University of Minnesota Athletics
Monica Stearns Sets School in Pole Vault at Drake Relays
4/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Senior Monica Stearns bettered her own school record and placed third in the pole vault in the Drake Relays on Friday. Stearns cleared 12 feet, 11 1/2 inches, improving on her previous best of 12-10.
Nicole Kopari, Jen Hess and Melissa Steele added top-10 finishes for the Gophers. Kopari placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 160-5, while Hess finished seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11 minutes, 2.87 seconds. Steele finished ninth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.74.
The Golden Gophers' distance medley relay posted a 10th-place finish, the highest of the four Minnesota relays that competed on Friday. The DMR of Anita Menden, Candace Borgen, Rachel Kuhn and Annie Wells was clocked at 11:56.21.
Minnesota had two athletes record performances placing them on the top-10 lists in school history on Friday. Freshman sprinter Kadian Douglas did not advance out of prelims in the 100-meter dash but ran a time of 11.92, the seventh-best in Gopher history. Sophomore Liz Alabi placed 13th overall in the shot put with a career-best throw of 47-8, the 10th-best toss in school history.
The Drake Relays conclude on Saturday before a sell-out crowd of 18,000 fans.
Players Mentioned
