With two meets left until the Big Ten Indoor Championships, the Michigan women’s track and field team positioned itself for a competitive run to end the indoor season. The Wolverines shrugged off the pressure this past weekend, as they turned in four NCAA nationally provisional qualifying marks.

Michigan sent one runner to Seattle, all of its throwers to Arkansas and the rest of the team to Grand Valley State. Coach James Henry said dividing up the team exposed individual event groups to different levels of competition.

“Track and field is not like many of the other team sports,” Henry said. “We can search out good competition to fit the various needs that we have on the team. It was imperative that the throwers got a chance to go to Arkansas to really pursue some excellent, outstanding competition.”

Redshirt sophomore Allison Liske — nicknamed “Miss Consistency” by her coaches — was one of the throwers who traveled to the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas.

Liske, who hit her fourth provisional mark in the shot put, said that having the team peak at the end of the indoor season is exactly what the Wolverines have trained for.

“No meet counts until Big Tens,” Liske said. “We are competing and fine-tuning at every meet so that we can be comfortable when we get to Big Tens.”

But neither the pressure of the upcoming Big Ten Championships nor the competition faced this past weekend could rattle the Wolverines. Setting the pace for Michigan, junior co-captain Danielle Tauro and redshirt senior co-captain Shana Vinson each turned in first place finishes in the one-mile run and the 400-meter dash, respectively.

Henry said that watching his team consistently turn in solid, competitive performances at this point in the season is all he could have hoped for.

“It's always what you expect,” Henry said. “But it's not always what you get. I’m happy that I got what I expected, and that is having girls start to hit personal bests and peak around the important part of year.”

Junior Kaitlyn Peale — the Wolverines’ lone competitor in Seattle this weekend—hit her stride in the 5000-meter run. Her time of 16:29.12 was a personal best and a provisional mark.

But Peale knows that the pool of competition in the Big Ten is deep this year, and that her provisional mark may not be good enough to get her to nationals.

“I’d like to be a little closer to that automatic time in the (5000-meter run),” Peale said. “Especially because the Big Ten is so competitive. A lot of girls in the Big Ten have hit provisional in that race, so I know its going to be really competitive going into that meet. There will be a lot of fast times.”

Michigan hosts the Silverston Invitational in Ann Arbor this upcoming weekend and will use its second home meet of the season to perfect last minute technique and speed.

Henry knows the importance of having a meet at home right before the Big Ten competition and said that scheduling this home meet before Big Tens gives the Wolverines a chance to compete in “stress-free conditions," as they will compete in the facilities they train in.

“Your body is going to be ready for (the Big Ten competition),” Liske said. “As far as training goes, you’ve just to make sure you get your mind right. Being comfortable and being at home the weekend before a big meet like Big Tens is really important. Next weekend is the weekend to get all the glitches out. Everything is about the meet in two weeks.”