University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women Advance Nine to Big Ten Finals
5/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
The Minnesota women’s track & field team still has plenty of work to do, but the Golden Gophers set the groundwork by qualifying nine individuals and its 4x100-meter relay to Sunday’s Big Ten Championships finals.
Weather conditions were far less than ideal as rain, windy and temperatures in the low 50s make competition even more of a challenge at Iowa’s Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track.
“This really was a tough weather day but I thought we handled it well,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “We have the chance to make up some ground tomorrow.”
The Gophers will look to their middle distance runners to provide a big scoring punch on the third and final day of the Big Ten meet. Minnesota advanced all four of their 1,500-meter runners to the final in seniors Nikki Swenson and Elizabeth Yetzer and redshirt freshmen Maggie Bollig and Cassy Opitz. Swenson also advanced in the 800 meters, where she will be joined by teammate Katie Hill.
Others making the finals in their events were Chimerem Okoroji in the 100 meters, Alena Brooks in the 400 meters and Sharyn Dahl in the 400-meter hurdles. Okoroji and Brooks, along with Nyoka Giles and Todea-Kay Willis, also helped the 4x100-meter relay advance to the final.
The Gophers scored in two events on Saturday, the long jump and the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Todea-Kay Willis collected a fourth-place finish in the long jump. Willis landed her best jump of 19 feet, 1 1/2 inches on her first attempt of finals. Adrienne Thomas placed 12th with a jump of 18-5.
Katie Moraczewski added a seventh-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a career-best time of 10:33.66, the third-best time in Gopher history. Kathryn Ritter also hit the Gopher top-10 list at No. 8 with her 15th-place time of 10:54.92. Paige Orcutt was 18th with a time of 11:01.07.
Indiana has a big lead with 73 points after the second day and eight events scored. The Hoosiers, however, only have two runners qualified for Sunday’s finals. Illinois has the most final qualifiers with 10, while defending Big Ten champion Penn State and Minnesota have nine. Minnesota is in eighth place with 16 points.
Weather conditions were far less than ideal as rain, windy and temperatures in the low 50s make competition even more of a challenge at Iowa’s Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track.
“This really was a tough weather day but I thought we handled it well,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “We have the chance to make up some ground tomorrow.”
The Gophers will look to their middle distance runners to provide a big scoring punch on the third and final day of the Big Ten meet. Minnesota advanced all four of their 1,500-meter runners to the final in seniors Nikki Swenson and Elizabeth Yetzer and redshirt freshmen Maggie Bollig and Cassy Opitz. Swenson also advanced in the 800 meters, where she will be joined by teammate Katie Hill.
Others making the finals in their events were Chimerem Okoroji in the 100 meters, Alena Brooks in the 400 meters and Sharyn Dahl in the 400-meter hurdles. Okoroji and Brooks, along with Nyoka Giles and Todea-Kay Willis, also helped the 4x100-meter relay advance to the final.
The Gophers scored in two events on Saturday, the long jump and the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Todea-Kay Willis collected a fourth-place finish in the long jump. Willis landed her best jump of 19 feet, 1 1/2 inches on her first attempt of finals. Adrienne Thomas placed 12th with a jump of 18-5.
Katie Moraczewski added a seventh-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a career-best time of 10:33.66, the third-best time in Gopher history. Kathryn Ritter also hit the Gopher top-10 list at No. 8 with her 15th-place time of 10:54.92. Paige Orcutt was 18th with a time of 11:01.07.
Indiana has a big lead with 73 points after the second day and eight events scored. The Hoosiers, however, only have two runners qualified for Sunday’s finals. Illinois has the most final qualifiers with 10, while defending Big Ten champion Penn State and Minnesota have nine. Minnesota is in eighth place with 16 points.
Players Mentioned
DIST
/ Women's Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Women's Track & Field
Jumps/Srints
/ Women's Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
DIST
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Women's Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
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