One-hundred meters to the finish line, sophomore distance runner Penelopea Gordon nudged her way to the outside of the pack and kicked into high gear. But as the smoke settled on the 800-meter race, Gordon’s name appeared second on the videoboard. Penn State’s Madaline Ullom had edged-out Gordon by a mere 0.08 seconds to maintain her near wire-to-wire lead and top the podium.
At the Simmons-Harvey Invitational, the Michigan women’s track and field team didn’t secure a win in the 800-meter race, but managed to flex its depth in the event. Closely following Gordon’s 2:06.23 finish were graduate distance runner Cassie Kearney and sophomore distance runner Lani Bloom in fourth and sixth, clocking 2:07.29 and 2:08.20, respectively.
Around the second turn of the race’s last lap, Gordon — comfortably trailing a step behind Ullom — attempted to make her move. But as she glanced to her right, she saw Michigan State’s Lauren Freeland and Minnesota’s Brooke Jaworski in lock-step. Gordon was trapped.
“I kind of got boxed in by (Jaworski) and (Freeland), and it was very hard to get out,” Gordon said. “So I really wanted to get out and around in the last 200. I tried my best to get out and around honestly, and had that finish with all three of them.”
As Jaworski claimed a momentary lead and Freeland lost her edge, Gordon was finally given space to make her move with 100 meters remaining in front of her. But the effort was too-little-too-late, and a three-way photo-finish granted Ullom the victory. Gordon had a chance to claim the top spot, but ultimately fell just short.
The result might not have been favorable for the Wolverines, but in the context of individual performances and building towards future success, the 800-meter was a major win.
In the early-season meet, Michigan’s trio all set personal bests and recorded NCAA top 20 times on the young season.
“To come out this early and be putting PRs up usually sets a good tone for the rest of the season,” Wolverines coach Kevin Sullivan said. “That usually means we’re going to hopefully get quicker in the next four to six weeks.”
Gordon — a transfer from St. Mary’s (Ca.) — is a newcomer to a historically dominant mid-distance unit. With Michigan looking to repeat as Big Ten Champions, she cites the bond between herself and her new teammates as a motivating factor during training and on race day.
“I love running with (Kearney and Bloom) and practicing with them,” Gordon said. “I’m so happy that they did a personal best and I think all of us are running as fast as we can. … We’re all motivating each other to get that personal best. And I think I helped them as much as they helped me get my personal bests. And it was really awesome.”
The Wolverines may not have placed a runner atop the podium in the 800-meter, but they gained more from the early-season race than any victory could have taught them. In the long season ahead, first-place finishes in May are earned through hard-fought races in January.
Michigan can walk away from its performance at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational and in the 800-meter happy — as long as it doesn’t get comfortable with second place finishes. Sullivan emphasized the importance of his team setting the tone early in the season, and the role that this meet played in achieving the team’s goals.
For Gordon and company, the 800-meter loss could prove to be a tone-setting event in the Wolverines’ Big Ten title defense — if they let it.