University of Minnesota Athletics
Okoroji Wins 60 Meters at Iowa State Classic
2/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Minnesota juniorChimerem Okoroji captured her third 60-meter dash crown of the season winning the event at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday. Okoroji clocked a time of 7.51 seconds.
Okoroji was the third Gopher to win an event title at the Iowa State Classic over the weekend, joining Samantha Sonnenberg in the pole vault and Todea-Kay Willis in the long jump who won events on Friday.
The most impressive event of Saturday’s competition for Minnesota, however, had to be the mile run where six Gophers recorded personal-best times. Nikki Swenson placed third overall and as the top collegian running a time of 4:39.86, the third-fastest time in Gopher history. Elizabeth Yetzer followed in fourth place in 4:41.03, the fourth-best time in Minnesota history. Stephanie Price finished seventh in 4:42.75, while Ashlie Decker (4:56.71), Cassy Opitz (4:58.50) and Maggie Bollig (4:59.69) also clocked the best times of their Gopher careers.
In addition to the current Gophers performing well in the mile, two Minnesota alums captured the top two places in the race. Gabriele Anderson won the title in 4:35.17, followed by Heather (Dorniden) Kampf in second in 4:37.76.
Alena Brooks ran another outstanding time in the 400 meters, placing third in 54.55 seconds, four hundreds of a second off her career-best time she ran a week ago. She also anchored the Gophers’ 4x400-meter relay that finished fifth in 3:43.41. Other relay members were Nyoka Giles, Katie Hill and Sharyn Dahl.
Contributing other top-5 finishes for the Gophers were Missa Varpness, who finished fourth in the 3,000 meters in a time of 9:29.86, the sixth-fastest time in Gopher history. Hill added a fifth-place showing in the 600-yard dash in 1:22.94.
The Gopher throwers competed at the Brooks Classic at UW-River Falls on Saturday. Caty Dongoske won the weight throw with an effort of 53-2 3/4. Kim Hovey captured the shot put title with a throw of 46-8 3/4.
Minnesota hosts the Parents’ Day Open on Saturday, Feb. 19, in its final tune-up for the Big Ten Championships.
Players Mentioned
