Big Ten's Women Distance, Field and Championship Preview

The Big Ten has historically some of the best middle distance and distance runners in the country. Last season Geena Gall of Michigan carried the torch for the big ten winning her best event, the 800 meters, on the national stage. Michigan has star recruits Rebecca Addison and Jillian Smith to help cope with the lost of Gall to graduation but she will be hard to replace.

In the middle distance events there is plenty of returning starpower. Gone are Gall and Heather Dorniden of Minnesota but returning all two excellenct juniors in Nikki Swenson and Jamie Dittmar both from Minnesota. Addison a freshman at Michigan will have to carry a heavy load but she has the personal record 2:07.96 to compete. Don't forget Michigan's other star recruit Smith, who as a freshman will be expected to due double duty in the 800 and 1,600 similar to that of Gall. Smith has the talent to win either event. Danielle Tauro will return to give Michigan more big points in the middle distance races, especially the 1,600. Tauro does not return the top time but she will return as the favorite. Angela Bizzari of Illinois should give Tauro a run for her money, she has a excellent chance to win.

In the long distance races Bizzari will be counted by Illinois to give them a huge point boost her and she is most certainly capable since pulling off the 5,000 meter title last outdoor season. Bridget Franek of Penn State is also someone we should keep our eyes on. Third in the 5,000 last outdoor season and second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Megan Duwell of Minnesota will definitely keep the race interesting after winning the 10,000. Expect for Duwell to seriously challenge Bizzari and Franek.



*THE FIELD*

The Big Ten lost a serious amount of star power to graduation in this section. Bettie Wade (Michigan), Liz Roehnig (Minnesota) , Gayle Hunter (Penn State), Tiffany Ofili (Michigan), Casey Taylor (Michigan), Kara Patterson (Purdue) and Renee White of Iowa. All of these women were either champions or All-Americans. However there are plenty of returning stars and new stars being born.

Ashley Rhoades of Indianahopes to duplicate her championship High Jump finish from last outdoor season but she will have plenty of competition coming from Christina Solomon of Michigan, Emily Breslin of Purdue and Brittany Maun of Penn State will certainly give Rhoades a good match.

Chavon Robinson of Wisconsin will be eyeing the double competing in the Long Jump and Triple Jump. Finishing second behind Tiffany Ofili at the outdoor meet in the long jump certainly will provide her with the motivation to push forward and win both titles. She will have heavy competition in both events Jessica Penney of Illinois in the long jump and
Nkeiru Ugwoaba of Purdue in the triple jump is returning as the indoor champion.

The pole vault returns a champion in Alicia Rue of Minnesota while Vera Neuenswander of Indiana will provide some good competition. If there is a upset in any field event it will be this event.

The throwing events have plenty of power returning. Emily Pendleton of Michigan, a high school national record holder has yet to empress anyone in the shot put in her two seasons at the university. I expect for that to change this season. The transition from high school to college is a difficult one but last season's championship win in the discus tells us that Pendleton is ready to dominate the NCAA and Big Ten in the shot put as well. Aja Evans of Illinois will provide the biggest threat to Pendleton returning as the top thrower in the conference, Evans is a easy pick for first place.


When you narrow down those three main categories, Sprints, Distance and Field you notice four particular programs consistently show themselves at the top of each of those. Penn State, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. All four of these programs have the coaching and talent win a big ten title. In the conference its more about depth than focusing in one or two areas. My pick is Penn State. Penn State is obviously the conference's premier sprint school. With a solid field core and a growing distance program I think they will be just too much for Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. Michigan is a phenomenal program and recruited some serious athletes but they are still too young and thin. Michigan will be in the top three simply because they can score in every event. Minnesota lost Heather Dorniden along with other key athletes to graduation and did not replace them with instant quality. Illinois does not have the depth yet to win the Big Ten title from the outside looking in, but things can change as the season moves forward.