University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women's Track Hosts Minnesota Open on Friday
5/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Golden Gopher Track Action This Week
Minnesota Open
Friday, May 9
Host - Minnesota Minneapolis, Minn.
Bierman Track Stadium
2 p.m.
Minnesota Hosts Open as Final Tune-Up
The Minnesota women’s track & field team play host to the Minnesota Open on Friday, May 9, at the Bierman Track Stadium. Field events begin at 2 p.m., while events on the track get underway at 4 p.m.
Many Gophers Take Week Off as Big Tens Approach
Several of Minnesota top athletes will not compete on Friday as they prepare for the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 16-18 at Illinois.
Minnesota’s Regional Qualifiers at Record Number
The Golden Gophers have a best-ever 21 athletes qualified for the NCAA Midwest Region Championships on May 30-31, in Lincoln, Neb. This season’s total betters the 2006 season when Minnesota send 19 athletes to the Midwest Region meet.
Rue Smashes Pole Vault Record
After breaking the indoor school record in the pole vault four times during the indoor season, one knew it was only a matter of time before Gopher sophomore Alicia Rue made her assault on the outdoor record. Rue did just that at the Iowa Musco Twilight Meet on May 3, clearing a record height of 13-7 1/4. She bettered the mark of 13-5 1/4 by Monica Stearns in 2004.
Rue Named Co-Big Ten Field Event Athlete of Week
Minnesota pole vaulter Alicia Rue earned a share of this week’s Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Week award (with Illinois thrower Aja Evans) after breaking the school record to win the pole vault competition at the Iowa Musco Twilight Meet on May 3. Rue cleared 13 feet, 7 1/4 inches, to add the Gopher outdoor record to indoor mark she posted earlier this season.
The weekly award is the third for Rue this season, with two coming during the indoor campaign. Overall, the talented Golden Gopher women’s track team has collected 10 Big Ten weekly awards this spring.
Speaking of Those Vaulters...
Senior Ashley Nord enjoyed the best outing of her collegiate career clearing 13-0 to win the title at the Tommie Twilight Meet on April 30. Nord topped her personal best by 6 inches to jump up to fourth on the Minnesota all-time list in the event. The mark is also an NCAA Midwest Region Championships qualifier.
Roemhildt, Duwell Join Regional List
Caitlin Roemhildt and Megan Duwell are the latest Gophers to join the list of NCAA Midwest Region Championships qualifiers.
Roemhildt cleared 5-8 3/4 in the high jump to place second at the Musco Twilight Meet. She is the third Gopher high jumpers to qualify, joining Liz Roehrig and Natalie Devine. Devine earned her ticket to regionals by clearing 5-9 at the Tommie Twilight.
Duwell cut over 21 seconds off her personal-best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, clocking 10:49.71 to win the event at the Musco Twilight. The time ranks sixth in school history.
Solberg Breaks Her Own Record in 100m Hurdles
Senior Dawn Solberg ran the best back-to-back races of her collegiate career at the Musco Twilight. After setting a new school record with a time of 13.77 seconds in the prelims, Solberg won the event with a time of 13.83 in the finals.
Roehrig Adds Regional Qualifier in the Long Jump
Liz Roehrig earned an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon earlier this season. At the Musco Twilight, she qualified for her second individual event for the NCAA Midwest Region Championships. Roehrig added the long jump, landing a season-best leap of 19-8 3/4. She owns the top regional qualifying mark in the high jump at 6-0.
Musco Twilight Review
As the weather around the Midwest finally resembles spring, the Minnesota women’s track & field team begins focusing on the championship portion of their season. While many of their top runners took the weekend off from competition, other Golden Gophers grabbed the headlines with school records and NCAA Midwest Region Championships qualifying marks at Saturday evening’s Iowa Musco Twilight Meet in Iowa City.
Alicia Rue and Dawn Solberg collected school records in the pole vault and 100-meter hurdles, respectively. Rue cleared 13 feet, 7 1/4 inches to break the previous record (13-5 1/4, Monica Stearns, 2004) by two inches. After the pole vault record fell five times during the 2008 indoor season, four times by Rue, the Gopher sophomore now owns both the indoor and outdoor records.
Solberg ran the best back-to-back 100-meter hurdles races of her career. The senior bettered her own school record with a time of 13.77 seconds in the prelims, then captured the event title with a clocking of 13.83 seconds in the final.
The Gophers also celebrated reaching 20 qualifiers for the NCAA Midwest Region Championships upcoming at the end of the month, the most in school history (19 in 2006). Adding their names to the list were junior Caitlin Roemhildt in the high jump and sophomore Megan Duwell in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Roemhildt finished second in the high jump, the first collegiate finisher, clearing a height of 5-8 3/4. Natalie Devine was third with the same height, while Liz Roehrig was fourth at 5-7. All three Gopher high jumpers own Midwest Region qualifiers.
Duwell impressively cut over 21 seconds off her previous best in the steeplechase, winning the event with a time of 10 minutes, 49.71 seconds, good for sixth on the Gophers’ all-time list in the event. Teammate Danie Ashford was third with a time of 11:21.05.
Christin Kingsley and Roehrig chipped in a 1-2 finish in the long jump. Kingsley landed a distance of 19-10 3/4, bettering the regional standard for the third time this season. She was also fourth in the triple jump (37-10 /12). Roehrig marked her first NCAA Midwest Region qualifier in the long jump with a leap of 19-8 3/4. She already has an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon and a regional qualifier in the high jump.
with a time of 19:05.80.
Hamline Meet of the Unsaintly Review
Minnesota won five events on May 4 at the Meet of the Unsaintly, hosted by Hamline in St. Paul. Liz Podominick was a double winner capturing the title in the shot put with a season-best throw of 49 feet, 1 inch, and adding the discus crown with an effort of 170-0.
The Gophers gathered three titles on the track. Megan Smith won the 800 meters in 2:17.67, while Sally Paulson took the 1,500 meters in 4:45.32. Kelly Staples placed first in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.73 seconds.
Tommie Twilight Review
Several Golden Gophers notched NCAA Midwest Region Championships qualifying performances on Wednesday at the St. Thomas Tommie Twilight Meet in St. Paul on April 30. Natalie Devine and Ashley Nord won events while collecting their regional marks.
Devine, a redshirt freshman, won the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 9 inches, the fifth-best leap in school history.
Nord is the third Gopher pole vaulter to qualify for the NCAA Midwest Region meet. The Gopher senior cleared 13-0, an outdoor personal best by six inches and the fourth-best vault in Minnesota history. Alicia Rue cleared 12-8, a season-best that betters her regional qualifying mark.
Minnesota went 1-2 in the shot put. Kari Schmidt landed a throw of 47-10 1/2, marking her second regional qualifying mark of the season. Hannah Studt finished second with a career-best effort of 47-2 1/4 to add the shot put to the discus as events in which she has NCAA Midwest Region qualifiers.
Also winning an event at the meet was Liz Podominick, who captured the title in the discus with a toss of 159-1.
Players Mentioned
