University of Minnesota Athletics
Dorniden, Roehrig, Rue Lead Gophers to NCAAs
6/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Gopher Track This Week:
NCAA Track & Field Championships
Wednesday-Saturday
June 10-13, 2009
John McDonnell Field
Hosted by the University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Ark.
2009 Minnesota Women’s Track & Field Watch List
Golden Gophers Send Six to NCAA Championships - The Minnesota women’s track & field team will be represented by six athletes at this week’s NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. June 10-13, in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Final Go-Around for Dorni - Senior Heather Dorniden enters her final NCAA Championships as an eight-time career All-American, the most highly decorated athlete in Golden Gopher women’s track history. Dorniden will compete in 800 meters, a race that features an amazing field including four past national champions.
Roehrig Geared Up for Run at National Title in Heptathlon- Fifth-year senior Liz Roehrig is among the top contenders to win a national title in the heptathlon. Roehrig, a four-time All-American, was the national runner-up in the event a year ago. She is the 2009 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year.
Rue Aiming High - Junior pole vaulter Alicia Rue has won every competition she’s vaulted in during the 2009 outdoor season, including winning the Big Ten and NCAA Midwest Region crowns with record jumps. Rue is seeded third in the pole vault heading into the NCAA meet.
Gophers Sent Six to NCAA Championships
The Minnesota women’s track & field team will send six athletes to compete in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 10-13, in Fayetteville, Ark. The University of Arkansas plays host to the event at John McDonnell Field.
2009 NCAA Championships Competitors
Name Event Qualifying Mark/Time Event (Date) NCAA Rank
Heather Dorniden (Sr., Inver Grove Hts., Minn.) 800m 2:04.51 Sun Angel Classic (4/11) 11
Amy Laskowske (So., Palatine, Ill.) 10,000m 33:42.52 # Mt. SAC Relays (4/16)na 10
Liz Roehrig (Sr., Chilton, Wis.) Heptathlon 5,857 points Jim Click Shootout (4/2-3) 2
Alicia Rue (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) Pole Vault 14-3 1/4 (4.35m) Big Ten Championships (5/16) 3
Nikki Swenson (So., Dawson, Minn.) 800m 2:07.19 Big Ten Championships (5/17) 25
Elizabeth Yetzer (So., Lakeville, Minn.) 1,500m 4:24.43 Sun Angel Classic (4/11) 26
Television Coverage of the NCAA Meet
CBS will televise two hours of the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships live on Saturday, June 13, from 12-2 p.m. (CT). For Comcast customers with a sport tier, CBS College Sports Network (previously CSTV) will broadcast the Championships for three hours from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, June 12. When CBS is not broadcasting from the Championships, fans can check out live video streaming on NCAA.com and ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
NCAA Championships History
LSU is the defending team champion after capturing its 14th NCAA outdoor track crown last season, the most in NCAA women’s track history. Minnesota has recorded five top-20 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships: 18th in 1990 and 1991, 19th in 1996 and 2006, and a tie for 13th in 2008. The most points scored by Minnesota at the outdoor national meet was 15 points set a year ago with Heather Dorniden (800m), Liz Roehrig (heptathlon) and Ruby Radocaj (javelin) earning All-America honors.
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.
Two Gopher Track Stars End Careers at NCAAs
Heather Dorniden and Liz Roehrig, easily the two most highly decorated athletes in Gopher women’s track history, will write the final chapters of their Golden Gopher collegiate careers at the NCAA Championships this week.
Dorniden has won more All-America honors - eight - than any Gopher trackster. She won the program’s first national title (2006 800 meters indoor) and has captured All-America honors in the 800 meters in each of her previous seven NCAA Championships (indoor and outdoor). Dorniden does have one season of cross country edibility remaining.
Roehrig is a four-time All-American, but her legacy in the Golden Gopher multi-events stands in the record book as a seven-time Big Ten champion, the most in Minnesota history. Roehrig won four straight pentathlon titles (2005-08) and three heptathlon crowns (2006, 2008, 2009).
A Field of National Champs Reunites in 800 Meters
It’s almost like a class reunion. Every time a track NCAA Championship rolls around, whether it be indoor or outdoor,the same cast of characters gather and battle it out for the national crown in the 800 meters. Several national champions - Heather Dorniden (2006 indoor), LSU’s LaTavia Thomas (2008 indoor) Michigan’s Geena Gall (2008 outdoor) Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright (2009 indoor) are among the 27 entrants in the event. Amazingly, all four of these national champions are looking for their first repeat title. In Dorniden’s seven 800-meter finals at the NCAAs, she owns one title, two second-place finishes and three third-place showings.
Roehrig to Take a Run at a National Title in Heptathlon
An unlucky twist of fate early in the 2007 outdoor season - literally a severe twist of her ankle, has turned out to be good fortune for fifth-year senior Liz Roehrig. That season resulted in a medical redshirt and a fifth year of competition for the Gopher standout heptathlete. Without an indoor season in 2009 to worry about, Roehrig was able to fine-tune her training year-round for the heptathlon and is enjoying the rewards with career-best scores in both the multi-events she competed in this spring. After finishing as the NCAA runner-up a year ago, Roehrig has her sights set on contending for a national title and chasing the 6,000-point milestone.
Roehrig Repeats as USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Event Athlete of the Year
Liz Roehrig was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Event Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season. Roehrig broke her own heptathlon record twice during the season and captured the Big Ten heptathlon title.
Rue Setting the Bar High for Outdoor Championships
Junior Alicia Rue is a two-time All-American in the pole vault though she seeks her first national accolade at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Rue was the indoor national runner-up this season and the fourth-place finisher at the 2008 NCAA indoor meet. Heading into the 2009 outdoor nationals, Rue has made a habit of reaching new heights. She won the Big Ten outdoor title with a Minnesota and Big Ten record vault of 14-3 1/4. Rue followed that with an NCAA Midwest Region title and record of 14-1 1/4. She is making her third career appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Keeping Sending Those Poles to the NCAA Meet
The 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships marks the sixth straight year in which Minnesota has advanced a pole vaulter to the national meet.
Three Golden Gophers Making NCAA Track Debuts
Joining the veteran NCAA crew of Heather Dorniden, Liz Roehrig and Alicia Rue are three Minnesota teammates making their first trips to an NCAA track championships: Elizabeth Yetzer (1,500 meters), Nikki Swenson (800 meters) and Amy Laskowske (10,000 meters). Yetzer and Laskowske have the benefit of NCAA Cross Country Championships experience.
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 wear a patch on their uniforms in support of their teammate who was in position to earn an NCAA spot 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.
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 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).
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
