Site: Ohio Stadium, Ohio State University
Event: 1998 Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Michigan Team Finish: 1st, 129.50 pts.
Next Meet: Wed.-Sat., June 3-6 -- at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Buffalo, NY

Michigan Women Win Third Big Ten Outdoor Championship

Columbus, OH -- For the third time in six years, Michigan's women's track squad has spent a weekend in late May chasing and capturing the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Just as was the case in 1993 and 1994, the Wolverines proved too much for the rest of the conference as they rode their depth to 129.50 points and a satisfying victory. Reigning Big Ten outdoor conference champion Wisconsin earned runner-up status with 117 points while Illinois provided stiff competition in third with 115 points. Michigan left no doubt they are the dominant Big Ten squad of 1998 after winning both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten championships.

In addition to her victory in the long jump, Tania Longe (Sellebakk, Norway/St. Olav) delivered her third consecutive conference title in the heptathlon with 5267 points. Along with her two victories, Longe aided the Maize and Blue cause with a fifth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (14.08) and a third place finish in the triple jump (41-4 1/2). Just as important as Longe's win in the heptathlon was the fact that Michigan took four of the eight scoring positions in that event. Also scoring in the heptathlon for the Wolverines was Olive Ikeh (Plymouth, MI/Canton HS) in third (4932), Tiffany Hodge (Menominee, MI/Menominee HS) in sixth (3736) and Shaunetta Smith (Detroit, MI/Mumford HS) in seventh (3694).

Michigan's other top point producer was three-time All-American Katie McGregor (Willoughby, OH/Willoughby South HS), who added to her performance in the 3000-meter run yesterday with a runner-up effort in the 5000-meter run in 16:37.49 as well as a third place finish in the 1500-meter run in 4:22.97.

Another runner-up finish was also key to Michgan's effort as Nicole Forrester (Cookstown, ONT/Banting HS) came in second in the high jump with a leap of 5-11 1/4. After finishing as runner-up in the 10,000-meter run on Friday evening, Elizabeth Kampfe (Decatur, IL/MacArthur HS) returned on Sunday afternoon to finish sixth in the 5000-meter run (17:18.13). Fellow distance standout Michelle Slater (Rochester Hills, MI/Adams HS) again played a key role in the championship effort as she scored in the 1500-meter and 3000-meter runs.

Notes:

-- Longe now has earned nine career Big Ten championships, most in the history of the program.

-- This is the second time Michigan has won both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten championships in the same year, with 1994 being the other.

-- 21 Wolverines scored in the 17 individual events.

-- Michigan now has three Big Ten crowns in the outdoor season (1993,94,98) to go along with three in the indoor season (1983,94,98). Sans the 1983 squad, each championships squad was guided by Head Coach James Henry

1998 BIG TEN OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RESULTS

TEAM STANDINGS

1) Michigan		129.50
2) Wisconsin		117
3) Illinois		115
4) Ohio State		99
5) Penn State		75
6) Purdue		72.50
7) Minnesota		53
8) Indiana		47.50
9) Iowa			21.50
10) Michigan State	10	 

100-METER DASH (trials) heat 1 1) Merriman, Donica (OSU) 11.61 2) Brown, Maria (UM) 11.69= heat 3 1) Burkett, Aspen (Illinois) 11.65 2) Bocage, Kenise (UM) 11.93= (finals) 1) Kelley, Benita (Illinois) 11.47# 6) Brown, Maria (UM) 11.89 7) Bocage, Kenise (UM) 11.94

100-METER HURDLES (trials) heat 1 1) Merriman, Donica (OSU) 13.46 2) Longe, Tania (UM) 13.88= (finals) 1) Calloway, Dominique (OSU) 13.17# 5) Longe, Tania (UM) 14.08

200-METER DASH (trials) heat 1 1) Brown, Maria (UM) 24.04= heat 2 1) Burkett, Aspen (Illinois) 23.22 5) Barnard, Sara (UM) 25.41 heat 3 1) Kelley, Benita (Illinois) 23.37 3) Caruthers, Regine (UM) 24.30= heat 4 1) McJunkins, Shanda (OSU) 23.60 5) Bussey, Atiya (UM) 25.21 (finals) 1) Kelley, Benita (Illinois) 23.28 8) Brown, Maria (UM) 24.61

400-METER DASH (trials) heat 2 1) McJunkins, Shanda (OSU) 53.09 2) Caruthers, Regine (UM) 55.06= heat 3 1) Jones, Kendra (Purdue) 53.58 4) Taylor, Brandy (UM) 56.87 (finals) 1) McJunkins, Shanda (OSU) 52.40# 7) Caruthers, Regine (UM) 56.31

400-METER HURDLES (trials) heat 1 1) Harrison, Yvonne (Illinois) 58.21 6) Ikeh, Olive (UM) 1:01.05 heat 2 1) Cole, Wynsome (Iowa) 57.32 5) Craig, Tamika (UM) 1:01.97 (finals) 1) Cole, Wynsome (Iowa) 56.67

800-METER RUN (trials) heat 2 1) Bosler, Erica (Penn St.) 2:06.87 2) Hamilton, Sarah (UM) 2:08.06= heat 3 1) Pesch, Stephani (Wisc.) 2:08.16 4) Hunter, Adrienne (UM) 2:13.47 5) Murdock, Erica (UM) 2:16.75 (finals) 1) Bosler, Erica (Penn St.) 2:05.69# 7) Hamilton, Sarah (UM) 2:11.06

1500-METER RUN (trials) heat 1 1) McGregor, Katie (UM) 4:30.77= 2) Slater, Michelle (UM) 4:30.79= (finals) 1) Westphal, Jenni (Wisconsin) 4:22.17# 3) McGregor, Katie (UM) 4:22.97# 5) Slater, Michelle (UM) 4:29.40

3000-METER RUN 1) Frederickson, Sara (Wisc.) 9:23.95# 2) McGregor, Katie (UM) 9:26.52# 4) Slater, Michelle (UM) 9:36.18# 8) VanHaren, Lena (UM) 9:58.26

5000-METER RUN 1) Kujak, Angie (Wisconsin) 16:33.30 2) McGregor, Katie (UM) 16:37.49 6) Kampfe, Elizabeth (UM) 17:18.13 8) Ryan, Katie (UM) 17:42.88

10,000-METER RUN 1) Kujak, Angie (Wisconsin) 35:26.62# 2) Kampfe, Elizabeth (UM) 35:47.02 4) Noe, Allison (UM) 36:27.73 7) Goodman, Tiffin (UM) 37:12.64 10) Akard, Marcy (UM)

4 X 100-METER RELAY (trials) heat 2 1) Ohio State 45.23 2) Michigan 45.30= (finals) 1) Illinois 44.39 3) Michigan 45.01

4 X 400-METER RELAY 1) Ohio State 3:36.12# 7) Michigan 3:48.36

LONG JUMP 1) Longe, Tania (UM) 19-8 3/4 (6.01m) 6) Bentley, Branid (UM) 19-2 (5.84m)

HIGH JUMP 1) Grant, Stacy Ann (Illinois) 6-0 1/2 (1.84m)# 2) Forrester, Nicole (UM) 5-11 1/4 (1.81m)# 8) Thomas, Stacey (UM) 4-11 (1.50m)

TRIPLE JUMP 1) Walker, Shakeema (Penn St.) 42-4 1/4 (12.91m) 3) Longe, Tania (UM) 41-4 1/2 (12.61m)# 6) Okwumabua, Ndu (UM) 39-4 (11.99m)

JAVELIN 1) Chimko, Nicole (Minn.) 176-11 (53.92m)* 8) Johnson, Amy (UM) 100-10 (30.74m)

SHOT PUT 1) Schmitt, Aubrey (Minn.) 49-10 1/2 (15.20m)# 6) Kieth, Nikki (UM) 45-3 1/2 (13.80m) 16) Proulx, Nikki (UM) 37-7 1/4 (11.46m)

DISCUS 1) Chimko, Nicole (Minnesota) 163-1 (49.72m) 15) Clauw, Sarah (UM) 132-10 (40.48m) 20) Proulx, Nikki (UM) 128-11 (39.30m) 23) Keith, Nikki (UM) 122-6 (37.34m)

HEPTATHLON 1) Longe, Tania (UM) 5267 pts.# 3) Ikeh, Olive (UM) 4932 pts. 6) Hodge, Tiffany (UM) 3736 pts. 7) Smith, Shaunetta (UM) 3694 pts.

= Qualified for finals

* NCAA Automatic Qualifying Time

# NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time

! Michigan Record

@ Meet Record

^ Field Record