University of Minnesota Athletics
Rocky's Run to Conclude Home Season
11/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
| 2014 Rocky's Run | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 | 10:30 a.m. | ||||||||||
| Location | Les Bolstad Course | Falcon Heights, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Online Registration | Online Registration | Age 19 and Under: $10 | Age 20 and Over: $15 | ||||||||||
| Race-Day Registration | Age 19 and Under: $15 | Age 20 and Over: $20 | ||||||||||
| Distance | 6K | ||||||||||
| Coverage | @GopherWCCTF | ||||||||||
Nov. 4, 2014
MINNEAPOLIS - This weekend, the No. 20 Golden Gopher women's cross country team will conclude its home slate by hosting the 34th annual running of Rocky's Run at Les Bolstad Course. The 6K race begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning and is open to the public.
2013 Rocky's Run Rewind
Haley Johnson was the Gophers' top runner in fifth overall with a time of 22:48 at Rocky's Run last year. Graduated senior Cassy Opitz was Minnesota's second runner in seventh overall (23:29).
A pack of six Gophers came in ninth through 14th overall in Katie Hill (23:35), Lauren Domski (23:38), Hannah Trasser (23:39), Taylor Mikkalson (23:39), Jamie Vandenberg (23:40) and Melissa Cabak (23:42).
The open 6K included 166 total runners. Ben Sathre of Minneapolis was the overall winner in 18:38, and Meghan Peyton of Richfield, Minn., was the women's champion in 21:10.
About Rocky's Run
Rocky's Run was founded in 1981 to honor former Gopher runner Rochelle "Rocky" Racette, who died in a car accident that fall at the age of 22. While at the University of Minnesota, Racette was an All-American in track & field and cross country and champion of the Big Ten and Drake Relays 5,000-meter titles. The race will be staged by the many members of the running community who knew and loved her. Racette's legacy lives on through the memory of those who knew her, and through Rocky's Run and the scholarship for which it raises money.
The registration fee is $10 for age 19 and under and $15 for age 20 and over. Race-day registration is available with a $5 surcharge added. The terrain is rolling grass with many turns. It is accurately measured, and spikes are permitted. Experience running on grass will help on this course. Online registration is now open.
Last Time Out: Gophers Take Fifth at Big Tens
The top five Gophers all ran career-best times and two more ran season-best times as Minnesota finished fifth in the team standings at the 2014 Big Ten Cross Country Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, last Sunday.
Redshirt juniors Liz Berkholtz (16th, 20:31.5), Becca Dyson (18th, 20:37.5) and Kaila Urick (30th, 20:52.2) led Minnesota's charge as they have most of the season. All three clocked career-best 6K times at the University of Iowa's Ashton Cross Country Course. Minnesota's fourth and fifth runners also ran career-best times as redshirt freshman Danielle Anderson was 35th overall in 21:06.5 and redshirt sophomore Haley Johnson finished 43rd in 21:14.6.
National No. 1 Michigan State took the team title with 26 points, followed by No. 8 Wisconsin (55), No. 4 Michigan (93), No. 19 Ohio State (127) and the No. 20 Gophers (139) to round out the top five.
USTFCCCA Rankings Update
After a fifth-place showing at the Big Ten championships, Minnesota maintained its No. 20 ranking in this week's USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Georgetown and No. 3 Oregon kept the top three spots as well. Five Big Ten teams rank in the nation's top 30 as No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 8 Michigan and No. 19 Ohio State join the Spartans and Gophers among the nation's best.
Minnesota climbed to number two in the Midwest Regional rankings this week after landing in the No. 3 spot in each of this year's previous rankings. The Gophers are second to regional favorite Iowa State, which ranks fifth in the national poll.
Up Next: 2014 NCAA Midwest Regional
The Gophers will travel to Peoria, Ill., for the 2014 NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 14. The top two teams from each of nine regional meets automatically advance to the 2014 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 22. The remaining 13 spots at the national meet will be filled by teams receiving at-large bids.
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Players Mentioned
