University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to Begin 2015 with Minnesota Open
1/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| Minnesota Open | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 | ||||||||||
| Location | Minnesota Fieldhouse, Minneapolis, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Home Meet Info | Schedule | Heat Sheets | ||||||||||
| Time | 12 p.m. Field events | 1 p.m. Running events | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | @GopherMCCTF | ||||||||||
Jan. 15, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota women's track & field team is set to host the Minnesota Open at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse to start the 2015 season this Saturday. The field events will begin at 12 p.m. and running events will begin at 1 p.m.
Distance Preview
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."
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.
"We were pretty happy with the fall overall," Hopkins said. "It left everyone hungry and anxious to get to track season to keep momentum going because we know that we are capable of more."
Read more: Distance Gophers Look to Build on Fall Season
Sprints, Jumps and Multi-Events Preview
With a balance of new and veteran student-athletes, director of women's cross country and track & field Matt Bingle, who coaches the Gophers' sprinters, jumpers and multi-event student-athletes, is cautiously optimistic about the team's upcoming season.
"I'm anxious to see how the season comes together," Bingle said. "My expectations are high. The biggest thing I want to see are improvements on how we execute and how we take care of things off the track, including being more mature about competition. That's going to be the key to our season."
Returners Erin Hawkins, Titania Markland and Jessica Waldvogel will lead the sprinters, and four returning multi-event athletes make up a strong Gopher corps for the pentathlon and heptathlon in Alex Beckman, Amanda Beckman, Jess Herauf and Audra Winter. Bingle also expects pole vaulters Katie Murgic and Cami Gilson to be a force in the Big Ten.
Read more: Bingle Previews Sprints, Jumps and Multi-Events
Throws Preview
Minnesota returns all of its throwers from the 2014 season, including five who competed at the NCAA West Prelim a year ago. The young group is led by captains Rachel Melum and Devin Stanford, a 2014 All-American in the hammer throw, and fellow senior Megan Petermann. Juniors Lyndsey Thorpe and transfer Ke-ke Burks round out the upperclassmen.
"I think our group is super talented, despite being fairly young," women's track & field throwing coach Peter Miller said. "There is still a lot of development that needs to happen, but I think we have one of the deepest, and hopefully most talented, groups in the NCAA."
Read more: Gopher Throwers Set for 2015 Campaign
USTFCCCA Releases Preseason National Poll
The Florida women are the top-ranked team in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Preseason Division I National Team Computer Rankings as of Jan. 6. Following Florida, No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Texas round out the top five.
Three Big Ten Conference teams are ranked in the preseason top 25 with No. 14 Maryland, No. 15 Michigan and No. 22 Wisconsin making the list. The Gophers land 59th among 139 women's teams in the complete rankings, which are complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. For the preseason ranking and early-season rankings, data will be taken from previous seasons as well as the current season. The next rankings will be released on Jan. 26.
Seven Gophers to Captain 2015 Squad
Minnesota's captains this season are Alex Beckman, Jess Herauf, Anne Ferguson, Rachel Melum, Nicole Murphey, Devin Stanford and Jessica Waldvogel.
"I'd like to see this group really lead by example," Bingle said. "They need to hold their teammates accountable and do what's best for the team 24 hours a day. If we do that, I feel like we're getting good leadership and doing the right things and will be able to deal with the ups and downs of the season."
2014 Opening Meet Rewind
The Golden Gophers started the 2014 indoor season by earning nine event titles at the 2014 Northwest Open at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse.
Two Gophers broke Northwest Open meet records. Alena Brooks won the 600m dash in 1:29.65 and bettered the meet record by nearly four seconds, improving on Sue Gentes' (Wisconsin) mark of 1:33.31 from 1988. In addition, Erin Hawkins won the 200m dash in 25.00, breaking a 14-year-old record held by Oluwascun Adetiba of Iowa State by .01 (25.01). Brooks and Hawkins also teamed up on the Gophers' first-place 4x400m relay team.
Bingle on the Minnesota Open
Gopher Sports: What are you looking for this weekend?
Matt Bingle: I would say just doing the little things, so taking care of business, good warm-ups, good mental approach, getting in that meet mode and shaking off a little bit of rust, but coming in with a plan of executing. Approach it mentally in a positive way. Physically, obviously, we're not where we will be in a couple more weeks, but we need to approach the meet the right way mentally.
GS: How important is it to have a solid first meet of the year?
Bingle: I think it's very important. We, as coaches, need to determine where to go with things and part of that comes from seeing how they do in actual competition versus practice. For the student-athletes, it's important to get their minds focused on, `now this means something and I need to get focused on executing and taking care of the details, taking care of my body,' those type of things.
GS: What are the advantages to starting the season at home?
Bingle: We can control everything, and they can sleep in their own beds. We're excited to travel early in the season, too. I think there are benefits to both. Traveling can really bring everyone together, but being at home is nice because we can control the meet. Since we're not in school yet, it's really convenient. We've had a really good week. We did a lot of volunteering and team bonding. We went to the Gopher men's basketball game earlier this week, had a movie night, and hosted a youth clinic. It's been great to do a lot of things in the community and have fun together.
Up Next
The Gophers face an early road test next weekend when they travel to Madison, Wis., for a new meet, the Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual, on Saturday, Jan. 24. The Gophers and Badgers will meet in the inaugural head-to-head Border Battle track & field showdown.
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Players Mentioned
