University of Minnesota Athletics
Todea-Kay Willis Breaks Long Jump Record
4/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Minnesota sophomore Todea-Kay Willis broke the Golden Gopher record in the long jump at the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday. Willis, the defending Big Ten champion, captured the title in the event with a leap of 21 feet, 1 1/2 inches. She breaks the record of Liz Roehrig, who owned the record with a jump of 21-1 1/4 in 2006.
Nikki Tzanakis added another title winning the discus with a throw of 164-4. Kim Hovey was fifth in the event with a toss of 150-5.
Chimerem Okoroji led the Gophers on the track competing against several top SEC athletes and even some former LSU Olympians. Okoroji placed 10th in the invitational 100-meter dash with a career-best time of 11.63 seconds, the fourth-best time in Gopher history. Okoroji added another career-best performance in the 200 meters finishing third in a time of 24.22 seconds, tying the seventh-fastest time in school history.
The Gophers collected a pair of top-five finishes in the 400-meter hurdles. Sharyn Dahl placed second in a time of 59.25 seconds. Kelly Stalpes was fifth in 1:00.63.
Other top five finishes for the Gophers were Nyoka Giles, fourth in the 100-meter dash open race with a season-best time of 11.89 seconds; Samantha Sonnenberg fourth in the pole vault with a leap of 13-2 1/4 and Natalie Devine fourth in the high jump with a height of 5-7.
The Gopher relays both placed fifth with the 4x100-meter relay of Willis, Giles, Okoroji and Alena Brooks running a time of 45.36 seconds and the 4x400-meter relay of Dahl, Giles, Brooks and Stalpes clocking a time of 3:39.68.
Minnesota also competed at the Iowa Musco Twilight in Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday. Cassy Opitz and Maggie Bollig notched a 1-2 finish in the 1,500 meters. Opitz ran a time of 4:36.89, while Bollig was clocked in 4:37.26. Kelsey Joson won the triple jump with a leap of 37-7 3/4. Paige Orcutt finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 11:02.20.
Players Mentioned
