University of Minnesota Athletics
TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES COMPLETE ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON
6/7/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
LAST WEEK-Five Golden Gophers competed in seven events at the 1999 NCAA Track and Field Championships at Boise State in Boise, Idaho, where the team finished tied for 35th with eight points.
Minnesota had three throwers compete in five events with two earning All-America honors, including the school's fifth javelin All-American this decade.
Frosh Linda Lindqvist (Harmavagen, Finland/Vora Idrottsgymnasium) finished third in the javelin after entering the event as the seventh seed. It marked the sixth time in the 1990s that a Golden Gopher has placed among the top eight in the event. Heather Berlin was an All-American in the event in 1994 and 1995.
Lindqvist's throw of 52.60 meters (172 feet, seven inches) made her the fourth Minnesota athlete in the last five years to earn All-American honors in the javelin.
Junior teammate Nicole Chimko (Aldersyde, Alberta/ Foothills Composite), ranked fourth, placed 14th in the event but claimed her second career All-American honor with a seventh-place showing in the discus with a throw of 54.25 (178-0), the second-best throw of her career. This year's honor, coupled with her All-American honor in the javelin last year makes her the fourth Golden Gopher to earn multiple honors at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
Sophomore Aubrey Schmitt (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) also competed in the discus and finished 16th, one place ahead of her 17th-place seed, with a throw 49.32 (161- 10). She also placed 19th in the shot put with an effort of 14.32 (46-11 3/4).
In the triple jump, junior Christine Gulbrandsen (Kristansand, Norway/Katedralskole) matched her 12th- place finish indoors with a 12th-place finish outdoors. Her leap of 13.05 (42-9 3/4) was a school record.
Corinne Nimtz (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) finished 16th in the 10,000-meter run in a time of 35:40.76. The only Minnesota athlete to compete at this year championships in a running event, she placed three spots higher than her 19th-place seed.
RECORD-SETTING SEASON-Four of Minnesota's nine field event records were set during the course of the 199 season, including two by Christine Gulbrandsen, who established new school marks on six different occasions during the outdoor campaign.
In the second season of pole vault competition, and first as a championship event, Gulbrandsen broke the school record three teams in 1999. She set her first mark of 3.40 (11-1 3/4) in her first competition of the year, the Sun Angel Classic at Arizona State, April 10. Two weeks later she established a new mark of 3.49 (11-5 1/4) at the Drake Relays, April 24, and then set the current record of 3.60 (11-9 3/4) at the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Ind., May 21, while finishing third.
She also broke the school record in the triple jump three times, beginning with her jump of 12.72 (41-8 3/4) to win the Drake Relays title, April 23. She placed second at the Big Ten Championships, May 23, with a jump of 12.88 (42-3) and broke the record once again at the NCAA Championships, June 4, with her 12th-place jump of 13.05 (42-9 3/4).
In the discus, Nicole Chimko exploded for a throw of 55.72 (182-10) to claim the Big Ten title, bettering her previous best by six feet.
The hammer, like the pole vault, was a second-year event and first as a championship event. Gopher newcomer, junior Beth Howard (North Branch, Minn./North Branch) established the school mark in the event three times, beginning with her throw of 53.68 (176-1) in her first competition for Minnesota, Rice's Bayou Classic, March 27. Two weeks later she better than record by over 10 feet with a throw of 56.74 (186-2) at the Hayward Relays in Eugene, Ore., April 10. The record fell one more time as she posted a throw of 57.64 (189-1) to place second at the Drake Relays, April 24.
On the track, Yvette White (Washington, D.C./ Woodrow Wilson) broke the school's 100-meter hurdles record on consecutive days at the Big Ten Championships. She became the first Golden Gopher to better the 14- second mark with a 13.95 clocking in the preliminaries, May 22, and then ran to a third-place finish in the finals in 13.87 one day later.
HEAD COACH GARY WILSON-Head coach Gary Wilson completed his 14th season at Minnesota. Wilson guided the Golden Gophers to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the second consecutive year in 1998 and led the track and field to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, scoring the most points in school history while tying for the highest finish. The cross country team also finished third at both the Big Ten meet and the NCAA regional meet for the second consecutive year. Along the way, junior Rasa Michniovaite won the individual title at the regional meet and earned All-America honors by placing 16th. Wilson also coached the Minnesota track and field team to top-25 finishes at the NCAA outdoor championships in 1990, 1991, 1995 and 1996.
New Minnesota Outdoor Track and Field Records- 100 hurdles, Yvette White, 13.87, Big Ten Championships, May 23 Hammer Throw, Beth Howard, 57.64 (189-1), Drake Relays, April 24 Pole Vault, Christine Gulbrandsen, 3.60 (11-9 3/4), Big Ten Championships, May 21 Triple Jump, Christine Gulbrandsen, 13.05 (42-9 3/4), NCAA Championships, June 4 Discus, Nicole Chimko, 55.72 (182-10), Big Ten Championships, May 23
Players Mentioned
