University of Minnesota Athletics
Dorniden, Rue, Giles Pace Gophers
4/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Heather Dorniden and Alicia Rue provided their consistent performances in winning events, but it was freshman Nyoka Giles who stole the show as the Golden Gopher women’s track & field team competed in Auburn’s Tiger Classic on Saturday.
“Overall, we had a good meet as a team,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “It was great to get some warm weather to compete in. We had some solid performances but we are still in early-season form. We’re looking forward to getting home and putting in some hard work in practice.”
Giles, a sprinter from Trinidad, gathered a pair of Minnesota top-10 list times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Her top performance of the day was in the 200 meters where Giles was the top collegiate finisher, sixth overall, with a time of 24.15 seconds, marking the fourth-fastest time in school history. She finished 11th overall in the 100 meters with a time of 11.91, good for the eighth-best time in school history.
Giles added her talents to the Gophers’ 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays, both which neared NCAA regional qualifying standards. The 4x100-meter relay of Chimerem Okoroji, Giles, Chioma Omeoga and Kylie Peterson brought the baton around the track in 45.89 seconds, placing third and clocking the ninth-best time in Gopher history. The relay was within 19 hundreds of a second of the NCAA regional qualifying mark (45.70).
Giles’ final effort of the meet was in running the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay which placed third in a time of 3:42.70, just missing the NCAA regional standard of 3:42.00. She was joined by Adrienne Thomas, Dorniden, Rikita Butler.
Rue, completing in outdoor debut after capturing national runner-up honors during the indoor season, cleared 12 feet, 7 1/2 inches to win the pole vault and collect a regional qualifying leap. Teammate Samantha Sonnenberg also cleared 12-7 1/2 and a regional qualifier to finish second. Freshman Becca Pilkerton was third with a height of 12-1 3/4, the eighth-best leap in Gopher history.
Dorniden also ran her first race of the outdoor season and won the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:26.09, easily bettering the NCAA regional qualifying standard.
Megan Duwell was the Gophers’ third event champion, winning the 3,000-meter run in a time of 9:22.79. Elizabeth Yetzer was third in 9:16.65.
The fourth Gopher to earn a ticket in the NCAA Midwest Region Championships was junior Felicitas Mensing. A transfer from Coastal Carolina, Mensing ran her first 3,000-meter steeplechase in a Minnesota uniform and finished third in a time of 10:47.70. The time ranks sixth on the Gophers’ top-10 list.
Completing the list or regional qualifiers for the Gophers was Amanda Solberg in the discus. Solberg
Other top-three finishes for the Gophers were turned in by Gabriele Anderson (2:10.35) and Julie Schwengler (2:10.94) in the 800-meter run.
“Overall, we had a good meet as a team,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “It was great to get some warm weather to compete in. We had some solid performances but we are still in early-season form. We’re looking forward to getting home and putting in some hard work in practice.”
Giles, a sprinter from Trinidad, gathered a pair of Minnesota top-10 list times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Her top performance of the day was in the 200 meters where Giles was the top collegiate finisher, sixth overall, with a time of 24.15 seconds, marking the fourth-fastest time in school history. She finished 11th overall in the 100 meters with a time of 11.91, good for the eighth-best time in school history.
Giles added her talents to the Gophers’ 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays, both which neared NCAA regional qualifying standards. The 4x100-meter relay of Chimerem Okoroji, Giles, Chioma Omeoga and Kylie Peterson brought the baton around the track in 45.89 seconds, placing third and clocking the ninth-best time in Gopher history. The relay was within 19 hundreds of a second of the NCAA regional qualifying mark (45.70).
Giles’ final effort of the meet was in running the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay which placed third in a time of 3:42.70, just missing the NCAA regional standard of 3:42.00. She was joined by Adrienne Thomas, Dorniden, Rikita Butler.
Rue, completing in outdoor debut after capturing national runner-up honors during the indoor season, cleared 12 feet, 7 1/2 inches to win the pole vault and collect a regional qualifying leap. Teammate Samantha Sonnenberg also cleared 12-7 1/2 and a regional qualifier to finish second. Freshman Becca Pilkerton was third with a height of 12-1 3/4, the eighth-best leap in Gopher history.
Dorniden also ran her first race of the outdoor season and won the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:26.09, easily bettering the NCAA regional qualifying standard.
Megan Duwell was the Gophers’ third event champion, winning the 3,000-meter run in a time of 9:22.79. Elizabeth Yetzer was third in 9:16.65.
The fourth Gopher to earn a ticket in the NCAA Midwest Region Championships was junior Felicitas Mensing. A transfer from Coastal Carolina, Mensing ran her first 3,000-meter steeplechase in a Minnesota uniform and finished third in a time of 10:47.70. The time ranks sixth on the Gophers’ top-10 list.
Completing the list or regional qualifiers for the Gophers was Amanda Solberg in the discus. Solberg
Other top-three finishes for the Gophers were turned in by Gabriele Anderson (2:10.35) and Julie Schwengler (2:10.94) in the 800-meter run.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Track & Field
SPR
/ Women's Track & FieldMD
/ Women's Track & FieldMD
/ Women's Track & Field
JU/SPR
/ Women's Track & FieldDIST
/ Women's Track & Field
JU/SPR
/ Women's Track & FieldSPR
/ Women's Track & Field
SPR
/ Women's Track & Field
PV
/ Women's Track & FieldPV
/ Women's Track & FieldMD
/ Women's Track & FieldTHR
/ Women's Track & Field
PV
/ Women's Track & Field
JU/SPR
/ Women's Track & Field
DIST
/ Women's Track & FieldAnthonett Nabwe Wins B1G Silver
Saturday, February 28
Dyandra Gray | 2025 All-American
Sunday, June 15
Ali Weimer Breaks School Record at NCAAs
Sunday, June 15
Ali Weimer Qualifies for NCAAs
Thursday, June 05