University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women's Track Second at Big Tens
5/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
“We really came together as a team this weekend,” said Minnesota head coach Matt Bingle. “Of course, you want to leave with the team title, but how can you be disappointed when this team put forth great effort and displayed such heart. We led for most of the meet. You have to give credit to Penn State for staying after it.”
The Gophers topped the team standing for most of the meet. Wisconsin jumped up briefly to grab the lead early on Sunday, but Minnesota quickly regained the lead after placing two throwers in the discus.
Sixth-year senior Gabriele Anderson was the Gophers’ standout on Sunday. It took a photo finish to decide the outcome of the 1,500-meter run. Anderson and Illinois’ Angela Bizzarri battled in the final 50 meters. Anderson seemly had edged Bizzarri at the tape but a review proved otherwise. Bizzarri’s time was 4:15.42, while Anderson was clocked at 4:15.43. Nikki Swenson was seventh in 4:21.61.
“I went and looked at the photo from the race,” said Gary Wilson, Gopher distance coach. “I’ve never seen one that close for a 1,500 meters.”
Anderson contributed another gutsy effort in the 800 meters. Running about an hour after the 1,500 meters, she used a push down the homestretch to tab a second-place finish with a season-best time of 2:06.77. Swenson was fifth in a time of 2:08.17, while Jamie Dittmar was sixth in 2:08.72.
Kylie Peterson also tallied a second-place finish sprinting to runner-up honors in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.74. Adrienne Thomas was eighth in the event in 12.00.
Three Gophers scored in the pole vault. Alicia Rue was third (13-1 1/2), followed by Samantha Sonnenberg in fifth (12-9 1/2) and Becca Pilkerton sixth (12-9 1/2).
Penn State overtook the lead after the 200 meters. The Gophers needed a big performance in the 5,000 meters but the top Gophers had already run the 10,000 meters in the meet. Megan Duwell battled valiantly placing fifth in the 5,000 meters in a time of 16:27.06. She won the 10K on Friday. Amy Laskowske, who was the 10,000-meters runner-up, finished ninth (16:44.06).
The Gophers trailed Penn State by 5.5 points heading into the 4x400-meter relay. The Nittany Lions ran to the win, while the team of Thomas, Rikita Butler, Alena Brooks and Kelly Stalpes placed fifth in 3:42.55.
Other Gopher placewinners were Stalpes fifth in the 400-meter hurdles (59.65), Nikki Tzanakis sixth in the discus (164-2), Jessica Cagle seventh in the discus (163-1) and Natalie Devine eighth in the high jump (5-8 1/2).
On the first two days of the Big Ten Championships, Minnesota had three athletes win titles: DeAnne Hahn in the hammer, Todea-Kay Willis in the long jump and Duwell in the 10,000 meters.
Players Mentioned
