University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Take Lead at Day One of Big Ten Championships
3/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
The Minnesota Golden Gopher women's track and field team held a commanding 58-37 lead after day one of the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships, being held this weekend at the University Fieldhouse in
"I think our team had fun today," said Minnesota head coach Matt Bingle. "In those competitive situations, it's important just to enjoy it and thrive, and that's what they did."
Two-time multi-event All-American Liz Roehrig won the pentathlon to become the first Golden Gopher athlete to win four consecutive titles in an individual sport/event. Roehrig scored an NCAA automatic 4,218 points to earn the second-best pentathlon score in the nation and set a new
Senior Liz Podominick won the shot put with an NCAA provisional toss of 51 feet, 4.5 inches, her career fourth Big Ten title. Podominick previously won conference titles in the outdoor shot put (2005, '06) and the discus (2005).
Rue's pole vault mark was a Big Ten Championship and
"It was great to have Liz Podominick, Alicia Rue and Liz Roehrig come through like they did today," said Bingle. "It was awesome and exactly what we needed. It provided some momentum for us... Everybody saw it, and it was huge."
Christin Kingsley finished second in the long jump with an NCAA provisional mark of 20 feet, 2.5 inches. Kingsley's score earned her the top spot on
Junior Heather Dorniden qualified for Sunday's finals in the mile run and the 600-meter dash. Dorniden ran a time of one minute, 29.65 seconds in the 600 meter and a time of 4:48.18 in the mile run.
In the 600-meter dash Gopher Jamie Dittmar qualified for the final tomorrow with a time of 1:32.44. The time put her eighth on
Junior Jamie Cheever qualified in the mile run with a time of 4 minutes, 47.81 seconds. Cheever also ran an NCAA provisional time of 9 minutes, 23.64 seconds in the 3,000 meters to finish sixth.
Sophomore Ekene Obi qualified in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.25 seconds. Fellow Gopher Rikita Butler also qualified in the 400 meters (55.33 seconds).
In addition,
Saturday's distance medley relay featured a second place finish by
Sunday's action will get underway at noon with the weight throw and triple jump events at the University Fieldhouse. The meet is scheduled to be televised on tape delay by the Big Ten Network early in the week.
Players Mentioned
