University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Compete at Auburn, Roehrig at Arizona
4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Gopher Track This Week:
Jim Click Shootout
Thursday-Friday
April 2-3, 2009
Hosted by Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
Tiger Classic
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Hosted by Auburn
Auburn, Ala.
2009 Minnesota Women’s Track & Field Watch List
Golden Gophers Head South and Southwest For Action - The Minnesota women’s track & field team will compete in two meets this week with the majority of the Golden Gophers heading to Auburn, Ala., for the Tiger Classic on Friday-Saturday, April 3-4. Minnesota’s heptathletes, Liz Roehrig and Nikki Schultz, will travel to Tucson, Ariz., to compete in the Jim Click Shootout on Thursday-Friday, April 2-3.
Roehrig Ready For Final Go-Around - Liz Roehrig, the 2008 national runner-up in the heptathlon, joins the Gophers for the outdoor season. Roehrig looks to put in an automatic qualifying effort in her first heptathlon of the season.
Top Gophers Back in Action - Minnesota’s top middle distance runners, including All-American Heather Dorniden, will be compete for the first time in the 2009 outdoor season. Dorniden is expected to run the 1,500 meters on Saturday.
Yetzer, Schmidt Earn Big Ten Weekly Honors in Outdoor Opener - Minnesota added to its long list of athlete to be honored with Big Ten weekly awards this season when Elizabeth Yetzer and Kari Schmidt were named the Big Ten Track (Yetzer) and Field Event (Schmidt) Athletes of the Week to open the 2009 outdoor season.
Majority of Squad Heads to Auburn’s Tiger Classic
The Minnesota women’s track & field team will compete in two meets this week with the majority of the Golden Gophers heading to Auburn, Ala., for the Tiger Classic on Friday-Saturday, April 3-4. Minnesota’s heptathletes, Liz Roehrig and Nikki Schultz, will travel to Tucson, Ariz., to compete in the Jim Click Shootout on Thursday-Friday, April 2-3.
Roehrig Joins the Gopher Force For Outdoor Season
Fifth-year senior Liz Roehrig, the NCAA runner-up a year ago, will compete in her first heptathlon of the season this week at the Jim Click Shootout at Arizona. With four-time NCAA champion Arizona State’s Jacquelyn Johnson graduated, Roehrig is a favorite to contend for the national title this season.
Roehrig has this final outdoor season of eligibility after being awarded a medical redshirt after the 2007 outdoor season.
Roehrig’s goal for this competition is to record an NCAA automatic qualifying score of 5,500 points.
Mid-Distance Crew Gears Up For Outdoor Races
Minnesota’s top mid-distance runners, Heather Dorniden and Gabriele Anderson, so instrumental in the Gophers’ success during the Big Ten Indoor Championships and into the indoor NCAA Championships, will make their 2009 outdoor season debuts this week. Dorniden will run the 1,500 meters and on the Gophers’ 4x400-meter relay. Anderson will compete in the 800 meters.
Rookies Take on the 100-Meter Dash
The sensational trio of Gopher freshman sprinters made 15 entries into Minnesota’s all-time top 10 list in the 60-meter dash during the indoor season. It’s now time for rookies Chimerem Okoroji, Nyoka Giles and Kylie Peterson to turn their attention to the 100-meter dash. Look for these youngsters to team with junior Chioma Omeoga for a fast 4x100-meter relay as well.
A Lap at a Time
Minnesota has another freshman to watch in Adrienne Thomas, whose specialty is the 400-meter dash. Thomas ran a season-best time of 55.31 seconds at the Big Ten indoor meet to rank third on the Gophers’ all-time list.
Mensing Runs First Steeple as a Gopher
Transfer Felicitas Mensing ruled the Big South Conference in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, winning two conference titles while running at Coastal Carolina. She has brought her talents to Minnesota for graduate school and begins the first of the two seasons of outdoor track eligibility she has remaining.This weekend, Mensing is entered in her first steeplechase as a Golden Gopher.
Minnesota Sweeps Big Ten Weekly Awards
A pair of Golden Gopher women’s track athletes, Elizabeth Yetzer and Kari Schmidt, was honored with Big Ten Big Ten Athlete of the Week awards to open the 2009 outdoor season. Minnesota competed in South Florida’s Bulls Invitational on March 20.
Yetzer won both the 800 meters and 1,500 meters to capture Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week honors. Her best effort was in the 1,500 meters where she clocked a time of 4 minutes, 25.35 seconds, an NCAA Midwest Region qualifying time. Yetzer ran a time of 2:10.77 to win the 800 meters.
Schmidt was named the Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Week. She won hammer throw with a toss of 173 feet, 4 inches, not only a personal best, but also the ninth-best throw in school history. Schmidt also placed second in the shot put with a throw of 47-11.
The awards are the first career weekly Conference honors for both Gopher athletes.
Minnesota Wins Eight Titles at Season-Opening Bulls Invitational
The Gophers collected eight event titles and had three athletes post NCAA Regional qualifiers at the Bulls Invitational hosted by South Florida in Tampa on March 20. Sophomore Elizabeth Yetzer led the way capturing titles in 800 and 1,500 meter runs.
Yetzer ran a time of 4 minutes, 25.35 seconds to win the 1,500 meter with a mark that meet the standard qualifier for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in May. She led a charge in a top-three sweep for the Gophers with Nikki Swenson finishing second in 4:29.74 and Ladia Albertson-Junkans third in 4:31.06.
The Gophers took the top five spots in the 800 meters topped by Yetzer’s winning time of 2:10.77. Swenson added another runner-up finish in 2:11.67, followed by Jamie Dittmar (2:11.81), Brittni Swanson (2:14.23) and Megan Smith (2:15.65).
All-American Liz Roehrig kicked off her senior outdoor season by winning the high jump in a regional qualifying mark of 5 feet, 8 3/4 inches. Samantha Sonnenberg tallied the Gophers’ third regional qualifier with a second-place leap of 12-7 1/2 in the pole vault.
Senior Kari Schmidt won the hammer throw with a personal-best effort of 173-4, the ninth-best throw in school history. Schmidt added a second-place outing in the shot put with a throw of 47-11.
Freshman Nyoka Giles jumped into the Minnesota top-10 list in the 200-meter dash in her first outdoor race. Giles won the event in a time of 24.50 seconds, the seventh-best time in Gopher history. She was also a member of the winning 4x100-meter relay (46.11), along with Chimerem Okoroji, Chioma Omeoga and Kylie Peterson.
Other event champions were Christin Kingsley in the long jump (18-4 1/4) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:48.72) of Jamie Dittmar, Omeoga, Kelly Stalpes and Jessica Gabriel.
Minnesota Captures Big Ten Indoor Three-Peat
Minnesota used headliners Heather Dorniden and Alicia Rue and then plenty of depth to capture the 2009 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships title and celebrate their third consecutive Conference crown. Dorniden won individual titles in the 600 meters and mile to pace the Gophers on the track, while Rue defended her pole vault crown to top the field events. Minnesota tallied 129 points to edge runner-up Penn State (125) and third-place Michigan (121.5).
Minnesota Track/Cross Country at its Pinnacle
Minnesota has enjoyed its finest seasons in track and cross country over the last four years. The Gophers have won at least a piece of the Big Ten “triple crown” (cross country, indoor track, outdoor track) in each season. Minnesota won its first Big Ten outdoor track title in 2006 and has won the last three indoor track titles (2007, 2008, 2009) and back-to-back cross country (2007, 2008) crowns as well.
Dorni Pretty Good in the Classroom as Well
Heather Dorniden has collected a lot of honors on the track, but the senior kinesiology major is top notch in the classroom as well. Dorniden carries a 3.9 grade point average and is a two-time recipient of the Minnesota Top-Five Award, honoring student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPAs. She will receive the prestigious 2009 President’s Student Leadership & Service Award in May. Dorniden was an ESPN the Magazine All-America Second Team honoree in 2008.
The Golden Gopher Coaching Staff
Matt Bingle is in his third season as the Golden Gophers head women’s track & field coach and his eighth overall coaching in the Minnesota program. Bingle is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year honoree. Bingle heads an extremely experienced coaching staff that includes assistants Gary Wilson (24th season, third as an assistant coach after 21 years as head coach) and Lynne Anderson (29th season).
Players Mentioned
