University of Minnesota Athletics
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD OUTDOOR SEASON IN REVIEW
6/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
The women's track and field team had a highly successful year with four new school records, 33 new entries on the school's top performers list and a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, scoring 101.25 points. The Gophers set new records in the 4x100-meter relay, the 4x400-meter relay, the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the pole vault. Minnesota had seven provisional qualifiers in nine events for the outdoor season.
Leading the Gophers was senior thrower Aubrey Schmitt (Hastings, Minn./Hastings), who competed in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw at the NCAA Championships. She earned All-American status for the fourth time in her career by placing sixth in the discus. Schmitt was the first Minnesota woman track and field athlete to compete in three events at nationals. She placed second in the shot put and discus and third in the hammer throw at the Big Ten Championships, giving her second-team All-Big Ten honors. Schmitt won the discus at the prestigious Drake Relays, and was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor for Minnesota.
Sophomore Shani Marks (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley) was the only Big Ten Champion for Minnesota. Marks won the triple jump with a personal best leap of 41-feet, 7-inches.
Senior Brenda Meyer (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) threw a personal best in the hammer throw to take second place and capture second-team All-Big Ten honors, while fellow Whitewater, Wis. graduate, sophomore Erica Findlay, blew away the pole vault record (12-feet, 6-inches).
Junior Amber Day (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) had a year of personal bests by placing her name nine times on the school's top performers list. Day ran personal bests in the 100, 200, and 400- meter dashes, in addition to being part of all six relays that entered the school's top ten performances.
Review: NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Senior Aubrey Schmitt earned her fourth career All-America honor with a sixth place finish in the discus tossing 174-feet, 8-inches at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. on May 30- June 2. Schmitt finished 11th in the shot put (51-5 1/2) and 12th in the hammer throw (192-8).
Junior Linda Lindqvist (Aland, Finland/Vora Idrottsgymnasium) placed 11th in the javelin with a throw of 150-feet, 11-inches. The competition marked only the second time that Lindqvist competed this year, her first coming at the Big Ten Championships where she placed third.
The Gophers finished tied for 56th place with a total of three points.
Players Mentioned
