A wise person once said that there are no endings, just new
beginnings.
That’s especially true for the Michigan women’s
track team. While this weekend’s Alex Wilson Invitational was
the last chance for all the Wolverines to participate, the new
beginning — the outdoor season — kicks off in just a
couple weeks.
This weekend presented the last chance for individuals to
qualify for the NCAA championships and set personal records. Most
of the team just trained through the weekend, but there were eight
team members who did participate.
One Wolverine who took advantage of the meet was Lindsay Gallo.
The redshirt junior posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of
2:07.97 in the 800-meter run on Saturday. Her time — a
personal record — was 1.03 seconds under the NCAA provisional
standard and bettered her previous best time by 2.34 seconds.
“This was sort of a tune-up for indoor nationals, but it
definitely made me feel prepared for it,” Gallo said.
Gallo has already qualified for the NCAA meet in the mile and
3,000-meter run, and is the anchor of Michigan’s distance
medley relay.
“I feel like I am really ready to run well next
weekend,” Gallo said. “It’s definitely a good
feeling to keep (setting personal records), even at the close of
the season. As for being satisfied — I won’t know until
after Nationals.”
While she has qualified for the 800-meter run, her priorities
lie with the distance medley relay and the mile. Coach James Henry
said that Gallo will not run the 800-meter next weekend, she just
wanted to get a good time in the event before the NCAA’s.
Senior Vera Simms also performed well this weekend running the
400 meter. She clocked in with a personal best of 55.70 seconds,
although that time did not qualify her for the NCAA meet.
“This weekend was about wanting to continue to compete,
and it was good to see those that wanted to,” Henry said.
For most of the team, the indoor season is now officially over.
There is a small group of runners participating in the NCAA meet,
but most of the team is excited for the beginning of the new
season.
“We have different goals that will motivate us for the
outdoor season,” Henry said. “We would like to get our
fourth straight Big Ten title.”
Besides another opportunity to win the Big Ten championship, the
team also has the chance to go to places like Florida and
Stanford.
“Outdoor holds new possibilities for everyone,”
sophomore Katie Erdman said. “The change of scenery will be
well-received, and we’re going to respond better than
ever.”