Feb. 26, 2005

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - After the first day of the 2005 Big Ten Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday (February 26) the host Michigan Wolverine's are in the lead. But, it's still anyone's title to win after a close first day of competition.
 
Heading into Sunday's final day of competition, Michigan holds the lead with 40.50 points followed by Minnesota right in it's heals with 37 points. Michigan State is in third with 34 points, Illinois fourth at 29.50 and Wisconsin fifth with 28 points to close out the top five. Rounding out the team standings are Ohio State (19 points), Purdue (16), Penn State (14), Iowa (10) and Indiana (6).

The morning started with the pentathlon competition where Minnesota's Liz Roehrig gave the Golden Gophers the first lead of the weekend. The freshman won the pentathlon shot put event with a top throw of 11.82 meters, tied for first in the high jump portion of the contest with a jump of 1.75 meters and came in second in the long jump with a top attempt of 5.69 meters. Roehrig totaled 3,801 points for the event with Erica Schoeller of Wisconsin coming in just seven points behind her in second place followed by Anna Coster of Michigan State in third with 3,775 points, Jennifer Williams from Michigan tallied 3,792 points and Jacenta Spandl of the Gophers had 3,648 points to round out the top five.

The mile run was the first preliminary event of the afternoon. Illinois' Cassie Hunt - a favorite in the mile - turned in the top time of 4:50.70. Michigan's Lindsey Gallo and Michigan State's Lisa Senakiewich qualified second and third with times of 4:51.22 and 4:54.18, respectively. The 400-meter dash saw a Spartan run the top qualifying time with Cynetheia Rooks' clocking in at 55.26. Stacey Clausing of Indiana qualified second in 55.79 and Penn State's Shana Cox third in a time of 56.07.

The first record of the championships fell in the 60-meter preliminaries where Ohio State's Jenna Harris, Michigan's Sierra Hauser-Price and Iowa's Peaches Roach all broke the U-M Indoor Track Building record of 7.46 with times of 7.43, 7.45 and 7.45, respectively. The 800 meters saw Fighting Illini runner Carlene Robinson capture the top spot in qualifying. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 2:09.88 with the Hoosier's Larra Overton next in 2:09.91 and the Wolverine's Theresa Feldkamp in third 2:12.63.

In the second finals event of the day, Penn State jumped into second-place after Jennifer Leatherman took the Big Ten shot putting title with a finals throw of 15.64 meters to climb from third to first place. Ohio State's Shelaine Larson ended up in second place with a final throw of 15.11. Both athletes are the top two shot putters in the Big Ten respectively.

Freshman Nicole Edwards of Michigan was the top qualifier in the 600-meter run. The Wolverine finished her preliminary heat in 1:31.76 with Wisconsin's Tara Halls second in 1:32.86 and two Minnesota runners next in Melissa Steele at 1:32.90 and Candace Borgen at 1:33.29. In the 60-meter hurdles Yvonne Mensah of Illinois clocked in with a time of 8.34 to win her heat and qualify as the fastest runner at the Big Ten championships. The sophomore finished the hurdles event in 8.34 with Indiana's Lorian Price in second and Illinois' LaNeisha Waller in third, each with a time of 8.45.

The 200-meter dash was the final preliminary event of the day. The Maize and Blue's Hauser-Price ran the top qualifying time of the afternoon in the event, 24.14. Rooks of MSU qualified second in 24.28 while Nittany Lions' Sarah Shoaff, Kamilah Salaam and Shana Cox closed out the top five qualifiers for the event.

The finals of the 3000 meters provided the chance for more team points. Illinois benefited the most by taking second and third place for 14 points with Jaime Turilli in second (9:30.63) and Cassie Hunt in third (9:32.19). But, it was Michigan's Lindsey Gallo who turned in a top time of 9:27.26 to win the event.

The parity between schools bringing home Big Ten championships continued in the pole vault event. Michigan State's Mickie Rzepka and Minnesota's Andrea Smith both cleared four meters with Rzepka taking first place in the event. Smith finished second while Purdue's Jocelyn Lindsey ended up third after clearing 3.90 meters.

In the long jump competition, Ohio State's Rosalind Goodwin took first place with a jump of 6.17 meters. Waller of Illinois came in second with a top attempt of 5.97 meters and Price of Indiana third with a jump of 5.94 meters.

The distance medley relay concluded the first day of competition. A close race for first saw the host Wolverines take the event with Nicole Edwards, Melissa Dunn, Keri Kirk and Theresa Feldkamp providing Michigan with 10 valuable team points. The foursome crossed the finish line in 11:33.88. Michigan State's relay team came in a close second in a time of 11:36.76 while Minnesota's quartet rounded out the top three with a time of 11:44.70.

The second and final day of competition begins Sunday (February 27) with the weight throw competition at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. Twelve individual champions as well as team champion will be crowned during Sunday's competition.