The Michigan women's track and field team hasn't dealt with much disappointment over the past five years.

But that's exactly what the Wolverines are now faced with after failing to win their third straight Big Ten Championship, placing second behind Minnesota on Feb. 25 in Champaign, Ill.

Michigan will have plenty of motivation to erase any lingering discontent with the outdoor season fast approaching.

Entering the meet, the Wolverines had every right to be confident after taking home four of the last five conference indoor championships. However, that assurance didn't help the Wolverines overcome a tough Golden Gopher squad.

Minnesota had just three individual winners, but consistently scored well in each event. Even though Michigan took home a tournament-high seven event titles, including six individual crowns, it wasn't enough to keep up with the Gophers' consistency.

"We had a good day and Minnesota is a good and well-rounded team," senior Katie Erdman said. "The last few days they were just the better team. I think we brought it and we competed well, and I can't be sorry about that, but I will always prefer to win. So at the outdoors, we're going for it again."

Erdman scorched through the 600-meter run on her way to becoming the first female athlete to win four Big Ten titles in that race. Her time of 1:28.38 broke the ten-year old facility record at Armory Track.

Coming into the last half of the final lap, Erdman blazed past Illinois' Carlene Robinson and outlasted Heather Dorniden of Minnesota to take home the hardware.

"I knew going in that this was the most talented field I've faced in the 600-meter at Big Tens," Erdman said. "So there was a lot of pressure attached to that. I think I ran well and I'm really excited about it."

Sophomore Tiffany Ofili was another important contributor to the Wolverines' effort. She won her first ever Big Ten title with a time of 8.10 in the 60-meter hurdles and added points with a fourth place finish in the 60-meter dash.

No runner in maize and blue had ever taken a 60-meter hurdles race in the Big Ten Championships before Ofili crossed the line.

Although Ofili had a career day, she still seemed let down that Michigan didn't continue its conference dominance.

"I was pretty good in my performances, but I'm not completely satisfied because the team didn't finish where I thought we should've," Ofili said.

Other Wolverines that collected first-place finishes were sophomore Geena Gall in the 800-meter run (2:06.22), senior Erin Webster in the 5,000-meter run (16:19.07) and in the 3,000-meter run (9:25.49) and junior Nicole Edwards in the mile run (4:37.92). The Wolverines also took the distance medley relay with a time of 11:19.68.

Even though Michigan failed to finish the indoor season with a ring, it will have a crack at winning the outdoor championships in just over two months. And the Wolverines will be ready for it, according to associate head coach Mike McGuire.

"I thought we had an outstanding weekend and we just got beat by a better team," McGuire said. "At the same time, we have another chance at the outdoor Big Tens and we have a few athletes back that we didn't have for the indoor season. We'll reconvene and see what happens at the outdoor meet."