Sometimes, remembering the fragility of life is more motivation than months of training.

When junior captain Allison Liske took her final throw in the discus on Friday afternoon, her thoughts turned to former Michigan women’s track and field teammate Joi Smith.

Smith died of a rare form of muscle cancer in 2007, and amid the heat of competition, Liske took a moment to remember the lost Wolverine.

“I have to remind myself that there are people in this world who are not able to (compete) with you,” Liske said. “I guess what was going through my mind during the competition is that I needed to do my best because you’re not promised tomorrow.”

Whether it was for the memory of Smith, or out of eagerness to compete after redshirting the indoor season, Liske threw a distance of 49.41 meters — enough to win first place.

This weekend marked the second time this season that the Wolverines split up. A select group of distance runners and field athletes traveled to the Stanford Invitational in California, while the remainder of the team gathered at the Florida State University Relays.

The weekend also marked the second meet of Michigan’s outdoor season.

“(The transition) has been smooth,” Michigan coach James Henry said of the change to outdoor competition. “There have been a few bumps here and there, but we’re trying to take it slow and easy.

“I was most pleased with the throwers and long hurdlers.”

Like her two other teammates competing in the discus, redshirt freshman Kari Prena threw a personal best to take second. Junior Julian Purvis also took runner up in the 100-meter hurdles.

Senior captain Alisha Cole benefited from several weeks of rest following her performance in the NCAA Indoor Championships. In her first action of the outdoor season, Cole came in second in the 400-meter dash, and led the 4x100-meter relay team to a third-place finish.

The transition to the outdoor season has also increased the number of athletes on Michigan’s roster competing. Some, like Liske, redshirted the indoor season to allow a full year of eligibility next season. Unlike some of her other teammates who have been competing constantly since September, Liske has been itching to get back into the competition mode.

“I missed having my teammates beside me,” Liske said. “The team is like a great family, and when you’re not with your teammates, it’s like not being with your family.

“You get motivated to compete again because not competing is such a long process.”

Liske was recently named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week, but she insists that the honor had little impact on this weekend’s performance.

“It was a big shocker,” Liske said. “A lot of the good athletes who competed at NCAA's have not competed yet. I think that just being with the team is motivation enough for me, and wearing the block 'M' is motivation in itself.”

Michigan has been taking advantage of a road schedule in warm-weather locations — any spare time the team can find is used for training, and some athletes even competed in different events this weekend just to get extra practice in.

Being on the road also gives Michigan the chance to face schools it hasn't competed against yet. But the Wolverines are already optimistic about the rest of the season based on the performances seen so far.

“That’s why we’re down here, to get completely different people,” Henry said. “A different group we haven’t seen and the kids are excited enough about that to keep them motivated.”