Maryland Primed for Big Ten Championships

2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

By: Maryland Athletics

MARYLAND

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Feb. 24-25, 2017 || Spire Institute || Geneva, Ohio

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Maryland women's indoor track and field team will return to action February 24-25 in Geneva, Ohio for the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships. The event, hosted by the Spire Institute, is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Friday and will run through Saturday afternoon.

Select events will be streamed live on BTN Plus and will re-air live on BTN on February 27 at 6 pm.

TERPS TO WATCH

Senior Lisa Meneau has put together a successful indoor season for the Terps, setting two school records in the 300 and 60 meter hurdles. Meneau is hitting her stride at the optimum time, as she posted career bests in both the 300 (37.89) and the 60 meter hurdles (8.36) at the Spire invite February 10-11. Meneau's mark in the 60m hurdles broke 2015 Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and 2016 Rio Olympian Thea LaFond's previous school record, and the Winchester, Va. will also play a factor in Maryland's 4x400 relay squad.
Fellow senior Micha Powell will look to make the podium in the 400 meter dash for the second straight season, after placing third at the 2016 Big Ten Championships in the event. Her time of 52.56 in last year's finals was a school record, and qualified her for the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track Championships. Powell has also run Maryland's anchor leg in the 4x400 relay this season.
Junior Alexandra Lucki has been Maryland's top performer in the distance events this season, as she holds the team's top time in the 800 (2:12.14), 1000 (2:46.49), mile (4:46.74) and 3000 (9:37.94).
Freshman Dallyssa Huggins and junior Peyton Wade will both be in the ix for podium finishes in the pentathlon, as the pair enter the weekend ranked inside the top-20 nationally in the event. The duo shined in the pentathlon on day one of the Husker Invitational February 3, finishing as the No. 2 and No. 3 attached athletes (respectively) in the event. Huggins finished first two different events to pace her first-ever collegiate pentathlon, topping the field in the 800 (2:13.53) and the shot put (13.57m) for a total of 4025 points. Wade was the event's top high jumper clearing 1.77 meters, while taking second in the 60 meter hurdles (8.59) and third in the long jump (5.77m) to post 3955 points. Huggins is 10^th while Wade is currently 16^th in the country.

AT LAST YEAR'S EVENT

The Terps finished ninth overall in the field with 28 points.
Senior Chioma Onyekwere broke a 14-year Maryland track & field record with her performance in the weight throw. 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.
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.

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