Women's Track to Compete at Big Ten Championships
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
February 19, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
BIG TEN PREVIEW: The MSU women's track team will head to Ohio State this weekend, Feb. 20-21, for the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The middle distance and distance events look to be the strongest for Michigan State, as they have consistently captured top-five finishes in the mile run and at 5,000 and 3,000 meters. The best finish for the Spartans at last year's Big Ten Indoors was a third-place effort by the 4x400-meter relay team.
CONSISTENT DISTANCE: Michigan State's distance runners have provided the most excitement for the team this season, compiling 27 top-five finishes in the mile, 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs during indoor competition. Jen Denkins has provided six top-fives herself, including a winning time of 17:32.29 in the 5,000-meter run at the Michigan Intercollegiates.
ILLINI CLASSIC REVIEW: No team scores were kept at last weekend's Illini Classic, hosted by the University of Illinois, but MSU managed to bring home eight top-five finishes. The trio of juniors Jen Denkins and Leah Nilsson and senior Elyse Adelson finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 3,000-meter run with times of 9:59.60, 10:14.11 and 10:14.46. Juniors Gabi Dorsch and Sarah Parbel and freshman Ann Somerville finished 3-4-5 in the mile run with times of 5:03.36, 5:05.46 and 5:09.33, respectively. The Spartans also got a fourth-place finish from senior Heidi Jackson in the triple jump (35' 5.5"), while junior Lindsay Towne placed fifth in the 600-meter run (1:38.29).