University of Minnesota Athletics
Distance Gophers Look to Build on Fall Season
12/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
By Mallory Wickman, Athletic Communications Student Intern
MINNEAPOLIS - As the Golden Gopher women's track & field team prepares for the upcoming season, distance coach Sarah Hopkins recaps this fall's cross country season and previews the highly anticipated spring season.
Twenty-one Gophers recorded career-best 6K times during the 2014 cross country season, led by redshirt juniors Liz Berkholtz (20:16.8), Kaila Urick (20:25.8) and Becca Dyson (20:37.5). The team earned a fifth-place showing in the Big Ten and made its 10th-straight trip to the national championship meet.
"Our goal was to make it back to the national championship, and we were happy to have accomplished that," Hopkins said. "We were all a little bit disappointed with the way that nationals played out, but it was a great learning meet.
"We were pretty happy with the fall overall. It left everyone hungry and anxious to get to track season to keep momentum going because we know that we are capable of more."
The Gophers' distance runners gained valuable collegiate racing experience this fall that will transfer from cross country to the track. In the NCAA postseason, a mixed group of experienced runners and rookies represented the Maroon & Gold.
Hopkins expects redshirt sophomore Jamie Piepenburg and redshirt freshman Danielle Anderson to help the team in the 5,000-meter run and 10,000-meter run this spring. Fellow redshirt sophomore Haley Johnson will continue to build on a foundation she set on the track last spring.
"Haley was our fifth runner in cross country and also ran a few Big Ten races on the track last spring," Hopkins said. "Last year, I think she was happy to be there, but this year she will be ready to contribute and score."
Minnesota's veteran distance runners will also use their fall success to build confidence and further assert themselves on the track this spring. Hopkins expects Berkholtz, Dyson and Urick to lead the way on the track.
"Last year, Liz Berkholtz was a scorer at the Big Ten meet during both the indoor and outdoor seasons," Hopkins said. "She's one of the best as far as what she has accomplished up to this point."
Hopkins has high hopes for Dyson and Urick to be great leaders of each of their events as well. Urick already ranks fifth among Gophers all-time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Dyson owns the eighth-best time in Minnesota history in the indoor 3,000-meter run.
"Track season is really fun because we are a part of a bigger whole," Hopkins said. "We really feel as a coaching staff that we can do some really special things on the track this year.
"This spring will be a combo pack in terms of what I'm looking for, but I definitely think that we have the upperclassmen leadership and talent to score and bring home points for the team. We also have the younger group that's really making a name for themselves."
The Gophers kick off the 2015 indoor track & field season by hosting the Minnesota Open at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 17.
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Players Mentioned
