University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 23 Gophers Head to NCAA Championship
11/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
| 2015 NCAA Championship | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 | ||||||||||
| Location | E.P. Tom Sawyer Park | Louisville, Ky. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Info | USTFCCCA Championship Central | NCAA | ||||||||||
| Time | 11 a.m. CT Women's 6K | 12 p.m. CT Men's 10K | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | ||||||||||
Nov. 17, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 23 Golden Gopher women's cross country team heads to the 2015 NCAA Championship this Saturday. The women's 6K race begins at 11 a.m. CT at at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
Gophers Among Nation's Longest NCAA Streaks
Minnesota is making its 11th-straight NCAA Championship appearance after earning one of 13 at-large bids following a third-place finish at the Midwest Regional. Only Stanford (23 years), Michigan State (16), Michigan (14), and Georgetown (11) have equal or longer streaks of consecutive NCAA Championship appearances on the women's side. The Colorado men's cross country team owns the nation's best cross country streak overall at 24-straight seasons.
About the 2015 NCAA Championship
The top 31 teams in the nation will race at the 2015 NCAA Championship hosted by the University of Louisville at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park on Saturday, Nov. 21. The women's 6K race is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT, followed by the men's 10K race at 12 p.m. CT. Tickets will be available upon arrival at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park (no advance sales). Fees will be collected as fans park, and the price is $10 per person.
The automatic qualifying women's teams for the 2015 NCAA Championship are Arkansas, Boise State, Colorado, Georgetown, Iowa State, Michigan, Mississippi State, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Providence, Syracuse, Texas, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. The following teams received at-large selections: BYU, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Princeton, San Francisco, Stanford, Tulsa, Utah, Villanova, Washington, and Weber State.
Minnesota Against the NCAA Field
Minnesota has faced 21 of the other 30 teams competing at the NCAA championship this year, including beating Iowa State at the Oz Memorial; beating Iowa State, San Francisco, and Weber State at the Griak; beating Tulsa at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational; and beating Tulsa and Kansas at the Midwest Regional.
Balance of Veterans, Rookies Make Up NCAA Roster
Minnesota's travel roster for the NCAA postseason includes five veterans returning to the national stage and five Gophers making their NCAA debuts. Liz Berkholtz (2014, 2013, 2013), Haley Johnson (2014), Jamie Piepenburg (2014-Alt., 2012-Alt.), Madeline Strandemo (2014-Alt.), and Kaila Urick (2014, 2013-Alt.) lead the Gophers with experience at the NCAA level.
Berkholtz is the most experienced Gopher heading into Saturday's NCAA meet. She led the Gophers in 80th place overall at the 2014 NCAA Championship after finishing as Minnesota's seventh NCAA runner in both 2012 and 2013.
Meanwhile, Urick was the third Gopher finisher in her NCAA debut a year ago after serving as an alternate in 2013. Johnson finished fifth on the team last season as well. Strandemo and Piepenburg will make their racing debuts at the NCAA Championship after serving as alternates in the past. In addition, Emily Betz, Tamara Gorman, Patty O'Brien, Stacey Swatek, and Tess Wasowicz are set to make their NCAA Championship debuts this week.
Gophers at the NCAA Championship
Minnesota is making its 22nd women's cross country national championship appearance since 1975 and its 19th NCAA Championship appearance since 1983. The Gophers' highest team finish at the NCAA Championship came in 2005 when the team finished ninth. All-Americans Ladia Albertson-Junkans and Emily Brown led Minnesota's efforts. The ninth-place showing was the first of five-straight top-12 finishes.
Minnesota's most recent All-American is Stephanie Price, who finished 31st in 2010. The Gophers' all-time highest individual finisher at the NCAA championships is Megan Duwell, who took eighth overall in 2009.
2014 NCAA Championship Rewind
Led by Liz Berkholtz, Becca Dyson and Kaila Urick, Minnesota finished 31st in its 10th-straight appearance at the NCAA Championship. Berkholtz led the Gophers for the third-straight meet, finishing 80th overall in 21:06.3 and securing her highest NCAA finish of her career.
Five of Minnesota's seven runners made their debuts at the national meet. After serving as alternates a year ago, Dyson finished 132nd in 21:26.3 and Urick was 192nd in 21:52.0. Danielle Anderson (21:59.5), Haley Johnson (22:09.5) and Kate Bucknam (22:45.3) also made their first NCAA Championship appearance.
Two Gophers Earn All-Big Ten Honors
Liz Berkholtz and Kaila Urick led the Gophers to a fourth-place team finish at the Big Ten Championship. The duo earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors with top-14 finishes. Berkholtz ran a season-best 20:18.7 for 11th place while Urick also posted a season-best time of 20:29.0 for 14th.
The top nine Gophers all ran career or season best times as Minnesota finished fourth in the team standings. Haley Johnson (19th, 20:38.7), Madeline Strandemo (20th, 20:41.3) and Jamie Piepenburg (44th, 21:15.1) rounded out Minnesota's scoring finishes, all earning career-best times.
Career-Best Performances
Twenty-four Gophers have recorded career-best 6K times this season, including eight of Minnesota's 10 postseason runners: Emily Betz (21:25.8), Tamara Gorman (21:25.0), Haley Johnson (20:38.3), Patty O'Brien (21:39.2), Jamie Piepenburg (21:15.1), Madeline Strandemo (20:41.3), Stacey Swatek (21:32.9), and Tess Wasowicz (22:05.9).
USTFCCCA Rankings Update
After a third-place showing at the Midwest Regional, Minnesota enters the NCAA Championship ranked No. 23 in the most recent USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. No. 1 New Mexico, No. 2 Colorado and No. 3 Arkansas remainthe nation's top three teams; Providence is No. 4 and Oregon is No. 5 in the pre-championship rankings. Four Big Ten teams rank in the nation's top 30 as No. 6 Michigan, T-No. 9 Penn State and No. 17 Michigan State join the No. 23 Gophers among the nation's best.
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Players Mentioned
