Junior Kiley Tobel keeps improving.
Tobel, who set the Michigan pole vault program record last week with a height of 4.16 meters, set it again it at the Len Paddock Invitational with a jump height of 4.17 meters. She attempted the 14 feet, but missed, and finished in second place.
Despite missing the 14-foot mark, Tobel said she was pleased with the season overall, adding that sheis definitely “hungry for more.”
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to be consistent, especially at a high level,” Tobel said. “(Friday), I got some really good attempts at 14 feet and I haven’t felt that good in a while.”
In addition to Tobel’s second-place finish, the women’s 4×100-meter relay team came in second place, finishing in 46.43 seconds.
The 800-meter was another strong event for the Wolverines, as freshman Brook Handler, sophomore Ariel Dempsey and junior Chloe Prince came in second (2:11.97), third (2:15.85) and fourth place (2:17.09), respectively. Senior Nicole Prince took seventh place, finishing in 2:20.
Freshman Dana Carey finished in second place in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.58.
The impressive feats didn’t stop there. Rising senior Allison Liske won first place in women’s shot put (14.22 meters), and in women’s discus throw, fifth-year senior Emily Pendleton, junior Erin Pendleton and junior Kari Prena took first (52.61 meters), second (51.28 meters), and third place (45.58 meters), respectively, for Michigan.
Junior Charlotte Cahill ran to first place in the women’s 100-meter dash (12.15 seconds), and sophomore Amber Smith took second place in the 100-meters hurdles (13.77 seconds).
The success of Michigan athletes in the Len Paddock Invitational adds to the anticipation of the upcoming Big Ten Championships, which begin on May 11 and end on May 13, in Madison.
“If we can continue to move in the direction we’ve been going all year, we’ll be fine,” said Michigan coach James Henry. “We’ve had a few meets where I wasn’t very happy and the kids weren’t very happy. The last two meets put us back in position, feeling good about ourselves. There is confidence with the girls and that’s something we can carry into next week and know we can be competitive in the conference.”