get even better 

for Michigan Sunday when fifth-
year senior Shannon Osika — who 
was the Big Ten Indoor Champion in 
the mile — and redshirt sophomore 
Jaimie Phelan finished one, two in 
the mile, giving the Wolverines 18 
more points. Only two hours into 
the day, and already Michigan had 
doubled its previous point total, 
giving the team a glimmer of hope.

Still, though, much was yet to 

come. Only 20 minutes after the 
one, two sweep, senior Cindy Ofili 
vaulted the Wolverines even closer 
to the top with her third consecutive 
championship in the 100-meter 
hurdles, narrowly winning by one 
second with a time of 12.91 seconds.

 Junior Sami Mitchell also 

finished seventh in the 100-meter 
hurdles, providing two small — yet 
pricelessly crucial — points to the 
team’s championship hopes. In the 
next race, the 400-meter dash, the 
Wolverines’ winning streak came 
to an end, but senior Maya Long was 
able to add four more points to the 
team’s point total with a fifth-place 
finish.

“You can’t win a championship 

with all big fish and all big points,” 
Henry said. “Every point counted 

for us. The winning kids were just as 
important as the kid who took eighth 
place for us because it actually was 
every point that counted, and we 
would not have won without the 
eighth-place kid. Every star shined 
for us.”

The 
stars 
especially 
started 

to shine in the 800-meter run, 
Michigan’s best event of the meet. 
Fifth-year senior Devon Hoppe 
— who won the Big Ten Indoor 
Championship in the same event — 
took first place with a time of 2:06.73, 
and right behind her was Osika for 
the one, two sweep. Redshirt junior 
Danielle Pfeiffer finished fourth, 
giving the Wolverines a total of 23 
points in the event – matching the 
number they entered the day with.

“During the race I got a little boxed 

in, but when the opening came I just 
took it,” Hoppe said. “That was my 
plan from the beginning, to make a 
really strong, confident move when 
the opportunity presented itself. I 
trusted myself, and things worked 
out great.”

After a fifth-place finish in 

the 100-meter dash by Ofili gave 
Michigan four more points, the 
Wolverines had a chance to take the 
lead with a win in the 5,000 meter 
run. Promptly, they did such that.

Redshirt sophomore Gina Sereno 

— who won her first Big Ten event in 
the 10,000 meter on Friday — gave 
Michigan 10 more points, and a lead 
with one event remaining, with a 
victory in the 5,000 meter. Four 

hours after they weren’t even in the 
top five, the Wolverines needed only 
one more race to sweep the Big Ten 
Championships for the first time 
since 2003.

Michigan entered the final race — 

the 4 x 400 meter relay — with 102 
points, one more than Minnesota’s 
101. With a win, the Wolverines 
would 
be 
outright 
champions, 

while a loss by more than one spot 
would give the Golden Gophers the 
crown. For the collective good of 
both teams, though, neither of those 
scenarios happened.

Minnesota finished the race 

in the fourth place with a time of 
3:32.50, giving its team five points 
and a total of 106 points. Michigan, 
finished in fifth place with a time of 
3:33.42, giving its team four points 
and total of: 106 points.

“We knew that the score was 

tied, but no one really knew what 
that meant,” Hoppe said. “I ran over 
to (assistant coach) Mike (McGuire) 
and said, ‘What happens?’ and he 
just laughed at me and said, ‘We 
both win!’ After that, everyone got 
really excited and there was a lot of 
celebrating.”

After the meet, some of the 

athletes thought there might be 
a tie-breaker. But in the end, the 
lackluster first two days were a 
thing of the past, and the score 
the board in Lincoln, Neb. read 
was the one that stood: Michigan 
106 and Minnesota 106 – Big Ten 
Champions.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Cindy Ofili won her third consecutive championship in the 100-meter hurdles.

Wolverines finish 
second at Big Tens

By LANEY BYLER

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men’s track and 

field team went to the Big Ten 
Outdoor Championships in hope 
of proving itself as one of the best 
teams in the Big Ten — and it did 
just that.

Returning home with a final 

score of 90.5 points, the Wolverines 
secured their best outdoor finish 
since 2008 and finalized a runner-
up finish at the championships. 
After setting the pace on the first 
day of competition with 15 points 
and sitting at second in the 13-team 
pool, the team 
scored 
an 

additional 33.5 
points on the 
second day to 
maintain 
its 

position.

However, 

it wasn’t until 
the third day 
of 
competition 
that 
Michigan 

demonstrated what it was capable 
of. The Wolverines scored 42 points 
on the final day to set themselves 
apart from third-place Purdue, 
securing their spot as the Big Ten 
runner-up.

Fifth-year senior Mason Ferlic 

led the pack, finishing his Big Ten 
career with a win in the 3,000-
meter 
steeplechase 
Saturday, 

making 
him 
a 
back-to-back 

champion in the event. He also 
won the 5,000-meter run Sunday, 
doubling up on first-place finishes. 
He is the first athlete in the the 
Big Ten to take home titles in both 
events since 2002.

“Honestly, going into this meet, 

I never once thought, ‘This is my 
last Big Ten race,’ ” Ferlic said. “I 
love that I’ve had the opportunity 
to race in the Big Ten, so for this 
to be the last experience I’ve had, 
it makes me happy. Achieving all 
of the goals and finishing the way 
I did, I couldn’t be more proud of 
this team and everything we have 
accomplished.”

Freshman Taylor McLoughlin 

made his Big Ten Championship 
debut this weekend, and also 
snagged a title in the 400-meter 
hurdles. He finished the race with 
a time of 49.80, the fourth-fastest 
time in the NCAA this year and 

sixth in the world in athletes under 
20 years old.

With additional points coming 

from junior Ben Flanagan’s win 
in the 10,000-meter run and 
senior Steven Bastien’s win in the 
100-meter dash and impressive 
performance in the decathlon, 
Michigan was in good standing 
throughout 
each 
day 
of 
the 

competition. The throwers also 
helped boost the Wolverines, as 
they were the only Big Ten team to 
score in every throwing event.

Junior Grant Cartwright stood 

out, scoring a 54.97 meters in discus, 
the fifth-best mark in Michigan 

history. 
He 

finished fifth in 
the event.

“The 
first 

thing 
that 
it 

boils down to 
is 
coaching,” 

Cartwright 
said. “My coach 
will always say 

it’s the athletes who do it, but we 
couldn’t have come as far as we 
did without him. The other thing 
is just how we carry ourselves as 
throwers. We’re very competitive. 
We strive to be leaders on the team 
in scoring points and setting the 
tone for the meet.”

The Wolverines took home 

enough titles to secure them 
a 
runner-up 
finish 
at 
the 

championship and achieve their 
best outdoor score in eight years. 
While they haven’t always been at 
the top of the scoreboard, it’s hard 
to ignore their recent successes and 
improvement.

“When 
I 
came 
in 
as 
an 

underclassman, it felt like no one 
took us seriously as a powerhouse 
program,” Ferlic said. “To watch 
the progression under our head 
coach Jerry Clayton and Kevin 
Sullivan, and to be a part of that 
kind of improvement over a short 
window of time is a great Michigan 
legacy. This is something I’ll forever 
be proud of.”

With 
Michigan’s 
strong 

performance in the Big Ten Outdoor 
Championships, it’s looking to 
continue its recent domination. The 
Wolverines are laying down a track 
of success, and they plan to follow 
it all the way through the NCAA 
Tournament.

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

“I couldn’t be 
more proud of 

this team.”

