University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women's Track Ready for NCAAs
6/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Gopher Track This Week:
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Wednesday-Saturday – June 9-12, 2010
Hayward Field
Eugene, Ore.
Host: University of Oregon
2010 Minnesota Women’s Track & Field Watch List
• Golden Gophers Travel to Oregon for NCAA Championships - The Minnesota women’s track & field team will be represented by four athletes at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. The University of Oregon plays host to the meet on Wednesday-Saturday, June 9-12.
• The Gopher Lineup - All four Gophers advanced through the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Competing for Minnesota is Gabriele Anderson and Nikki Swenson in the 1,500-meter run, Megan Duwell in the 10,000-meter run and Nikki Tzanakis in the discus.
• Duwell Chases History at NCAAs - Megan Duwell has the chance to become the first Gopher to capture individual-event All-America honors in three seasons of a school year - cross country, indoor and outdoor track. Duwell was seventh in the NCAA Cross Country Championships and placed sixth in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor meet.
• Three Gophers Win Big Ten Titles, Team Second - Megan Duwell (10,000 meters), DeAnne Hahn (hammer) and Todea-Kay Willis (long jump) captured Big Ten titles. The Gophers finished second in the team standings.
Gophers Sent Four to NCAA Championships
The Minnesota women’s track & field team will send four athletes to compete in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 9-12, in Eugene, Ore. The University of Oregon plays host to the event at the historic Hayward Field.
Television Coverage of the NCAA Meet
CBS will televise two hours of the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships live on Saturday, June 12, from 12-2 p.m. (CT). For Comcast customers with a sport tier, CBS College Sports Network will broadcast the Championships for two hours from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, June 11. When CBS is not broadcasting from the Championships, fans can check out live video streaming on NCAA.com.
NCAA Championships History
Texas A&M is the defending champion after winning its first NCAA team crown a year ago. Minnesota has recorded six top-20 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships: 18th in 1990 and 1991, 19th in 1996 and 2006, a tie for 13th in 2008 and 18th in 2009. The most points scored by Minnesota at the outdoor national meet was 15 points in 2008. The Gophers scored 14.5 a year ago in placing 18th.
Making a Run at History
Golden Gopher senior Megan Duwell will make a run at Minnesota history when she competes in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships. Duwell has the chance to become the first Gopher to capture All-America individual-event honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in the same school year. Duwell ran to her second All-America honor in cross country last fall. Duwell finished seventh in the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the highest Gopher finish ever, while covering the 6-kilometer national course in a school-record time of 20:06.9. She then smashed her own school record in earning All-America honors at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track Championships with a sixth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run (15:59.23). Duwell has carried her success into the outdoor season in 2010, where she broke the Gopher outdoor 5,000-meter record (16:04.55) before defending her Big Ten title in the 10,000 meters.
The only Golden Gopher to come close to this accomplishment was Emily Brown, who in the 2006-07 year earned All-America honors in two individual events (cross country, 3,000-meter steeplechase) and a relay (distance medley relay).
Could This be a Storybook Ending for Gabe?
Sixth-year senior Gabriele Anderson will be making her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut and her first Championships’ appearance in an individual event - the 1,500-meter run. Anderson does have plenty of NCAA Championships experience overall, however, competing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships three times and twice at the NCAA indoor meet as a member of the Gopher distance medley relay.
A track and cross country standout, Anderson was honored with the Richard “Pinky” McNamara Student-Athlete Achievement Award at the U of M Scholar-Athlete Awards Ceremony. The award is given to a student-athlete who has inspired all by making an extraordinary effort to succeed despite difficult circumstances, persevering during a time of tremendous adversity and/or overcoming a great challenge.
After helping the Gopher cross country team to back-to-back Big Ten titles, Anderson embarked on her senior track season in 2009 with high expectations. She ran a runner-up finish in the mile helping the Gophers win another Big Ten indoor track team title. Then in April, she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic caranoma (a cancer of the neck). With an uncertain future and knowing of her battle ahead, Anderson decided to run one more race before treatment five days ahead of her. She responded by running a career-best time, the seventh-fastest time in school history, in the 1,500-meter run. Anderson underwent surgery and treatment while her team wore “Gabe” patches on their uniforms. She made a successful petition to the NCAA for a sixth season.
Gabe has enjoyed a sensational 2010 outdoor champaign. She came within a hundredth of a second of winning the Big Ten 1,500-meter title but did break a 26 year-old record in the process (4:15.43).
Anderson was nominated for the 2010 Honda Inspiration Award and was a top-three finalist for the honor.
Swenson Moves up a Distance in Her Second NCAA Appearance
Junior Nikki Swenson made her NCAA debut a year ago in the 800 meters. This season, Swenson decided to compete in the 1,500 meters. Swenson also ran in her first NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall.
Tzanakis Makes NCAA Championships Debut
The only NCAA rookie among the Golden Gopher competitors heading to the NCAA Championships is junior discus thrower Nikki Tzanakis. Tzanakis, a former walk-on who had to talk her way into a tryout, is the eighth Gopher discus thrower to compete at the NCAA meet.
NCAA Championships - Gophers’ Event Preview
Following is an event-by-event preview for the Gophers at the NCAA Championships:
The 1,500 meters – Minnesota has two entries in the 1,500 meters: sixth-year senior Gabriele Anderson and junior Nikki Swenson. Anderson is seeded second with her time of 4:16.22 from the West Prelims. Her Minnesota-record time of 4:15.43, her Big Ten runner-up time, is the 11th fastest in the nation this year. Swenson is seeded 24th in the field with her career-best time of 4:20.89 from the West Prelims.
The 10,000 meters – Senior Megan Duwell is seeded fifth in the 10,000 meters after the Preliminary Rounds. The times from the prelims are really of no consequence, considering the heat and humidity the runners faced during the preliminary races. The 2010 season was the first time the 10K runners had to run a qualifying race to advance to the NCAA Championships, instead of using the nation’s descending order list to determine the field. Having just two weeks between 10Ks may have an effect on some runners. Duwell, the Big Ten champion the last years, owns a career-best time of 34:02.12.
The Discus – Junior Nikki Tzanakis is seeded 21st heading into her NCAA Championships debut with her throw of 163-8 from the West Prelims. Tzanakis’ best effort of the season was a career-best 166-8.
NCAA West Preliminary Round Review
Saturday, May 29 – Minnesota added two more NCAA Championships qualifiers in the third and final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas.
Gabriele Anderson and Nikki Swenson advanced in the 1,500-meter run. Anderson clocked a time of 4 minutes, 16.22 seconds in placing third, while Swenson was 12th with a personal-best time of 4:20.89.
Anderson moved the lead with 300 meters remaining in the race. Kansas' Lauren Bonds passed her late to win the quarterfinal round. Swenson's goal in the race, and one that worked well, was to stick with Anderson as long as she could. Swenson will make a return trip to the NCAA Championships in the event.
Natalie Devine matched her season-best height in the high jump of 5 feet, 8 1/2 inches to place 14th. She needed to clear 5-10 to advance to the NCAAs.
DeAnne Hahn competed in the hammer throw and placed 34th with a throw of 173-3.
The Gopher 4x100-meter relay ran into the same problem as they did at the Big Ten Championships. A failed handoff resulted in an "DNF" - did not finish.
Friday, May 28 – Junior Nikki Tzanakis captured her first trip to the NCAA Championships with her top-12 finish in the discus at the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet. Tzanakis placed 12th with a throw of 163 feet, 8 inches, marking her best effort on her final throw of finals.
Jessica Cagle also competed in the discus, placing 32nd with a throw of 148-1.
Four Gophers competed in NCAA quarterfinals on Friday. Kylie Peterson fell one spot short of an NCAA berth. Peterson placed 13th in the 100-meter dash quarterfinal with a time of 11.58 seconds. Adrienne Thomas was 22nd in 11.90 seconds.
Felicitias Mensing finished seventh in her heat and 19th overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase clocking a time of 10:40.59. Kelly Stalpes finished 22nd in the 400-meter hurdles quarterfinal with a time of 1:01.09.
In long jump qualifying, Todea-Kay Willis finished 30th with a leap of 19-3 1/4. Adrienne Thomas did not record a mark, fouling on her three attempts.
Thursday, May 27 – Golden Gopher senior Megan Duwell advanced to the NCAA Championships field in the 10,000-meter run with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas.
The race was moved back 45 minutes to offset the Texas heat but the temperature still read 82 degrees when the gun sounded at 9:45 p.m.
Duwell ran a consistent pace for much of the 25-lap marathon race. She hung around the 20th position midway through the race, then began to pass runners as the race progressed. The two-time Big Ten champion ran a time of 34 minutes, 31.04 seconds.
Five other Gophers advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA West Prelims, including two in a pair of events.
Gabriele Anderson ran the second-fastest time of her career – 4:20.85 - in placing second in her heat of the 1,500-meter run. She is the fifth-fastest qualifier. Anderson led briefly in the final lap but eased up in the final 20 meters to grab second place. The top five finishers in each heat automatically advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinal.
Nikki Swenson was the final qualifier into the quarterfinal field. She ran a time of 4:26.14.
Sprinters Kylie Peterson and Adrienne Thomas advanced to Friday’s 100-meter dash quarterfinal. Peterson finished second in her heat and collected the 11th-fastest time in the first round clocking a time of 11.73 seconds. Thomas ran a time of 11.85 seconds and placed sixth in her heat to earn the 22nd quarterfinal qualifying mark. Twenty-four runners will compete in the quarterfinal.
Kelly Stalpes advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal in the 400-meter hurdles. Stalpes placed fourth in her heat with a time of 59.72 seconds.
The Gophers had several athletes compete in the NCAA First Round. Amy Laskowske and Mallory Van Ness joined Duwell in the 10,000 meters field. Laskowske finished 15th in 35:02.08, while Van Ness was 25th in 35:41.63.
Elizabeth Yetzer and Kathryn Ritter ran the 1,500 meters with Yetzer placing 36th overall in 4:32.91 and Ritter 37th in 4:33.61.
Jamie Dittmar and Alena Brooks both placed fifth in their respective heats of the 800 meters. Dittmar finished 27th overall in 2:09.13, while Brooks was 37th in 2:10.85.
Becca Pilkerton was the only one of the three Gopher pole vaulters to make a height. Pilkerton cleared a career-best height of 12-11 1/2 to finish 22nd overall. The height needed to advance to the NCAA Championships was 13-7 1/4. Alicia Rue missed three attempts at her opening height of 12-3 1/2, while Samantha Sonnenberg was unable to clear her opening height of 12-9 1/2.
Trio of Golden Gophers Capture Big Ten Titles
Minnesota celebrated three Big Ten individual titles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Megan Duwell defended her crown in the 10,000 meters. DeAnne Hahn’s title in the hammer throw and Todea-Kay Willis’ win in the long jump marked the first titles won in those events by a Golden Gopher.
Anderson Breaks Long-Standing School Record
Gabriele Anderson missed the Big Ten title by a hundreth of a second in the 1,500-meter run but as a consolation, the sixth-year Gopher can now call the school record her own. Anderson posted a time of 4:15.43, a personal-best by over five seconds, to break a 26 year-old Minnesota record held by Jody Eder (4:15.59).
Big Ten Outdoor Track Championships Review, Minnesota Places Second
Sunday, May 16 – Penn State was the favored team. In fact, the Nittany Lions were heavily favored, but they needed a win in the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay, to finally secure the team title. A feisty Minnesota team took Penn State to the limit. The Gophers placed second, 10.5 points (123.0) off of Penn State’s winning total of 133.5.
“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 took 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).
Saturday, May 17 – Redshirt freshman Todea-Kay Willis helped keep the Minnesota women’s track & field team in the lead at the Big Ten Championships by pulling a huge upset victory in the long jump.
Willis came into the meet seeded seventh but sailed to a winning leap of 20-9 1/4 on her second attempt of the prelims. The leap was her career-best by over a foot and marked the third-best jump in Gopher history. Willis is the first Gopher to win a Big Ten long jump title.
Ironically, Willis’ winning effort came after teammate Adrienne Thomas captured the lead on her second jump of prelims with a leap of 19-8 1/4, her personal best and fifth in school history. Willis launched her historic jump five leaps later. Willis also might have been inspired to seek a little redemption after she and teammate Chioma Omeoga were unable to connect on the third handoff of the Gophers’ 4x100-meter relay.
Emily Betz aided the Minnesota effort on Saturday by taking third in the javelin with a throw of 131-10. The remaining points came from a seventh-place finish by Felicitias Mensing, who ran a season-best time of 10:34.62 for the fourth-best time in Gopher history.
The Gophers have a total of 56 points after seven scored events. Wisconsin is second with 52, followed by Indiana in third with 41. Pre-Championships favorite Penn State is fifth with just 24 points after seven events but has 11 athletes in finals on Sunday. Minnesota has nine athletes qualified for finals.
Friday, May 14 – Golden Gopher veteran throws coach Lynne Anderson has seen a lot happen in her Minnesota coaching career. On Friday, however, she enjoyed some long-awaited history. A Golden Gopher – sophomore DeAnne Hahn – captured the program’s first Big Ten crown in the hammer throw.
Hahn, who older brother Damion won three wrestling Big Ten titles as well as a couple NCAA crowns, heaved the hammer a distance of 185 feet, 8 inches to capture the title. She landed her top throw in her second attempt of the preliminary round. Hahn placed third in the event a year ago.
Megan Duwell added some history of her own defending her title in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 34:02.12. The time is her personal best and ranks third in school history. Duwell the ninth Golden Gopher to win back-to-back Big Ten outdoor titles and amazing the first to do so on the track.
Minnesota tallied an impressive 23 points in the 10,000 meters. Amy Laskowske was second in 34:04.29, while Mallory Van Ness finished fourth in 34:45.98, her personal best and the sixth-best time in Gopher history.
Duwell led for virtually the entire race, working with her teammate Laskowske to run strategic and consistent lap times. With four laps remaining, the Gopher duo stretched their lead to a comfortable margin.
The heptathlon contested its first four events on Friday as well. Nikki Schultz is in ninth place after the first day with 2,621 points. Schultz’ best event of the first day was the shot put, where she was seventh with a throw of 36-3.
Gophers Continue Drake Relays Success
Minnesota continued its dominance of the 4x800-meter relay at the Drake Relays cruising to its fourth consecutive title at “America’s Athletic Classic” in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, April 23 The Golden Gopher foursome of Nikki Swenson, Alena Brooks, Jamie Dittmar and Gabriele Anderson captured the victory in a time of 8 minutes, 33.98 seconds over nine seconds faster than runner-up Nebraska. Swenson and Anderson won their third Drake Relays crown in the event.
Minnesota won its second title of the 2010 Drake Relays on Saturday, April 24, defending its title in the4x1,600-meter relay. The Gopher foursome of Nikki Swenson, Elizabeth Yetzer, Megan Duwell and Gabriele Anderson clocked a Drake Relays record time of 18 minutes, 58.82 seconds. The title is Minnesota’s 22nd at the annual relays dubbed, “America’s Athletic Classic.”
Swenson and Anderson were members of the Gophers’ winning 4x800-meter and 4x1,600-meter relays. Anderson finished her Gopher career with five Drake Relays title. Swenson, a junior, has four. Yetzer added her fourth career Drake Relays title as well.
Duwell Breaks Her Own 5K Record at Sun Angel
Senior Megan Duwell broke her own Minnesota school record in the 5,000-meter run at the Sun Angel Classic on April 10. Duwell placed second overall, the first collegian, clocking a time of 16 minutes, 4.55 seconds, over three seconds faster than her previous record time. Duwell’s time currently ranks 13th in the country.
Alena Brooks Earns Two Silver Medals in Caribbean Games
Minnesota freshman Alena Brooks captured two silver medals representing her homeland of Trinidad & Tobago in the 2010 Carifta Games in George Town, Cayman Islands on April 2-3. Brooks ran a time of 2 minutes, 8.97 seconds to finish second in the 800-meter run. She also anchored the 4x400-meter relay (3:37.32) to a gold medal, making up ground on her leg and nearly catching champion Jamaica at the tape. Brooks also competed in the 400-meter dash, finishing fourth in a time of 54.83 seconds.
The Golden Gopher Coaching Staff
Matt Bingle is in his fourth 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 (25th season, third as an assistant coach after 21 years as head coach) and Lynne Anderson (30th season).
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Wednesday-Saturday – June 9-12, 2010
Hayward Field
Eugene, Ore.
Host: University of Oregon
2010 Minnesota Women’s Track & Field Watch List
• Golden Gophers Travel to Oregon for NCAA Championships - The Minnesota women’s track & field team will be represented by four athletes at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. The University of Oregon plays host to the meet on Wednesday-Saturday, June 9-12.
• The Gopher Lineup - All four Gophers advanced through the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Competing for Minnesota is Gabriele Anderson and Nikki Swenson in the 1,500-meter run, Megan Duwell in the 10,000-meter run and Nikki Tzanakis in the discus.
• Duwell Chases History at NCAAs - Megan Duwell has the chance to become the first Gopher to capture individual-event All-America honors in three seasons of a school year - cross country, indoor and outdoor track. Duwell was seventh in the NCAA Cross Country Championships and placed sixth in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor meet.
• Three Gophers Win Big Ten Titles, Team Second - Megan Duwell (10,000 meters), DeAnne Hahn (hammer) and Todea-Kay Willis (long jump) captured Big Ten titles. The Gophers finished second in the team standings.
Gophers Sent Four to NCAA Championships
The Minnesota women’s track & field team will send four athletes to compete in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 9-12, in Eugene, Ore. The University of Oregon plays host to the event at the historic Hayward Field.
Television Coverage of the NCAA Meet
CBS will televise two hours of the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships live on Saturday, June 12, from 12-2 p.m. (CT). For Comcast customers with a sport tier, CBS College Sports Network will broadcast the Championships for two hours from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, June 11. When CBS is not broadcasting from the Championships, fans can check out live video streaming on NCAA.com.
NCAA Championships History
Texas A&M is the defending champion after winning its first NCAA team crown a year ago. Minnesota has recorded six top-20 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships: 18th in 1990 and 1991, 19th in 1996 and 2006, a tie for 13th in 2008 and 18th in 2009. The most points scored by Minnesota at the outdoor national meet was 15 points in 2008. The Gophers scored 14.5 a year ago in placing 18th.
Making a Run at History
Golden Gopher senior Megan Duwell will make a run at Minnesota history when she competes in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships. Duwell has the chance to become the first Gopher to capture All-America individual-event honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in the same school year. Duwell ran to her second All-America honor in cross country last fall. Duwell finished seventh in the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the highest Gopher finish ever, while covering the 6-kilometer national course in a school-record time of 20:06.9. She then smashed her own school record in earning All-America honors at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track Championships with a sixth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run (15:59.23). Duwell has carried her success into the outdoor season in 2010, where she broke the Gopher outdoor 5,000-meter record (16:04.55) before defending her Big Ten title in the 10,000 meters.
The only Golden Gopher to come close to this accomplishment was Emily Brown, who in the 2006-07 year earned All-America honors in two individual events (cross country, 3,000-meter steeplechase) and a relay (distance medley relay).
Could This be a Storybook Ending for Gabe?
Sixth-year senior Gabriele Anderson will be making her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut and her first Championships’ appearance in an individual event - the 1,500-meter run. Anderson does have plenty of NCAA Championships experience overall, however, competing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships three times and twice at the NCAA indoor meet as a member of the Gopher distance medley relay.
A track and cross country standout, Anderson was honored with the Richard “Pinky” McNamara Student-Athlete Achievement Award at the U of M Scholar-Athlete Awards Ceremony. The award is given to a student-athlete who has inspired all by making an extraordinary effort to succeed despite difficult circumstances, persevering during a time of tremendous adversity and/or overcoming a great challenge.
After helping the Gopher cross country team to back-to-back Big Ten titles, Anderson embarked on her senior track season in 2009 with high expectations. She ran a runner-up finish in the mile helping the Gophers win another Big Ten indoor track team title. Then in April, she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic caranoma (a cancer of the neck). With an uncertain future and knowing of her battle ahead, Anderson decided to run one more race before treatment five days ahead of her. She responded by running a career-best time, the seventh-fastest time in school history, in the 1,500-meter run. Anderson underwent surgery and treatment while her team wore “Gabe” patches on their uniforms. She made a successful petition to the NCAA for a sixth season.
Gabe has enjoyed a sensational 2010 outdoor champaign. She came within a hundredth of a second of winning the Big Ten 1,500-meter title but did break a 26 year-old record in the process (4:15.43).
Anderson was nominated for the 2010 Honda Inspiration Award and was a top-three finalist for the honor.
Swenson Moves up a Distance in Her Second NCAA Appearance
Junior Nikki Swenson made her NCAA debut a year ago in the 800 meters. This season, Swenson decided to compete in the 1,500 meters. Swenson also ran in her first NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall.
Tzanakis Makes NCAA Championships Debut
The only NCAA rookie among the Golden Gopher competitors heading to the NCAA Championships is junior discus thrower Nikki Tzanakis. Tzanakis, a former walk-on who had to talk her way into a tryout, is the eighth Gopher discus thrower to compete at the NCAA meet.
NCAA Championships - Gophers’ Event Preview
Following is an event-by-event preview for the Gophers at the NCAA Championships:
The 1,500 meters – Minnesota has two entries in the 1,500 meters: sixth-year senior Gabriele Anderson and junior Nikki Swenson. Anderson is seeded second with her time of 4:16.22 from the West Prelims. Her Minnesota-record time of 4:15.43, her Big Ten runner-up time, is the 11th fastest in the nation this year. Swenson is seeded 24th in the field with her career-best time of 4:20.89 from the West Prelims.
The 10,000 meters – Senior Megan Duwell is seeded fifth in the 10,000 meters after the Preliminary Rounds. The times from the prelims are really of no consequence, considering the heat and humidity the runners faced during the preliminary races. The 2010 season was the first time the 10K runners had to run a qualifying race to advance to the NCAA Championships, instead of using the nation’s descending order list to determine the field. Having just two weeks between 10Ks may have an effect on some runners. Duwell, the Big Ten champion the last years, owns a career-best time of 34:02.12.
The Discus – Junior Nikki Tzanakis is seeded 21st heading into her NCAA Championships debut with her throw of 163-8 from the West Prelims. Tzanakis’ best effort of the season was a career-best 166-8.
NCAA West Preliminary Round Review
Saturday, May 29 – Minnesota added two more NCAA Championships qualifiers in the third and final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas.
Gabriele Anderson and Nikki Swenson advanced in the 1,500-meter run. Anderson clocked a time of 4 minutes, 16.22 seconds in placing third, while Swenson was 12th with a personal-best time of 4:20.89.
Anderson moved the lead with 300 meters remaining in the race. Kansas' Lauren Bonds passed her late to win the quarterfinal round. Swenson's goal in the race, and one that worked well, was to stick with Anderson as long as she could. Swenson will make a return trip to the NCAA Championships in the event.
Natalie Devine matched her season-best height in the high jump of 5 feet, 8 1/2 inches to place 14th. She needed to clear 5-10 to advance to the NCAAs.
DeAnne Hahn competed in the hammer throw and placed 34th with a throw of 173-3.
The Gopher 4x100-meter relay ran into the same problem as they did at the Big Ten Championships. A failed handoff resulted in an "DNF" - did not finish.
Friday, May 28 – Junior Nikki Tzanakis captured her first trip to the NCAA Championships with her top-12 finish in the discus at the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet. Tzanakis placed 12th with a throw of 163 feet, 8 inches, marking her best effort on her final throw of finals.
Jessica Cagle also competed in the discus, placing 32nd with a throw of 148-1.
Four Gophers competed in NCAA quarterfinals on Friday. Kylie Peterson fell one spot short of an NCAA berth. Peterson placed 13th in the 100-meter dash quarterfinal with a time of 11.58 seconds. Adrienne Thomas was 22nd in 11.90 seconds.
Felicitias Mensing finished seventh in her heat and 19th overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase clocking a time of 10:40.59. Kelly Stalpes finished 22nd in the 400-meter hurdles quarterfinal with a time of 1:01.09.
In long jump qualifying, Todea-Kay Willis finished 30th with a leap of 19-3 1/4. Adrienne Thomas did not record a mark, fouling on her three attempts.
Thursday, May 27 – Golden Gopher senior Megan Duwell advanced to the NCAA Championships field in the 10,000-meter run with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas.
The race was moved back 45 minutes to offset the Texas heat but the temperature still read 82 degrees when the gun sounded at 9:45 p.m.
Duwell ran a consistent pace for much of the 25-lap marathon race. She hung around the 20th position midway through the race, then began to pass runners as the race progressed. The two-time Big Ten champion ran a time of 34 minutes, 31.04 seconds.
Five other Gophers advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA West Prelims, including two in a pair of events.
Gabriele Anderson ran the second-fastest time of her career – 4:20.85 - in placing second in her heat of the 1,500-meter run. She is the fifth-fastest qualifier. Anderson led briefly in the final lap but eased up in the final 20 meters to grab second place. The top five finishers in each heat automatically advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinal.
Nikki Swenson was the final qualifier into the quarterfinal field. She ran a time of 4:26.14.
Sprinters Kylie Peterson and Adrienne Thomas advanced to Friday’s 100-meter dash quarterfinal. Peterson finished second in her heat and collected the 11th-fastest time in the first round clocking a time of 11.73 seconds. Thomas ran a time of 11.85 seconds and placed sixth in her heat to earn the 22nd quarterfinal qualifying mark. Twenty-four runners will compete in the quarterfinal.
Kelly Stalpes advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal in the 400-meter hurdles. Stalpes placed fourth in her heat with a time of 59.72 seconds.
The Gophers had several athletes compete in the NCAA First Round. Amy Laskowske and Mallory Van Ness joined Duwell in the 10,000 meters field. Laskowske finished 15th in 35:02.08, while Van Ness was 25th in 35:41.63.
Elizabeth Yetzer and Kathryn Ritter ran the 1,500 meters with Yetzer placing 36th overall in 4:32.91 and Ritter 37th in 4:33.61.
Jamie Dittmar and Alena Brooks both placed fifth in their respective heats of the 800 meters. Dittmar finished 27th overall in 2:09.13, while Brooks was 37th in 2:10.85.
Becca Pilkerton was the only one of the three Gopher pole vaulters to make a height. Pilkerton cleared a career-best height of 12-11 1/2 to finish 22nd overall. The height needed to advance to the NCAA Championships was 13-7 1/4. Alicia Rue missed three attempts at her opening height of 12-3 1/2, while Samantha Sonnenberg was unable to clear her opening height of 12-9 1/2.
Trio of Golden Gophers Capture Big Ten Titles
Minnesota celebrated three Big Ten individual titles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Megan Duwell defended her crown in the 10,000 meters. DeAnne Hahn’s title in the hammer throw and Todea-Kay Willis’ win in the long jump marked the first titles won in those events by a Golden Gopher.
Anderson Breaks Long-Standing School Record
Gabriele Anderson missed the Big Ten title by a hundreth of a second in the 1,500-meter run but as a consolation, the sixth-year Gopher can now call the school record her own. Anderson posted a time of 4:15.43, a personal-best by over five seconds, to break a 26 year-old Minnesota record held by Jody Eder (4:15.59).
Big Ten Outdoor Track Championships Review, Minnesota Places Second
Sunday, May 16 – Penn State was the favored team. In fact, the Nittany Lions were heavily favored, but they needed a win in the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay, to finally secure the team title. A feisty Minnesota team took Penn State to the limit. The Gophers placed second, 10.5 points (123.0) off of Penn State’s winning total of 133.5.
“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 took 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).
Saturday, May 17 – Redshirt freshman Todea-Kay Willis helped keep the Minnesota women’s track & field team in the lead at the Big Ten Championships by pulling a huge upset victory in the long jump.
Willis came into the meet seeded seventh but sailed to a winning leap of 20-9 1/4 on her second attempt of the prelims. The leap was her career-best by over a foot and marked the third-best jump in Gopher history. Willis is the first Gopher to win a Big Ten long jump title.
Ironically, Willis’ winning effort came after teammate Adrienne Thomas captured the lead on her second jump of prelims with a leap of 19-8 1/4, her personal best and fifth in school history. Willis launched her historic jump five leaps later. Willis also might have been inspired to seek a little redemption after she and teammate Chioma Omeoga were unable to connect on the third handoff of the Gophers’ 4x100-meter relay.
Emily Betz aided the Minnesota effort on Saturday by taking third in the javelin with a throw of 131-10. The remaining points came from a seventh-place finish by Felicitias Mensing, who ran a season-best time of 10:34.62 for the fourth-best time in Gopher history.
The Gophers have a total of 56 points after seven scored events. Wisconsin is second with 52, followed by Indiana in third with 41. Pre-Championships favorite Penn State is fifth with just 24 points after seven events but has 11 athletes in finals on Sunday. Minnesota has nine athletes qualified for finals.
Friday, May 14 – Golden Gopher veteran throws coach Lynne Anderson has seen a lot happen in her Minnesota coaching career. On Friday, however, she enjoyed some long-awaited history. A Golden Gopher – sophomore DeAnne Hahn – captured the program’s first Big Ten crown in the hammer throw.
Hahn, who older brother Damion won three wrestling Big Ten titles as well as a couple NCAA crowns, heaved the hammer a distance of 185 feet, 8 inches to capture the title. She landed her top throw in her second attempt of the preliminary round. Hahn placed third in the event a year ago.
Megan Duwell added some history of her own defending her title in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 34:02.12. The time is her personal best and ranks third in school history. Duwell the ninth Golden Gopher to win back-to-back Big Ten outdoor titles and amazing the first to do so on the track.
Minnesota tallied an impressive 23 points in the 10,000 meters. Amy Laskowske was second in 34:04.29, while Mallory Van Ness finished fourth in 34:45.98, her personal best and the sixth-best time in Gopher history.
Duwell led for virtually the entire race, working with her teammate Laskowske to run strategic and consistent lap times. With four laps remaining, the Gopher duo stretched their lead to a comfortable margin.
The heptathlon contested its first four events on Friday as well. Nikki Schultz is in ninth place after the first day with 2,621 points. Schultz’ best event of the first day was the shot put, where she was seventh with a throw of 36-3.
Gophers Continue Drake Relays Success
Minnesota continued its dominance of the 4x800-meter relay at the Drake Relays cruising to its fourth consecutive title at “America’s Athletic Classic” in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, April 23 The Golden Gopher foursome of Nikki Swenson, Alena Brooks, Jamie Dittmar and Gabriele Anderson captured the victory in a time of 8 minutes, 33.98 seconds over nine seconds faster than runner-up Nebraska. Swenson and Anderson won their third Drake Relays crown in the event.
Minnesota won its second title of the 2010 Drake Relays on Saturday, April 24, defending its title in the4x1,600-meter relay. The Gopher foursome of Nikki Swenson, Elizabeth Yetzer, Megan Duwell and Gabriele Anderson clocked a Drake Relays record time of 18 minutes, 58.82 seconds. The title is Minnesota’s 22nd at the annual relays dubbed, “America’s Athletic Classic.”
Swenson and Anderson were members of the Gophers’ winning 4x800-meter and 4x1,600-meter relays. Anderson finished her Gopher career with five Drake Relays title. Swenson, a junior, has four. Yetzer added her fourth career Drake Relays title as well.
Duwell Breaks Her Own 5K Record at Sun Angel
Senior Megan Duwell broke her own Minnesota school record in the 5,000-meter run at the Sun Angel Classic on April 10. Duwell placed second overall, the first collegian, clocking a time of 16 minutes, 4.55 seconds, over three seconds faster than her previous record time. Duwell’s time currently ranks 13th in the country.
Alena Brooks Earns Two Silver Medals in Caribbean Games
Minnesota freshman Alena Brooks captured two silver medals representing her homeland of Trinidad & Tobago in the 2010 Carifta Games in George Town, Cayman Islands on April 2-3. Brooks ran a time of 2 minutes, 8.97 seconds to finish second in the 800-meter run. She also anchored the 4x400-meter relay (3:37.32) to a gold medal, making up ground on her leg and nearly catching champion Jamaica at the tape. Brooks also competed in the 400-meter dash, finishing fourth in a time of 54.83 seconds.
The Golden Gopher Coaching Staff
Matt Bingle is in his fourth 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 (25th season, third as an assistant coach after 21 years as head coach) and Lynne Anderson (30th season).
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
MD
/ Women's Track & Field
SPR
/ Women's Track & FieldTHR
/ Women's Track & Field
HJ
/ Women's Track & Field
MD
/ Women's Track & FieldMD
/ Women's Track & Field
THR
/ Women's Track & Field
DIST
/ Women's Track & FieldSPR
/ Women's Track & Field
SPR
/ Women's Track & Field
PV
/ Women's Track & Field
DIST
/ Women's Track & FieldPV
/ Women's Track & FieldMD
/ Women's Track & Field
PV
/ Women's Track & Field
JU/SPR
/ Women's Track & Field
DIST
/ Women's Track & Field
JU/SPR
/ Women's Track & Field
THR
/ Women's Track & FieldDIST
/ Women's Track & Field
JU/SPR
/ Women's Track & Field
DIST
/ Women's Track & FieldAnthonett Nabwe Wins B1G Gold
Monday, May 18
The Liberian Legend: Anthonett Nabwe
Tuesday, April 21
Anthonett Nabwe Wins NCAA Title
Monday, March 16
Anthonett Nabwe Wins B1G Silver
Saturday, February 28