GENEVA, Ohio – Senior Chioma Onyekwere broke a 14-year Maryland track & field record with her performance in the weight throw Saturday to highlight Maryland's day at the Big Ten Championships. Her personal-best toss of 21.17 meters (69'5.50”) smashed the previous Maryland record (66'9.25”) set by Ruth Kura back in 2002, and pushed the Fairfax, Va. Native into second place in the field.
“We started our momentum early today and kept on going with several key performances,” said head coach Andrew Valmon when asked about the team's day. “Everyone went in with a championship attitude and it showed on the track and in the field. There were many top NCAA performances that came out of this meet that propelled us to strong results.”
The 4x400 relay team of Lisa Meneau, Taylor Tucker, Catherine Voelpel and Micha Powell cemented themselves among Maryland's best all-time in the race, finishing in 3:38.59. The mark ranks second all-time in the event in program history while the quartet took fifth in the field to score four points.
Junior Micha Powell turned in a personal-best performance in the 400 meter dash, finishing in 52.56. The time knocked more than five tenths of a second off her Friday qualifying mark and reset her own school record, while placing her third in the field.
Powell now ranks 15th in the country in the 400 with her performance today, and puts herself into position for a spot in the NCAA Championships. Entries will be accetped on March 1.
Sophomore Kayla Richardson took home an eighth place finish in the triple jump for the Terps, leaping a personal best 12.18 meters (39'11.50). The mark moves the Maplewood, N.J. native up three spots into a tie for fifth all-time on the all-time Maryland list with Toni Aluko (2007).
Sophomore Alexandra Lucki ran a 4:48.47 in the mile finals, taking seventh in the field in the event.
The Terps finished ninth overall in the field with 28 points. Michigan tallied 109 team points to claim its ninth Big Ten Championship and first since 2006. Purdue was second with 102 points, while Penn State rounded out the top three with 96.5 points.
Maryland track & field will now await any qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala. Starting Thursday, March 10.
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