University of Minnesota Athletics
Alabi, Dorniden Advance to NCAA Championships Finals
6/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Dorniden, who started in lane five, found herself boxed in somewhat as the stagger broke at the 200-meter mark. As the field rounded the turn at the 300-meter mark, Dorniden broke free to the outside and moved forward in the field. As they completed the first lap, clocking a split of 61.28 seconds, Dorniden had moved into perfect position on the shoulder of leader Stanford’s Ashley Freeman.
“I got boxed in and I don’t feel comfortable in that position,” said Dorniden. “When I had a place to cut away I went and got more space.”
As the field headed into the final backstretch, Dorniden made her move, claiming a lead she would carry through the finish line. Rebekah Noble, the freshman from Oregon who finished second to Dorniden at the NCAA indoor meet, made a late dash much like she did in the indoor final and once again came up short. Dorniden was clocked with a time of 2 minutes, 4.98 seconds, the second-fastest time of the semifinals. Noble was second in the heat at 2:05.49. California sophomore Allysia Johnson captured the top time in the semis, winning the first heat in a time of 2:04.76. Also advancing to the 800-meter final was Michigan freshman Geena Gall, who edged Dorniden at the Big Ten Championships.
“I didn’t know she was there (Noble’s charge) but I expected her to be since that’s how she finishes,” explained Dorniden. “One, two and three get in so I kicked in at the end. Yesterday (Wednesday’s first round) they got a little too close to me because I relaxed a little early.”
While Dorniden advancing to the 800 meters was expected, the Gophers’ received a pleasant surprise in the hammer where Liz Alabi, who entered the NCAA meet ranked 21st, claimed the final of 12 qualifying spots to Saturday’s final. Alabi fouled her first throw, then marked a toss of 182-3. On her third and final attempt, Alabi unleashed a throw of 195-4 to move up to 12th place.
As the second thrower in a flight of 14, Alabi then endured a nervous wait to see if her mark would stand. In all, seven throwers had the chance to surpass Alabi. Six throwers left the circle unsuccessful. Ironically, an athlete coached by former Minnesota thrower and Big Ten javelin champion Lorena Anderson, now the throws coach at Western Illinois, posed the final hurdle. Western Illinois senior Jennifer Gilson was the seventh competitor to fall short of Alabi’s mark, sending the Gopher junior to her first career NCAA Championships final.
“I was more nervous watching each of them throw than I was when I was in the circle myself,” said Alabi, who immediately knew her status thanks to the public address announcer. “
Also competing for the Gophers was Liz Podominick in the shot put and Andrea Smith in the pole vault. Podominick landed her best throw in her third attempt, a mark of 51-4 1/2, to finish 14th in prelims and missing the cut for the final by 8 1/2 inches. Smith was unable to clear the opening height of 12-3 1/2 and officially is recorded as a no height.
The NCAA Championships continues for its third day on Friday. The highlighted events for the Golden Gophers will be the final of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, where Emily Brown will compete looking for her first track All-America honor. Liz Roehrig, an All-American in the pentathlon earlier this season, will begin competition in the heptathlon.
Players Mentioned
