University of Minnesota Athletics
Dorniden Wins 800m Heat to Advance at NCAA Championships
6/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Dorniden, the NCAA indoor champion in the event, grabbed the lead early and ran a comfortable pace, winning the heat in a time of 2 minutes, 6.17 seconds. The top three placewinners in each of the four heats, as well as, the next four fastest times advanced to Thursday’s semifinal.
“It was a prelim so the only goal was really just to advance to the semis,” said Dorniden. “I felt relaxed and didn’t feel like I had to expend a lot of energy out there today, which is obviously a good thing.
The 800 meters drew a lot of interest as the top three times coming into the national meet were posted by freshman: Dorniden, Michigan’s Geena Gall and Oregon’s Rebekah Noble. All three safely advanced to the semifinals.
Gopher sophomore Julie Schwengler also competed in the event and finished seventh in her heat with a time of 2:12.89. Schwengler was slowed by an ankle injury but was upbeat about her first NCAA Championships experience. “It was a great experience,” she said after the race.
Junior Emily Brown advanced in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Coming in with the nation’s top time of the season, Brown needed only to finish in the top five to advance to Friday’s final. With that in mind, Brown watched as a pack of three runners pushed out to a lead. Realizing the leaders were going out faster than necessary, Brown eased into fourth place and kept her own pace. In the final lap, the leaders showed and Brown nearly passed the trio in the homestretch but remained in fourth in a time of 10:09.73, the second-fastest time in her career.
“That was one of the tougher races I’ve run, I was nervous before the race,” said Brown. “Those three runners went out really hard and that unsettled me a bit but I heard some of the splits I could sit back and cruise a bit.”
Two other Golden Gophers competed in their first national meet but did not make it out of Wednesday’s preliminary round in their events. Sophomore Ruby Radocaj finished 18th in the javelin prelims with a throw of 147 feet, 8 inches. Radocaj fouled her first attempt and marked her best throw on her third and final attempt. The top 12 advanced to Friday’s final with the cut falling at a distance of 155-8.
Sophomore Christin Kingsley performed well in her first NCAA meet in the long jump, landing all three leaps over the 6-meter mark. Her longest jump marked at 19-9 3/4, Kingsley’s second-best jump of the season.
In addition to Dorniden competing in the 800 meter semifinals, the second day of the NCAA Championships on Thursday will feature three Golden Gophers competing in qualifying rounds: Liz Alabi (hammer), Andrea Smith (pole vault) and Liz Podominick (shot put).
Players Mentioned
