University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women's Cross Country Season Preview
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
We often hear sports teams talk about their season as a journey. If you’ve heard a coach say this, you’ve heard 100 repeat it, “it’s about the journey.” Well, this so-called journey for the Minnesota women’s cross country team has become a road well-traveled and one the Golden Gophers have every intention of following again this season. This road traversed by each Golden Gopher is one of success, on the cross country course, in the classroom and as citizens.
On the grandest stage that collegiate athletics has to offer, the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Minnesota stands at the top of the class as one of just three schools (Stanford and Illinois the others) to post top-12 finishes in each of the last four NCAA Championships meets. The Gophers tied for 11th a year ago to extend the streak.
“Coaches, especially if they have been in the business as long as I have, want consistency at a high level from their program,” said Gary Wilson, who enters his 25th season at Minnesota. “Our success at the NCAAs is a tribute to the young women on our team and what they have done.”
En route to the national championships, Minnesota has enjoyed winning ways in both the NCAA Midwest Region Championships and the Big Ten Championships in each of the last two seasons. Preparing for those meets, the Gophers have ruled supreme in the last two crowning of their own prestigious Roy Griak Invitational as well.
“The kids obviously want to win the three-peat,” added Wilson. “What we need to guard against is looking too far ahead of ourselves. If we do our jobs and focus on the process, we will be just fine.”
As the dean of Big Ten coaches, Wilson, enters his silver-anniversary season at Minnesota with as much talented and experienced depth as he has ever directed. The Gophers return five of their 2008 NCAA lineup, all seniors in 2009, to lead the charge this season. This impressive group is headlined by senior All-Americans Megan Duwell and Jamie Cheever. A long list of all-region performers dots the roster after Duwell and Cheever.
“I’m proud of their level of performance, the consistency of purpose, which our senior class has maintained throughout their careers,” said Wilson. “They are still hungry to improve. It is unusual to have this large of a senior class with this many accolades. They are a class act.”
Duwell emerged as Minnesota’s top runner a year ago and went on to national honors with a 32nd-place NCAA showing, marking the school-best fifth straight season that a Gopher was awarded All-America honors. Duwell placed fourth in the Big Ten and Midwest Region meets and went on to capture the Conference title in the 10,000-meter run to cap off the track season.
Cheever captured All-America honors as a sophomore in 2007 and hopes to return to that form in her final season with the Gophers. She is second on the Minnesota all-time performer list.
Four other seniors boast all-region acclaim during their cross country careers running for the Maroon and Gold in Heather Dorniden, Amy Laskowkse, Elizabeth Yetzer and Mallory Van Ness.
Dorniden’s Gopher track career, where as a nine-time All-American she goes down as the most decorated track athlete in Minnesota women’s track history, is in the books. She has been a solid performer in cross country and has twice earned NCAA Midwest Region accord.
Laskowske has also been honored twice among the all-region ranks in cross country, but took her resume to a new level last spring by capturing her first All-America honor in the 10,000-meter run.
Yetzer ran to all-region accord in her freshman and sophomore campaigns. Not 100 percent as a junior in 2008 as she returned from a foot injury, Yetzer traveled as a team alternate to NCAA competitions. After a sensational 2009 outdoor track season, where she advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 1,500 meters, Yetzer is ready to make her final cross country season her best.
Van Ness was one of the most improved Gopher runners a year ago and was the Gophers’ number-four runner in her NCAA regional and national meet debuts. Along the way, she celebrated her first career all-region honor.
Minnesota will once again field the largest team in the nation numbering over 50 student-athletes. Competition for those top 12 roster spots will once again be a heated battle. Among the runners to watch are the team’s Freshman of the Year award winners from the past two seasons in Nikki Swenson (2007) and Stephanie Price (2008). Kelly Wilson, Claire Rindo and Katie Dyson are other upperclassmen with their sights set on making their mark in 2009.
With such a large and impactful senior class at the forefront, the Gophers will look to their freshman class to prepare for the future. The rookies have plenty of state champions among them so it will become a story of which of these youngsters are best able to adapt to collegiate competition.
“We have the luxury of allowing our freshmen the opportunity to learn, to see the process, and to not have to come in and immediately perform,” added Wilson. “We are considering redshirting a good number of kids.”
Countless miles of training and competition will prepare this Golden Gopher team for the rigors of another challenging cross country season. What veteran coach Gary Wilson and his volunteer head coach Sarah Hesser never forget is how to prepare their student-athletes for life as a college student and later member of the community.
This team takes the label student-athlete very seriously. How commendable is it that the largest team in the nation also carried a 3.61 cumulative grade point average a year ago?
And finally, these Gophers give back to the community. The women’s cross country/track teams were once again honored with a Community Service Award for their work in the community outside the realm of being a student-athlete.
Being a member of the Golden Gopher women’s cross country family promises quite the journey. For those up for the challenge, this journey is one they never forget.
On the grandest stage that collegiate athletics has to offer, the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Minnesota stands at the top of the class as one of just three schools (Stanford and Illinois the others) to post top-12 finishes in each of the last four NCAA Championships meets. The Gophers tied for 11th a year ago to extend the streak.
“Coaches, especially if they have been in the business as long as I have, want consistency at a high level from their program,” said Gary Wilson, who enters his 25th season at Minnesota. “Our success at the NCAAs is a tribute to the young women on our team and what they have done.”
En route to the national championships, Minnesota has enjoyed winning ways in both the NCAA Midwest Region Championships and the Big Ten Championships in each of the last two seasons. Preparing for those meets, the Gophers have ruled supreme in the last two crowning of their own prestigious Roy Griak Invitational as well.
“The kids obviously want to win the three-peat,” added Wilson. “What we need to guard against is looking too far ahead of ourselves. If we do our jobs and focus on the process, we will be just fine.”
As the dean of Big Ten coaches, Wilson, enters his silver-anniversary season at Minnesota with as much talented and experienced depth as he has ever directed. The Gophers return five of their 2008 NCAA lineup, all seniors in 2009, to lead the charge this season. This impressive group is headlined by senior All-Americans Megan Duwell and Jamie Cheever. A long list of all-region performers dots the roster after Duwell and Cheever.
“I’m proud of their level of performance, the consistency of purpose, which our senior class has maintained throughout their careers,” said Wilson. “They are still hungry to improve. It is unusual to have this large of a senior class with this many accolades. They are a class act.”
Duwell emerged as Minnesota’s top runner a year ago and went on to national honors with a 32nd-place NCAA showing, marking the school-best fifth straight season that a Gopher was awarded All-America honors. Duwell placed fourth in the Big Ten and Midwest Region meets and went on to capture the Conference title in the 10,000-meter run to cap off the track season.
Cheever captured All-America honors as a sophomore in 2007 and hopes to return to that form in her final season with the Gophers. She is second on the Minnesota all-time performer list.
Four other seniors boast all-region acclaim during their cross country careers running for the Maroon and Gold in Heather Dorniden, Amy Laskowkse, Elizabeth Yetzer and Mallory Van Ness.
Dorniden’s Gopher track career, where as a nine-time All-American she goes down as the most decorated track athlete in Minnesota women’s track history, is in the books. She has been a solid performer in cross country and has twice earned NCAA Midwest Region accord.
Laskowske has also been honored twice among the all-region ranks in cross country, but took her resume to a new level last spring by capturing her first All-America honor in the 10,000-meter run.
Yetzer ran to all-region accord in her freshman and sophomore campaigns. Not 100 percent as a junior in 2008 as she returned from a foot injury, Yetzer traveled as a team alternate to NCAA competitions. After a sensational 2009 outdoor track season, where she advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 1,500 meters, Yetzer is ready to make her final cross country season her best.
Van Ness was one of the most improved Gopher runners a year ago and was the Gophers’ number-four runner in her NCAA regional and national meet debuts. Along the way, she celebrated her first career all-region honor.
Minnesota will once again field the largest team in the nation numbering over 50 student-athletes. Competition for those top 12 roster spots will once again be a heated battle. Among the runners to watch are the team’s Freshman of the Year award winners from the past two seasons in Nikki Swenson (2007) and Stephanie Price (2008). Kelly Wilson, Claire Rindo and Katie Dyson are other upperclassmen with their sights set on making their mark in 2009.
With such a large and impactful senior class at the forefront, the Gophers will look to their freshman class to prepare for the future. The rookies have plenty of state champions among them so it will become a story of which of these youngsters are best able to adapt to collegiate competition.
“We have the luxury of allowing our freshmen the opportunity to learn, to see the process, and to not have to come in and immediately perform,” added Wilson. “We are considering redshirting a good number of kids.”
Countless miles of training and competition will prepare this Golden Gopher team for the rigors of another challenging cross country season. What veteran coach Gary Wilson and his volunteer head coach Sarah Hesser never forget is how to prepare their student-athletes for life as a college student and later member of the community.
This team takes the label student-athlete very seriously. How commendable is it that the largest team in the nation also carried a 3.61 cumulative grade point average a year ago?
And finally, these Gophers give back to the community. The women’s cross country/track teams were once again honored with a Community Service Award for their work in the community outside the realm of being a student-athlete.
Being a member of the Golden Gopher women’s cross country family promises quite the journey. For those up for the challenge, this journey is one they never forget.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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