University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Chase NCAA Bids at Midwest Region Meet
5/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
NCAA Midwest Region Track & Field Championships
Friday-Saturday
May 29-30, 2009
John Jacobs Field
Hosted by Oklahoma
Norman, Okla.
Gophers Head into NCAA Regional Championships
The Minnesota women’s track & field team travels to Norman, Okla., on Friday-Saturday, May 29-30. This regional site and three others around the country will determine the field for the NCAA Championships hosted by Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark, on June 10-13.
NCAA Championships Invitations at Stake
The fop five place winners from the NCAA Regional competitions will advance to the NCAA Championships on June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. The NCAA has built a few loop holes into the system to account for injury, illness or poor performance at the regional meet level. If an athlete owns a performance this season that is among the best in the nation, that athlete will likely receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Championships field will be capped at 544 athletes for both the men and the women.
Battling With the Big 12 in the Midwest Region
The only Big Ten school that joins Minnesota in the NCAA Midwest Regional is Iowa. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin will compete in the NCAA Mideast Regional in Louisville, Ky. Penn State is the lone Big Ten school to compete in the NCAA East Regional in Greensboro, N.C. The fourth regional site is the West Region in Eugene, Ore. The Midwest Region Championships will have the definite feel of a Big 12 Conference meet with every team from that conference but one (Missouri) competing in this region.
Gophers Travel 23 Athletes to Regional Meet
The Golden Gophers have a roster of 23 athletes set to compete in the NCAA Midwest Region Championships. That contingent consists of athletes competing in 11 different events and a 4x100-meter relay. The 23 Minnesota participants matched the 2008 squad for the most to compete at the NCAA Midwest Region meet.
Invitations Already in the Pocket
Liz Roehrig and Amy Laskowske already have their invitations into the NCAA Championships field in hand. Roehrig owns an automatic qualifier in the heptathlon, while Laskowske’s provisional time in the 10,000 looks to be a solid bet to make the field. Roehrig has qualified for the Midwest Region meet in the high jump and will compete in that event this weekend.
Gophers Ranked No. 24
The Golden Gophers were ranked No. 24 in the May 26 USTFCCCA National Poll. Oregon holds down the number-one ranking followed by Texas A&M and LSU. Two other Big Ten schools are ranked: Michigan at No. 10 and Penn State at No. 11.
Gophers Seek Return Ticket to NCAAs
Minnesota has four athletes competing this weekend with the goal of returning to the NCAA Championships: Jamie Cheever (3,000m steeplechase), Heather Dorniden (800m), Christin Kingsley (long jump) and Alicia Rue (pole vault). Liz Roehrig will make her fourth trip to the NCAA outdoor meet, while Amy Laskowske looks forward to her first appearance.
A Race of Courage
The Golden Gophers will be competing without one of their team captains and top middle distance runners, fifth-year senior Gabriele Anderson, who was diagnosed with Adenoid Carcinoma (a cancer in the neck). Anderson ran a career-best time of 4:22.67 in the 1,500 meters five days before a five-hour surgery to remove the tumor and is recovering nicely. The Minnesota team will don “Gabe” t-shirts and will wear a patch on their uniforms in support of their teammate who is unable to compete in the NCAA Midwest Region Championships. Anderson had qualified in the 1,500 meters. Anderson earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors as the runner-up in the mile at the indoor Big Ten meet earlier this season, helping the Gophers to the team title. She was also the Gophers’ number-two runner on the cross country team that won the Big Ten title and finished 12th at the NCAAs last fall. Anderson plans to apply for a medical hardship for a six-year of outdoor track eligibility next spring.
Dorniden, Rue Aim for Repeat Performances at Region Meet
Eight-time All-American Heather Dorniden is the two-time defending Midwest Region champion in the 800 meters. For the fourth straight season, Dorniden clocked regional qualifying marks in both the 800 meters and the 1,500 meters, but will consecrate on her specialty - the 800-meter run. Alicia Rue won the 2008 Midwest Region crown in the pole vault, and after earning two All-America honors at indoor NCAA Championships, is poised to make that kind of run in the 2009 outdoor season.
Big Ten Champion Megan Duwell to Miss Midwest Regional With Injury
Talk about taking one for the team and you have to think about Gopher junior Megan Duwell. Duwell captured the Big Ten title in the 10,000-meter run and despite a foot injury, came back to run the 5,000 meters with the Gophers in the thick of the team title hunt. She placed
Lots of Veteran Blend With Five Rookies on Gophers’ Regional Roster
Among the 23 athletes representing Minnesota at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships this weekend are nine seniors (Ladia Albertson-Junkans, Jamie Cheever, Heather Dorniden, Christin Kingsley, Laura Massey, Liz Roehrig, Caitlin Roemhildt, Julie Schwengler and Amanda Solberg. Looking ahead to the future, five Gopher freshmen (Nyoka Giles, DeAnne Hahn, Chimerem Okoroji, Kelly Stalpes and Adrienne Thomas) are making their regional debut.
Roehrig Captures Seventh Multi-Event Big Ten Title
Fifth-year senior Liz Roehrig has definitely left her mark on the Big Ten annuals in the multi-events. She won the Big Ten heptathlon for the third time and collected her seventh Conference multi-event title overall after winning pentathlon crowns from 2005-08. Roehrig’s seven Big Ten individual event titles is the most in Golden Gopher history.
Rue Named Co-Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Championships
Minnesota junior Alicia Rue was named the Co-Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Championships as the Big Ten Conference announced its postseason awards. Rue shared the award with Penn State thrower Emma Schmeizer.
Rue won the pole vault at last weekend’s Big Ten Outdoor Championships in record fashion. She cleared a Minnesota and Big Ten record of 14 feet, 3 1/4 inches to mark the third-best vault in the nation this season. Rue captured both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten pole vault titles and earned All-America honors in the event during the 2009 indoor season.
The Big Ten also accorded First Team and Second Team honors to top finishers at the Championships. Conference champions are All-Big Ten First Team awardwinners, while runners-up of All-Big Ten Second Team.
Golden Gophers who were Conference champions and named to the All-Big Ten First Team were Rue, Megan Duwell (10,000 meters) and Liz Roehrig (heptathlon). Second-Team honorees were Heather Dorniden (800 meters) and Amy Laskowske (10,000 meters).
Golden Gopher sophomore Nikki Tzanakis was named as Minnesota’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Awardwinners are student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, they must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Tzanakis placed third in the discus at the outdoor Big Ten meet.
Gophers Finish Third at Big Ten Outdoor Meet, Three Gophers Grab Titles
Sunday, May 17 - Minnesota came up short, placing third, in one of the closest team races in Big Ten history at the 2009 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The Golden Gophers finished with 131.5 points behind Penn State’s 139 points and Michigan’s total of 138.75. The team title was decided in the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay, where the Nittany Lions won to grab the team title.
“We had some very good performances today but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to overcome some of the hits we took in certain other events,” said Minnesota head coach Matt Bingle. “We came close and we will always look back and think we should have won this meet. It certainly wasn’t from lack of heart or effort. We needed a few more breaks and just didn’t get them.
The Gophers’ top finish of the day was turned in by senior Heather Dorniden, who placed second in the 800-meter run, and paced a surge of 23 team points in the event. Nikki Swenson finished third in 2:07.19, while Jamie Dittmar was fourth in 2:07.79. Dorniden also contributed a fifth-place showing in the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:23.04.
Minnesota scored in eight of the 10 events on the track highlighted by three Gophers tallying points in the 100-meter dash. Freshman Kylie Peterson led the charge by placing third in a time of 11.81 seconds, while Nyoka Giles was sixth in 11.87 seconds and Chioma Omeoga seventh in 11.93 seconds. Giles also scored in the 200 meters finishing seventh in a time of 24.26 seconds.
Rikita Butler added her name the list of regional qualifiers by running a school-record time of 53.88 seconds in the 400 meters to place third. Butler is the 26th individual Gopher to notch a qualifying mark for the NCAA Midwest Region Championships.
The Gophers’ first and second-place tandem from the 10,000-meter run returned to track to compete in the 5,000 meters on Sunday. Laskwoske, the 10K runner-up, finished sixth in the 5,000 meters in a time of 16:25.94. Duwell, the 10,000-meter champion, ran to a courageous seventh-place finish on an injured foot, clocking a time of 16:26.60.
Others scoring in track events for the Gophers were Kelly Stalpes in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:00.87 and Elizabeth Yetzer in the 1,500 meters in 4:26.58. The Gophers’ 4x400-meter relay of Dorniden, Omeoga, Adrienne Thomas and Butler finished fifth in a time of 3:43.37.
The discus was the Gophers’ headlining field event on Sunday as Minnesota collected three scoring performances. Sophomore Nikki Tzanakis led the way with a third-place finish in the discus with a throw of 152-8. Amanda Solberg tallied a fifth-place finish with a throw of 148-4, while Hannah Studt was seventh at 145-7.
Two Gophers placed in the high jump to compete the team scoring. Caitlin Roemhildt finished fifth with a height of 5-8 3/4 and Natalie Devine tied for sixth at 5-7.
Saturday, May 16 - Minnesota senior Liz Roehrig won the heptathlon to collect her seventh multi-event Big Ten title and set the standard for the most individual Conference titles in Golden Gopher women’s track history. Roehrig had been tied with thrower Rachel Lewis (1988-91) with six. The Gophers own a slim lead in the team title chase at the 2009 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
The heptathlon came down to one of the more dramatic finishes in several years. Heading into the final event, the 800 meters, Roehrig owned just a 42-point lead over Big Ten rival Michigan’s Bettie Wade. That point differential translated to a 3-second margin, meaning Wade had to better Roehrig by that much time to overtake the Gopher All-American and grab the title. Roehrig met the challenge head-on, sticking right on Wade’s back to finish just .38 of a second behind the Wolverine and secure her third Big Ten heptathlon crown.
Roehrig broke her own Minnesota for the sixth time in her career tallying 5,871 points. Wade finished with 5,834 points. Minnesota redshirt freshman won the 800 meters with a time of 2:19.73 to jump into scoring position at eighth with a score of 4,689 points.
“I knew what I had to do in the 800 meters,” said Roehrig. “There was no way was going to let Bettie get away from me in the race. This was the closest heptathlon I’ve competed in at the Big Ten meet. It was a battle but I’m so excited to win this one, my last one.”
Roehrig took the lead after the second event, the high jump, and owned a 165-point lead after the first day. Wade and Hunter cut into Roehrig’s lead with big efforts in the long jump to start day two. Roehrig managed to hold her lead, though it was only nine points, by landing a season-best leap of 19 feet, 9 inches. The Gopher senior then added points back to her lead winning the javelin with a toss of 118-1.
Minnesota owns a slim lead in the team battle with 54 points after eight events scored. Penn State is second with 47, followed by Indiana (45), Purdue (42) and Michigan (36).
The Gophers picked up team points in three other events on Saturday, the long jump, 3,000-meter steeplechase and the shot put.
Senior Christin Kingsley finished seventh in the long jump with a distance of 19-3 1/2. Senior Jamie Cheever also contributed a seventh-place showing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:34.66.
Freshman DeAnne Hahn scored in her second event of the Championships finishing eighth in the shot put with a throw of 46-6. Hahn, who finished third in the hammer on Friday, will compete in her third event, the discus, on Sunday.
The Gophers flexed their muscle to qualify four runners for the final of the 800 meters: Julie Schwengler (2:08.84), Heather Dorniden (2:08.84), Nikki Swenson (2:09.42) and Jamie Dittmar (2:11.51). Swenson added her first NCAA regional qualifier in the event with her time. She already owned a regional time in the 1,500 meters.
The Gophers have three sprinters who advanced to the final of the 100 meters: Nyoka Giles (11.98), Chioma Omeoga (11.98) and Kylie Peterson (12.01). Giles also advanced in the 200 meters with a career-best time of 23.80 seconds, the third-best time in Gopher history.
Giles, Omeoga and Peterson teamed with Chimerem Okoroji to clock a regional qualifying time in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 45.59 seconds, the fourth-best time in school history.
Friday, May 15 - Alicia Rue won the Golden Gophers’ first title of the 2009 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday clearing a record height in the pole vault. Rue, now a three-time Big Ten champion overall, cleared a height of 14 feet, 3 1/4 inches on her first attempt to set new Minnesota, Big Ten and Big Ten Championships records.
The Gophers received a huge boost in the 10,000-meter run as junior Megan Duwell and sophomore Amy Laskowske pulled off a one-two finish to score 18 team points. Duwell captured the Big Ten title in her very first career 10,000-meter race, crossing the finish line in 34 minutes, 45.70 seconds. Laskowske ran to runner-up honors in 34:57.82.
“We started this meet very well,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “I’m proud of how we performed. We have to keep fighting, it’s a long meet, but we have put ourselves in a good position out of the blocks.”
Duwell and Laskowske worked together throughout the race, basically leading the field fm the opening gun. After the first half of the race was run by the field at a slower pace, the Gopher tandem broke away from the pack and never looked back. Duwell is the first Gopher woman to capture the Big Ten title in the event.
The Gophers also picked up an important 14 points in the pole vault to kick off their chase for the team title as the first event scored. Sophomore Samantha Sonnenberg added a fifth-place finish with a vault of 12-11 1/2.
Freshman DeAnne Hahn finished third in the hammer throw with an effort of 176-6. Throws Lynne Anderson commented afterward that Hahn’s performance is even more impressive considering the Gopher freshman just picked up throwing the hammer this season.
Defending heptathlon champion Liz Roehrig leads the event after the first day with 3,610 points. Roehrig ran a time of 14.30 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, collecting 936 points, to kick off the competition. The Gopher All-American moved into the heptathlon lead by clearing 5-10 in the high jump and winning the shot put with a throw of 44-3 1/2 and finishing the day with a time of 24.22 seconds in the 200 meters. Redshirt freshman Nikki Schultz is in ninth place after four events with a score of 2,793.
Gophers Win Community Service Award
The team sets several goals each season. Obviously success in their endeavors athletically and academically is at the top of the list but so is being productive in the area of community service. This Minnesota team, the largest in the nation numbering around 100 student-athletes each season, is a sterling example of what working toward a common goal can accomplish. For the second straight year, the women’s track was honored with a Community Service Award at the recent Golden Goldies Awards Banquet.
This Gopher team combined to volunteer over 1,500 hours or approximately 15 hours of community service for each student-athlete on the team. Among the list of organizations for which the Gophers volunteered in the last year were Special Olympics, Feed Our Starving Children, Big Brothers and Sisters, Blair Tree of Hope as well as several hours volunteering for something has simple but meaningful as reading to children.
“Every year this is one of the goals for our team to win this award,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “I am very proud of our women for their commitment to the community and the impact that they have on others. This is one of the best awards that our team will win this year.”
With a team the size of this women’s track squad, coaches have relied on the student-athletes to play a big role in not only deciding where aim their volunteer efforts but to coordinate those efforts overall. Junior Alicia Rue, an All-American pole vaulter, is the volunteerism coordinator for the Gophers this year.
"This award is something Coach Bingle wants us to strive for each year," said Rue. "The team put in a lot of hours volunteering out in the community. For me, volunteering is a way to help the community itself, and to continually but the Universities Athletic Department in a good light. In just a few short hours, we are able to put a smile on some child's face, sign an autograph, teach our sport, play games, encourage kids to be drug free and continue their education. Volunteering is a way to better the community and youth that will become our future...it is a way for us to have an impact on someone else, and directly see that impact. Its a great feeling."
What a wonderful tribute to this group of Golden Gophers to be honored with a Community Service Award in each of the last two years. In addition to those Community Service Award, these Gophers have also captured four Big Ten titles (two in cross country and two in indoor track), earned five top-20 NCAA finishes and most impressively continued to maintain a cumulative team grade point average hovering around 3.4.
The Gophers will chase the third jewel of the Big Ten unofficial “triple crown” on May 15-17, when they compete in the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Minnesota won the first two jewels of the 2008-09 academic year by capturing the cross country title last fall and the indoor track crown earlier this spring.
Duwell Honored at Golden Goldies
Megan Duwell earned the Female Breakthrough Performance Award at the Golden Goldies Awards Banquet. After being the cross country team’s No. 6 finisher as a sophomore, Duwell became one of the team’s best runners in the 2008 season. Duwell earned her first career All-America honors when she went from finishing 142nd at the NCAA meet in 2007 to 32nd overall in just one year. A first-team All-Big Ten honoree, the West Bend, Wis., native was the team’s co-most valuable player. She finished fourth overall at both the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Midwest Region Championships last fall. Duwell also advanced to her first NCAA Midwest Region Championships during the 2008 outdoor track season and competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
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 received the prestigious 2009 President’s Student Leadership & Service Award and earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. 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
