FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team earned a total of 12 points during Friday's (March 10) seven scored finals and is in sixth place with Southern Illinois after day one of the NCAA Indoor Championships at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center. Six Wolverines earned All-America honors, with two top-eight finishes in the 5,000-meter run and a fourth-place effort in the distance medley relay, and two individuals qualified for Saturday finals.

The Wolverines earned their first points of the day in the 5,000m with sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) taking fifth and junior Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) placing sixth, giving Michigan seven of its 12 points. After winning the Big Ten Conference crown in the 5,000m, Kohlmeier posted a time of 16:00.86, while Webster came in with a personal-best time of 16:00.95 as both earned All-America honors. Coming in just three places shy of scoring was senior/junior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) with an 11th-place time of 16:24.00.

With Harvard's Lindsey Scherf leading the 17-person field through a quick 4:56 opening mile, Kohlmeier and Walter hung near the front -- running within the top seven -- as the competition strung out in single file around the track. Webster stayed at the rear through much of the race until moving up around the 3,000-meter point, switching positions with Walter, who started to fade in the middle stages of the race. Kohlmeier climbed into the fourth spot as Providence's Mary Cullen pushed the pace to put considerable distance between herself and the pack. Cullen could not maintain the lead as the pack caught her with several laps remaining, with Kohlmeier alternating between the second and third positions. A couple runners used strong kicks to move around the Wolverine sophomore in the final lap as she and Webster crossed the finish line together, separated by just 0.09 seconds.

N O T E S

• With sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier and junior Erin Webster both claiming All-America certificates in the 5,000-meter run, it marks the sixth consecutive year that the Wolverines boasted an individual NCAA All-American and the fifth time in six years that they've had at least one NCAA indoor honoree.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Associate Head Coach Mike McGuire
On the 5,000-meter race ... "I thought all three of them did a good job; they competed very hard. That pace was really fast early. Aly (Kohlmeier) hung in there with it, and it definitely affected Rebecca (Walter) as the race wore on. Erin (Webster) kind of paced it and worked up from the back. Her race was definitely more even split over 5K. Two kids on the victory stand isn't too bad. One (Webster) was her first time here, and one (Kohlmeier) came here last year as a miler. I'm really proud of what they did."