University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Chase Third Straight Big Ten Crown
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Golden Gopher Cross Country This Week:
Big Ten Conference Cross County Championships
Sunday, Nov. 1
Men - 9:45 a.m. CT
Women - 10:45 a.m. CT
University Park, Pa.
Penn State Cross Country Course
TV Coverage: Big Ten Network
Tape-Delayed Broadcast
Sunday, Nov. 15 – 12 noon CT
Golden Gopher Watch List — Oct. 28, 2009
• Big Ten Championships Up Next - The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to University Park, Pa., to compete in the 2009 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships on Sunday, Nov. 1. The 5.2-mile men’s race begins at 9:45 a.m. (CT), followed immediately by the 6-kilometer men’s race at 10:45 a.m. (CT). Penn State is hosting the Championships at the Penn State Cross Country Course.
• Mead Seeks Defense of Individual Crown - Junior All-American Hassan Mead is the defending Big Ten men’s individual champion. Mead has been named the Big Ten Runner of the Week twice in 2009. Fred Watson (1913-15) and Garry Bjorklund (1969-71) are the multiple Big Ten champs in Minnesota history.
• Golden Gopher Women Look For Three-Peat - The Minnesota women’s cross country team is the two-time defending team champion, having won their first BIg Ten cross country crown in 2007 and defending the title in 2008. Senior All-American Megan Duwell, fourth at the Big Ten meet in 2008, has been the Gophers’ number-one runner all season.
• BTN Coverage - The Big Ten Network will televise the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 12 noon (CT).
Big Ten Championships
The No. 15 Minnesota women’s cross country team kicks off the championship portion of their schedule traveling to the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships in University Park, Pa., on Sunday, Nov. 1. Penn State will play host to the event, the 29th Big Ten women’s meet, at the Penn State Golf Course. The women’s race, 6 kilometers in length, begins at 10:45 a.m. (CT) following the men’s race.
Big Ten Honors
The top seven finishers will be awarded All-Big Ten First-Team honors. Runners placing eighth through 14th will receive second-team All-Big Ten accord.
Minnesota Seeks Three-Peat
Minnesota is the two-time defending Big Ten Conference champion and a favorite to contend for the title again in 2009. The 2008 individual champion was Michigan State senior Nicole Bush.
Minnesota at the Big Ten Meet
Even before Minnesota won its first Big Ten title in 2007, the Golden Gophers were one of the most consistent upper-echelon team finishers in the 28-year history of the event. Overall, the Golden Gophers have placed in the top five, or the upper echelon, in the Big Ten in 21 of 28 championships. The Gophers have had one runner win the Big Ten individual title: Eileen Donaghy in 1987.
Big Ten Championships History
Wisconsin has won 13 of 28 team titles in the history of Big Ten Women’s Cross Country. Five teams (Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue) have yet to win a cross country team championship. Following is a listing of team champions:
Wisconsin: 1983, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 91, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00
Michigan: 1992, 93, 94, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06
Indiana: 1989, 90
Michigan State: 1981, 01
Iowa: 1982
Minnesota 2007, 08
The Golden Gopher Lineup
Nine Golden Gophers will compete at the Big Ten Championships. Following their name is a listing of any previous experience at the Big Ten Championships.
Jamie Cheever (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest)
2006 - 24th, 21:41
2007 - 16th, 20:37.32
2008 - 18th, 21:31.2
Heather Dorniden (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount)
2006 - 34th, 22:08
2007 - 19th, 20:42.55
2008 - 32nd, 21:52.9
Megan Duwell (Sr., West Bend, Wis./West Bend West HS)
2006 - 53rd, 22:49
2007 - 30th, 21:00.58
2008 - 4th, 20:29.7
Amy Laskowske (Sr., Palatine, Ill./Palatine HS)
2006 - 33rd, 22:04
2008 - 14th, 21:22.8
Stephanie Price (So., Mankato, Minn./Loyola Catholic HS)
Nikki Swenson (Jr., Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd HS)
2007 - 44th, 21:28.91
2008 - 61st, 22:33.6
Mallory Van Ness (Sr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS/Missouri)
2007 - 27th, 20:57.85
2008 - 17th, 21:27.5
Kayla Wagner (Fr., Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville HS)
Elizabeth Yetzer (Sr., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS)
2006 - 28th, 21:56
2007 - 15th, 20:36.14
2008 - 80th, 23:24.8
Big Ten Loaded With Ranked Teams
The Big Ten Conference has six teams ranked among the top 30 in the USTFCCCA Poll. Illinois leads the way ranked No. 13, followed by No. 15 Minnesota, No. 18 Penn State, No. 22 Michigan, No. 23 Iowa and No. 27 Michigan State.
Duwell Finishes Third in Pre-NCAA White Race
Minnesota senior Megan Duwell placed third in the Pre-NCAA White Race to pace the No. 8 Golden Gophers to an eighth-place finish in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 17. The Pre-NCAA Meet is held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the site of the NCAA Cross Country Championships each fall.
Duwell covered the 6-kilometer course in a time of 20:31.5, a solid time considering soft track conditions. Duwell finished 4.2 seconds after Illinois’ Angela Bizarri, who won the race in a time of 20:27.8. Washington’s Kendra Schaf was second in 20:29.0.
Minnesota tallied a team score of 214 points. Defending national champion Washington collected three top-five finishes to easily win the team title with 59 points. Florida was the team runner-up with 89, followed by Princeton (126), Syracuse (191) and Illinois (206). Colorado won the Blue Race team crown with 94 points.
“I was pleased with the way our team was able to focus through adversity on this whole road trip,” said Golden Gopher head coach Gary Wilson. “I think it’s going to one of those type of seasons where we are going to have to work very hard for everything we get. From a race standpoint, we got out a little too slow as a team. We continued to battle, but against this good of competition, any mistakes are magnified.”
The Gophers travel posed a challenge. Delays and finally a rearranged flight schedule got the squad to Terre Haute but the stage was already set. It was past midnight before the team settled into their hotel rooms for the night.
Wilson recognized the efforts of the two youngest Gophers on the trip, sophomore Stephanie Price and freshman Kayla Wagner. “These two ran very well today,” he said. “We needed them to step up and they have.”
Price notched her highest team finish of her Gopher career running to the team’s No. 2 spot. She placed 43rd overall in a time of 21:32.3. Wagner was the Gophers’ fourth finisher, 57th overall, in 21:41.7.
The other scorers for the Gophers were Elizabeth Yetzer, who finished 53rd in a time of 21:40.2 and Nikki Swenson, who placed 58th in 21:42.2. Closing out the Gophers competing were Heather Dorniden in 62nd in 21:43.8 and Amy Laskowske in 80th in 21:51.1.
The Pre-NCAA event holds an open race in addition to the White and Blue Races. Gopher senior Mallory Van Ness captured the open race title with a time of 21:51.2.
“Seeing Mallory win the race was pretty cool,” added Wilson. “We have great depth; we were able to have a solid finish in the White Race, and also have four runners finish in the top 13 of the open race.”
Duwell Wins Griak Title, Honored by Big Ten
Minnesota senior Megan Duwell captured her second Big Ten Runner of the Week accolade of the season as the Conference office recognized her accomplishment of winning the individual title at the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 26. A West Bend, Wis., native, Duwell is the first Golden Gopher to capture two Big Ten Runner of the Week awards in the same season. Duwell was also honored by the Big Ten after winning the Oz Memorial Run title earlier this month.
Duwell WIns Griak Title, Gophers Second as a Team
Golden Gopher senior All-American Megan Duwell wrote her name in the Griak Invitational record books, winning the Jack Johnson Women’s Gold Race title in a time of 21 minutes, 0.37 seconds. Duwell is the second Minnesota women’s runner to take Griak gold, joining Rasa (nee Michnoivaite) Troup who won the title in 1998.
Duwell broke free from the pack before the race’s 2-kilometer mark and went on to win by over 12 seconds over runner-up Lisa Koll (Iowa State). Duwell’s time is the fourth-best time in Minnesota history by a Gopher on their home 6-kilometer course at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights.
Minnesota’s streak of Griak titles was ended at two by Iowa State, who landed five runners in the top 10 to tally 31 points and take home their first Griak crown. The Gophers finished second with 48 points, followed by Michigan State in third with 75 points.
The Gophers scored all five runners in the top 20. Nikki Swenson was the Gophers’ number-two runner finishing in eighth place in a time of 21:56.87. Elizabeth Yetzer finished 11th in 22:01.57 and started a string of five consecutive Minnesota finishes. Amy Laskowske was 12th in 22:03.27, followed by Kayla Wagner (13th, 22:07.32), Heather Dorniden (14th, 22:16.82) and Mallory Van Ness (15th, 22:20.42).
Duwell WIns Griak Title, Gophers Second as a Team
Minnesota senior Megan Duwell was named the Co-Big Ten Cross Country Runner of the Week after defending her individual title in the Oz Memorial Run on Sept. 11. Duwell ran an impressive 21 minutes 13.24 seconds, beating the 6-kilometer race’s second place finisher by 53 seconds and leading her teammates to a first-place team finish. This was Duwell’s first weekly Big Ten honor of her Gopher career.
Duwell’s award is the first time a Gopher has been Runner of the Week since 2005. Minnesota’s Emily Brown received the honor in September, 2005, and her team went on to finish ninth at the NCAA Championships. In the time between Brown and Duwell’s awards Minnesota has won two Big Ten Championships and has placed 12th or higher at the NCAA Championships in three appearances.
“I was surprised to find out that we had not won a Big Ten weekly award for such a long time, considering the caliber of the teams we’ve had here in recent years. Megan has been training very hard and is very deserving of this award,” said head coach Gary Wilson.
Golden Gopher Coaching Staff
Gary Wilson, the dean of the Big Ten women’s cross country coaches, is in his 25th season heading the Minnesota program. He is assisted by volunteer assistant head coach, Sarah Hesser, who is in her fifth season on the coaching staff after competing for the Golden Gophers.
Players Mentioned
