If you Googled the University of Michigan women's track and field website recently, it shouldn't have been any surprise that Woodmore graduate Emily Pendleton's picture was the site's featured artwork.

She's earned it.

Pendleton, a junior thrower for the Wolverines, has won all three discus events she has participated in during the spring outdoor season. The two-time defending Big Ten discus champion's season-best throw came in the opening meet when she threw 53.98 meters (177.1 feet) at the Bulls Invitational.

She is the only Wolverine to have the top mark or time in more than one event (discus and hammer throw) this season.

Last year Pendleton helped UM take second at the Big Ten Championships and seventh at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

This season there are two Pendletons throwing for the Wolverines' track and field squad. Emily's younger sister, Erin, is a freshman and appears to be adapting just fine to college athletics.

During this year's indoor season, Erin threw a season-best 13.12 meters (43.5 feet) in the shot put and 17.45 meters (57-3) in the weight throw at the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 27-28. She placed placed 13th in the weight throw and 20th in the shot put.

Michigan competed in the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational at UCLA on April 8-10, and Emily Pendleton, a team co-captain, took first in the discus (174-7) and shot put (46-3).

The Pendleton sisters' father, Mike, the girls track coach at Woodmore, has been Emily and Erin's coach since they started throwing. Mike said he talks to his daughters every day, so he is able to keep up with their accomplishments at UM.

“They have a very long season and they have Emily doing three events (discus, shot, hammer throw),” Mike said. “In high school she threw (the discus) 172, 173, 174 feet consistently. Last year she was most consistent at 180. This year I'm happy she didn't throw a long throw early in the season because you end up chasing it. You want to build into it.

“The season is going very well for both of them. I'm happy with Emily's success, but I'm more happy with her grades and how school is going for her. That's the No. 1 thing most of all. The track thing is good, but the education thing is better.”

Emily, who is enrolled in UM's College of Literature, Science and the Arts, was a four-time Division III state champion in the discus during her career at Woodmore. She also was the Nike National champion in 2006 and '07.

Erin, who is enrolled in the UM School of Kinesiology, won the state discus title in 2008 and '09 and took third in the shot put at the state meet as a senior. She competes in the shot put, discus, hammer throw and weight throw at Michigan.

Erin took fifth in the hammer throw at the UCLA meet; she finished second to her sister in the discus at the Bulls Invitational on March 19 and was fourth at the March 27 Stanford Invitational.

Erin chose to follow her older sister to UM after placing sixth at the Nike Outdoor Nationals, 10th at the Junior Nationals and 14th at Youth World Championships in the discus as a prep standout. After high school, she made recruiting trips to Penn State, Michigan, and the University of Virginia.

“The cool thing about Erin being at UM is she has somebody who will push her – her sister,” Mike Pendleton said. “My wife (Laura) and I really enjoyed UVA, but it's nine hours away from home. That could have been done, but Erin would not have had a training partner. Virginia's (track) studs were graduating and they didn't have anybody to push her. Same thing at Penn State.

“Going to Ann Arbor, there's big sis (to support Erin). They push each other. You don't want to get beat by your younger sister. Erin has beaten Emily a couple times. It's tough, but it pushes them to work harder. At the end of the day, they're good friends and they get along very well. It's been a good fit for both of them. Both of them have been very fortunate.”

Mike, who was a standout thrower at Fremont Ross, has two more daughters competing in the shot put and discus. Carly is a senior and Megan is a freshman at Woodmore. Carly has qualified to compete at the USA Junior Championships in June in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Carly is fifth in the country (in the discus) at 149-10 right now,” Mike said. “My kids aren't big. To master that, you have to be very technical. When you have a bad day with technique, your numbers really hurt. We didn't know all of the stuff that was out there for Emily (in high school). After Emily, now we know how to throw and compete at a high level. From there, you kind of push them and you make it a fun environment. When they achieve things, the doors open to travel abroad and do other things, and those two (Emily and Erin) have done that.”

In January, Mike received the Regional Coach of the Year Award for District 15 at the Ohio Association of Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches convention in Columbus. The award is given for outstanding contributions to a school's program.

“Gary White (Eastwood's boys coach) got it for the guys and I got it for the girls,” Pendleton said. “I was a little surprised. I wondererd who nominated me and apparently it was the Ottawa Hills coach. It's kinda neat that somebody noticed what you're doing. I train kids in the summer. I have a couple kids who come over and we compete against them, and I train them because they want to get better. It's kind of giving back a little bit. My kids have done some things I never dreamed they'd ever do.”

Pendleton also helped secure new weight room equipment for Woodmore during one of his trips to UM more than a year ago. He was visiting the school and met with the Wolverines' strength and conditioning coach, who told him that the football team was getting new equipment.

“It's sweet,” Pendleton said. “The cool part about it is, the equipment is in our school colors. We got five half-racks of powerlifting equipment. Very good stuff. We got three platforms for Olympic lifting, leg machines, squat racks. The (Woodmore) Boosters purchased three nice adjustable benches, and we bought a bunch of plates. It was all powerlifting stuff and we didn't pay hardly anything for it. It's pretty much brand new.”

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Two-time Big Ten champion Emily Pendleton from the University Michigan observes during a Woodmore throw clinic held last year. (Press file photo by Dean Utendorf/www.woodmorephotos.com)

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