Women”s track coach James Henry coined this past weekend”s Len Paddock Invitational “the calm before the storm” of the Big Ten Championships, but two Michigan athletes created some thunder of their own.
Sophomore April Phillips and freshman Melissa Bickett lit up the sky with their individual performances.
These two have been a consistent force in the throws this season for Michigan, and this past weekend proved such.
Phillips, who normally pushes Bickett in the hammer throw and the shot put, did so by winning the hammer in 183-6 and finishing third in the shot put in 47-4 1/2.
Bickett finished sixth in the shot put with a toss of 44-1 1/4, but led the pair in the discus, tossing 154-6, good for second. Phillips finished fourth in the event with an effort of 144-7.
Adding to the force on the field were Nicole Denamur, who finished runner-up in the high jump in 5-5 3/4, Anna Fisher, whose jump of 11-5 in the pole vault was good for fourth and Janelle Jaha, who finished sixth in the javelin with a toss of 123-4.
On the track, the 400-meter relay team of Adrena Williams, Regine Caruthers, Tamika Craig and Carly Knazze broke their previous season”s best time by .06 seconds, running 45.92 to finish first.
Knazze and Caruthers also finished second and third in the 100-meter dash, each running 11.90, respectively. Williams added a fourth place finish in the 200 meters, clocking 25.53.
In the hurdles, Tasha Phillips won the 100 hurdles in 14.24, while Vera Simms was third in the 400 hurdles in 61.48.
Adrienne Hunter and Lisa Ouellet led the distance races for the Wolverines, as Hunter took fifth in the 800 meters in 2:11.92, and Ouellet finished fourth in a talent-stacked 1,500 meters, running 4:36.31.