University of Minnesota Athletics
Rocky's Run to Conclude Home Slate
11/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 5, 2015
By Hannah Barnes, Athletic Communications Student Intern
MINNEAPOLIS - This weekend, the No. 21 Golden Gopher women's cross country team will conclude its home slate by hosting the 35th annual Rocky's Run at Les Bolstad Course. The 6K race begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning and is open to the public with race-day registration only.
2014 Rocky's Run Rewind
Stacey Swatek was the Gophers' top finisher with a time of 23:54, which earned her sixth place overall at Rocky's Run last year. Marnie Kinnaird was Minnesota's second runner to cross the finish line at 10th overall (24:06).
Following Kinnaird and Swatek, Melissa Cabak (11th, 24:10), Chelsea Pettit (12th, 24:13), Andie Zeman (13th, 24:18) and Rebecca Rethwisch (14th, 24:19) finished the race with top-15 spots.
The open 6K included 147 total runners. Dan Greeno of Richfield, Minn., was the overall winner in 19:13, and Lauren Rice of Minneapolis 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 annual race is 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 with race-day registration only. 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.
Last Time Out: Gophers Take Fourth at Big Tens
The top nine Gophers ran career or season best times as Minnesota finished fourth in the team standings at the 2015 Big Ten Cross Country Championships in Chicago last Sunday.
Liz Berkholtz led the Gophers for the second year in a row, finishing in 11th place and earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career. She finished in 20:18.7, which was a season-best.
Kaila Urick also earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors, crossing the finish line 14th at 20:29.0, also posting a season-best time.
Haley Johnson (19th, 20:38.7), Madeline Strandemo (20th, 20:41.3) and Jamie Piepenburg (44th, 21:15.1) finished off Minnesota's scoring, all earning career-best times.
Tamara Gorman (career-best 21:25.0), Emily Betz (career-best 21:25.8), Patty O'Brien (career-best 21:39.2) and Stacey Swatek (21:40.7) also ran for the Gophers, finishing among the top 64 spots.
National No. 10 Penn State took the team title with 53 points, followed by No. 7 Michigan (58), No. 18 Michigan State (104) and the No. 21 Gophers (106).
USTFCCCA Rankings Update
After a fourth-place showing at the Big Ten Championship, Minnesota moved up to its No. 21 ranking in this week's USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. No. 1 New Mexico kept its rank from last week, while No. 2 Colorado and No. 3 Arkansas made up the top three spots. Oregon and Providence tied in this week's rankings for the No. 4 spot. Four Big Ten teams rank in the nation's top 30 as No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Penn State and No. 18 Michigan State join the Gophers among the nation's best.
Minnesota holds the number three spot in the Midwest Regional rankings this week. The Gophers are third behind regional foes Oklahoma State and Iowa State, which rank 13th and 16th in the national poll, respectively.
Coach Sarah Hopkins on Rocky's Run
Sarah Hopkins: "Rocky's Run is a great opportunity to test people who aren't necessarily on the Big Ten team, but to force their hand to stay focused until the end and keep things in perspective and keep that drive. It's hard to stay focused through Jack's and Rocky's just because they are home meets and there's not a lot of hoopla around them, but you can tell the people who are really driven to improve and those who want to make that next step next year because they are the ones who are going to come out and perform well. They should be more rested, fresh, and ready to go. It's a good opportunity to see that."
"Really, the focus is on having a PR from Oz or Griak since it's the same course. Try to run faster than they did earlier in the year, which sounds like an easy thing to do, but because of the type of meet it is, it is kind of a challenge. I think it's a good look into next year, especially because we graduate a decent number of people from our top group and it'll give us a look at who's ready to make that jump next fall."
"It's also a really nice lead in to track season. We don't have a lot of down time between the end of cross and the start of track, so to be able to have some positive momentum heading into winter training is really important. That's a key for this meet as well."
"Tess Wasowicz is ready to have a good day. She's really gotten better all year and has been healthy all season, which is a good thing for her. Taylor Mikkalson will be running in her last cross country race, and I think she's ready to go out with a bang. The workout group that they have been leading has been looking really good these last couple weeks in practice. I'm excited to see some of the freshmen who are still learning every week and see the progress they've made from the Intrasquad and the Oz to now."
Up Next: 2015 NCAA Midwest Regional
The Gophers will travel to Lawrence, Kan., for the 2015 NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 13. The top two teams from each of nine regional meets automatically advance to the 2015 NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, Nov. 21. Teams receiving at-large bids will fill the remaining 13 spots at the national meet.
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Players Mentioned
