The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OLYMPIC SPORTS in the 60-meter dash (7.43 seconds) and set a Michigan program record in the 200-meter run (23.69 seconds), finishing fourth in the event. "I had a great weekend," Ofili said. "I was so happy with my hurdles — that final was the highlight of my weekend. I didn't have a good start in the race and I was surprised when I won and saw my time. It was a very, very big moment for me. "It's hard to stay focused doing three events at a time, especially when you do well in one and you have one more to go, but I just have to remember to stay calm and refocus." Finn ran one of the best races of her life, cruising to a conference title in the 5,000-meter run. Finn, who broke a Michigan program record that had stood for 25 years with the performance, finished in 15:52.11 — a whopping 29.5 seconds ahead of Minnesota's Molly Kayfes, who took second place. After the two runners accounted for 39 of Michigan's 104 points at the championships, Ofili was named Big Ten Track Indoor Athlete of the Year, and Finn was tabbed as the Big Ten Track Indoor Freshman of the Year. The Nittany Lions surged down the stretch on day two, taking a half- point lead into the day's final event, the 4x400-meter relay, which they won. WOMEN'S SWIMMING CAPTURES FIFTH PLACE AT BIG TENS The Michigan women's swim- ming and diving team improved from its 2013 Big Ten Champion- ships performance. The Wolverines took fifth place at the event with 361 points, a year after scoring 309 points in a sixth-place finish at the meet. Minnesota won the Big Ten title, finishing with 760 points. "There were some good things when you take a look at everything," head coach Mike Bottom said. "We are all about getting better every day. We have improved and we showed we are getting better, but we are not satisfied. We wanted to catch Ohio State and came up just short. We have to keep getting better and that is our mission." The Wolverines' strongest event at the four-day meet was the 400- yard individual medley, where the team took the top two places. Senior Courtney Beidler fell to fourth place after the freestyle leg of the race, but stormed back down the stretch and won the Big Ten title with a Michigan program-record time of 4:07.42. It was the Wolverines' first event title at the Big Ten Championships since 2011. "There was a choice about who to put on the 400-yard medley relay right before Courtney's IM," Bottom said. "When asked, she said: 'Put me in coach, I want to be on that relay,' and she knew she'd have to swim the 400 IM less than a half hour after the relay. There is a reason she got the Sportsmanship Award and we are so proud of her." Sophomore Marni Oldershaw was right behind Beidler, setting a per-