They hurdled their way to the top.

And by the conclusion of the Len Paddock Invitational this weekend at Ferry Field, it was clear who dominated the competition: the Michigan women's hurdlers.

With first place finishes in both hurdle events, including a four-place sweep in the 100-meter hurdles, the hurdlers solidified an already strong showing for No. 15 Michigan.

The Wolverines were in control throughout much of the non-scoring meet, finishing first in ten events. Overall, Michigan coach James Henry was pleased with the weekend's results.

"I was happy with everyone's performances and was glad that they finished unscathed and healthy," he said.

With the Big Ten championships less than a week away, the Wolverines already have high expectations for recapturing the conference title. After winning three straight Big Ten titles between 2002 and 2004, the Wolverines finished third in the championships last season.

"The Big Ten championships are our most important goal right now," Henry said. "We have always wanted to be in contention for the top three this season."

In addition to an overall strong finish, Michigan posted five NCAA regional qualifying standards, with three set by hurdlers. Freshman Tiffany Ofili's personal best time of 13.58 in her 100-meter hurdles victory met the regional standard of 13.92. Meanwhile, in a tight finish, freshmen Katie LaValley and Amber Hay qualified for the 400-meter hurdles, posting times of 59.99 and 1:00.70, respectively. While it was the fifth time LaValley qualified this season, it was just the first for Hay, who was pleased with her performance.

"This race showed me that if you keep working at something, you will eventually get it," Hay said.

Michigan also made a strong showing in the field events, capped off by a three-place sweep in the long jump. Freshman Casey Taylor won the event with a distance of 5.69 meters, followed closely by freshman Bettie Wade and Ofili, who both posted distances of 5.62. In the pole vault, senior Elizabeth Boyle and junior Kelly Catino - in addition to qualifying for regionals - completed a 1-2 finish for the Wolverines, both with heights of 3.80. It was the first time Boyle qualified this season, after missing most of last season due to injury.

The Wolverines also dominated in the relays and short distances, grabbing titles in both the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays as well as the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.

But in the distance events, the Wolverines were relatively quiet. With many of the more prominent members of the distance squad resting in preparation for next week's Big Ten competition, none of Michigan's runners finished in the top three in either the 800-, 1,500- or 3,000-meter runs. The most notable absence was sophomore Nicole Edwards, who was named an All-American for the 1500-meter run in the 2006 NCAA indoor championships. But Henry wasn't too worried about the lack of distance titles.

"We just wanted to get through the meet without any unexpected injuries or setbacks," Henry said.

The healthy Wolverines travel to East Lansing this Friday to compete for the Big Ten title.