EAST LANSING - For a meet that was supposed to be relatively meaningless, Saturday's Michigan State Invitational proved to be surprisingly consequential for the Michigan women's track team.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the results weren't all positive.
Michigan went into the Michigan State meet with its primary focus on the upcoming Penn Relays, the biggest meet of the outdoor season - aside from the Big Ten and NCAA championships.
All of the Wolverines' top distance and mid-distance runners, as well as many of their sprinters, took the weekend off to rest up for the Relays, which start Thursday and last until Saturday.
A couple of Michigan's big guns did compete Saturday, however, risking potential injury in a bid to qualify for the NCAAs.
Sophomore high jumper Nicole Forrester gambled and won, placing first with a NCAA provisional-qualifying height of 6-foot-1/2.
On the other hand, sophomore sprinter Atiya Bussey suffered an untimely injury in the 100-meter dash, pulling her hamstring. Bussey is an integral part of Michigan's sprint relays; without her, the Wolverines don't have much of a chance in the 4 X 100 and 4 X 200 relays at Penn.
"We tried not to take a chance and go easy on some things," Michigan coach James Henry said. "We had an unfortunate pull which might effect our entries in the Penn Relays. With the other kids, I just didn't want to take a chance. We worked hard during the week, and we thought we'd give them a rest, once I started seeing that their muscles were kind of sore."
Despite the damper Bussey's injury put on the day's competition, Forrester's performance in the high jump provided cause for celebration - at least for Forrester herself. Upon hitting 6-foot-1/2, Forrester was so relieved that she began to yell and cheer, her shouts reverberating throughout the track.
Although she has won every competition she has participated in this season, Forrester's heights have been well below her usual performances, and she hadn't come close to qualifying for NCAAs before Saturday.
"The pressure's off," Forrester said. "I've wanted to qualify and get myself in there, and I've done it. Now I can have more fun and not feel like I have to qualify each week."
Other Michigan winners included Nicole Keith in the shot put and Stephanie Wigness in the discus, in which the Wolverines took the top three places. Sarah Clauw had a strong day for Michigan, finishing second in the discus and second in the hammer throw.
Freshman Brandi Bentley took second in the long jump, while Kenise Bocage finished second in the 100.
Michigan next travels to Philadelphia for the Relays, which will feature competition from around the world and perhaps an appearance by Bill Cosby, who has attended the meet in the past.
Because the relays receive a great deal of international exposure, there may be added pressure for the Wolverines to perform well - seeing Michigan at Penn helped convince freshman Maria Brown, a Jamaican, to commit to Michigan.
"We still got a lot of questions about how we're going to rebound from whatever doubts we might have about a little fatigue and injured pains," Henry said. "So the question's still out there. I'm not sure what we're going to do. I'll probably be a little bit more nervous than they are."
Men's Track at the Kansas Relays: Defending NCAA 400-meter hurdles champion Neil Gardner finished fourth in that event at the Kansas Relays this weekend. It was Gardner's first non-first-place finish of the outdoor season in any event.