Grand Blanc native makes history in U-M track

DES MOINES, IA. — University of Michigan junior track star Geena Gall won the 800-meter run Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake University.
Holding off Lousiana State’s Lativa Thomas, who ran a 2:04.38, Gall’s 2:03.91 earned her the championship and made her the first Wolverine to win the NCAA outdoor 800 title and the first to make All-America three times in the event.

Gall qualified for the meet last Thursday by running a 2:04.0 where she beat Thomas again. In Saturday’s meet it was Gall’s late surge that prevailed for the win. Gall hung back and was in fourth coming around the final turn before passing Minnesota’s Heather Dorniden, Zoe Buckman of Oregon and Becky Horn of Western Michigan.

“I knew she (Dorniden) would kick a lot sooner than she did in previous rounds, so I just stayed up there. I had the position and I just had enough left at the end to win,” said Gall after the win. Defending champion Alysia Johnson of California was injured and didn’t compete.
Thanks to another individual champion in junior Tiffany Ofili who won the 100-hurdles, the Wolverines finished seventh as a team. Gall, a literature major is also a standout as a scholar making the Dean’s list and was named to the Spring Big 10 All-Academic Team. — J.D.

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