Women win back-to-back titles

COLUMBUS - The Michigan women's track and field team went to Columbus for the Big Ten Indoor Championships with one goal in mind: win a second consecutive indoor title.

The Wolverines compiled 116 points to win the two-day event at French Fieldhouse, outdistancing second-place Purdue by seven points. Indiana came in third, with 93.5 points.

"This feels great," Michigan coach James Henry said. "This is something we wanted to do all year. We didn't really think it would happen, because we don't have any superstars on this team.

"The team showed that they could do it, though. They just kept improving all year long."

Purdue's strong performance did not surprise Henry, who expected a close final outcome.

Top women finishes 60-meter dash: Maria Brown, 5th 200-meter dash: Maria Brown, 4th 600-meter run: Adrienne Hunter, 1st 800-meter run: Lisa Ouellet, 3rd Mile run: Michelle Slater, 3rd 3000-meter run: Katie McGregor, 3rd

"We knew it'd be a close meet," Henry said. "We realized that Purdue and the other schools would come strong. There were five legitimate teams with a shot at winning this year."

Michigan's victory was paced by junior Brandi Bentley, senior Nicole Forrester, and sophomore Adrienne Hunter, all of whom were victorious in their events.

Bentley claimed the long jump with a winning distance of 20 feet-6 1/4 inches.

"I'm okay with my jump," Bentley said. "My number one goal was to win the title, which I did. I'll have to jump better to win at NCAAs."

Forrester triumphed in the high jump, but only after a fierce battle with Purdue's Carri Long. Long went out at 6-1 1/4 after failing at 6-4 3/4 three times. Forrester then nailed her final try at 6-4 3/4 to emerge victorious.

"I was hoping for a strong challenge, and I got it," Forrester said. "Even though Purdue got ahead of us after the first day, we never felt like we were behind. We were always on track with what we were doing."

Hunter's victory in the 600 meters was "unexpected," Henry said. She ran to the title in a time of 1:31.96, outsprinting Ohio State's Ayanna Reece. Illinois' Tara Mendozza took third.

"I was happy with it," Hunter said. "This is my fastest time ever in this event. I fell behind early, but I thought I could come back and win, because the first girl went out really fast."

Michigan distance coach Mike McGuire was pleased with the team's performance and with the final outcome.

"It's a hell of a way to make a living, isn't it?" McGuire joked. "This was a great meet. The fans definitely got their money's worth. Purdue put up a tremendous fight, but our balance was better than ever. Our kids were equal to the challenge this weekend."

McGuire did not think that the team was worried after what transpired Saturday and early Sunday. Purdue jumped out to an lead on Saturday by taking the top two spots in the pole vault and three of the top five places in the pentathlon. The Boilermakers led by 39 points after the first event on Sunday but were unable to hold the lead.

"We knew that Purdue would get double-digit points in the weight throw (first event on Sunday)," McGuire said. "But at the same time, we had our strong events--the 600, 800, and 5000--still to come, and we got big points in all of those events. There was only one track event where we didn't have a shot to score.

"Purdue was huge in four events, and Indiana really came on. It's like stocks--you're up, and then you're down. We fell behind in some events, but we made it up in other areas. As they say in football, when the offense fumbles, the defense picks up the slack. We picked up the slack this weekend."

The Wolverines were ecstatic after their win. Following a victory lap, several team members doused Henry with buckets of water before the entire team posed for a group photo with the Big Ten championship trophy. The team broke out into an impromptu rendition of "The Victors" during the photo, followed by a chant of "It's great..to be..a Michigan Wolverine!"

"This is awesome," middle distance runner Angie Stanifer said. "I'm a senior, and this is my first ring, so it feels great. I've wanted a ring for four years."

"We lost some points early on, but we knew we were strong. Our best day was today, Stanifer said after the meet. "We knew we had it won before the last event (the 4X400 relay)."

Several athletes from other schools also turned in stellar performances. Wisconsin's Jenelle Deatherage and Ohio State's Dominique Calloway were each double winners. Deatherage took victory in the 3000 meters and the mile, while Calloway won the 60 meter low hurdles and the 200 meter dash. Still, the weekend belonged to the Wolverines.

"It was a phenomenal performance," Michigan sprinting coach Arnett Chisholm said. "We were kind of scared in the middle for a little while, because some things didn't go quite as planned. But people started performing, and we came back.

"No single performance stood out. All of them were responsible for this victory. We pulled together, we rallied around each other, and we got it done."

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