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2008 NCAA Indoor Championships Review
March 28, 2008
Michigan capped an impressive indoor track and field season with a third-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships, March 14-15, at the Randall Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. The Wolverines upped their standing from last year's event where they placed ninth. Adding 10 points to Michigan's team total of 39 was senior Tiffany Ofili. Ofili smoked the 60-meter hurdle field to gain the top spot in that event and garner the Big Ten's only event champion. Distance specialist Nicole Edwards posted a second-place finish in the mile just missing the gold medal by less than half a second. Also garnering eight points for the Wolverines was junior pentathlete Bettie Wade, scoring 4,366 points. Michigan's distance medley relay was nipped at the tape by Tennessee by less than three-tenths of a second to claim silver. Geena Gall provided quality points in the 800-meter run as she finished fourth. The next highest conference team to place was Minnesota and Penn State as they tied for 15th with 16 points each. Minnesota's top athlete proved to be 800-meter runner Heather Dorniden. The junior brought home second-place points in the event with a time of 2:05.45. Contributing five points and claiming a fourth-place spot was Gopher pole vaulter Alicia Rue. Liz Roehrig took the sixth place honors in the pentathlon. Over half of Penn State's team points came from the distance of 400 meters. Senior Shana Cox finished fourth in the open 400 providing five points. She also ran the second leg of the fifth-place 1,600-meter relay squad tacking on four points. Donating the same amount was Gayle Hunter in the pentathlon as she took fifth. Rounding out Penn State's total was Bridget Franek's seventh-place finish in the 5,000 meters and Aleesha Barber's eighth-place showing in the 60-meter hurdles. Other top five finishes from the 2008 meet were Purdue's Astin Steward placing third in the weight throw and Ohio State's Veronica Jatsek taking the fourth podium spot in the same event. In the 5,000 meters, Michigan State's Nicole Bush took home a fourth-place medal while Wisconsin's Katie Rundhaug nabbed fifth. Iowa's bright spot was Kineke Alexander as the senior crossed the line fifth in the quarter mile.
The 2008 Big Ten Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be hosted by the University of Illinois, May 16-18. |
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