University of Minnesota Athletics

Gophers Take Third at B1G Championship
5/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 17, 2015
Meet ResultsÂ
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Golden Gopher women's track & field team placed third in the team standings at the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championship as action at the B1G meet concluded Sunday. Minnesota picked up 22 points on the final day to finish with 93 points.
"We're super excited, and I'm very happy with a great team effort this weekend," director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle said. "They deserve all the credit. It was an awesome weekend.
"Everyone did their job and we grew a lot. We have a lot of young talent with room to grow. Our seniors have done an awesome job. Thinking about where we came from their freshman year over the course of the last five years, it's just awesome to see what they've been able to accomplish."
The Gophers ran a program-record 3:33.76 to finish as runners-up in the 4x400-meter relay. Emerald Egwim, Jessica Waldvogel, Erin Hawkins and Titania Markland secured Minnesota's third-place finish by picking up eight points in the final event of the meet.
"The 4x400m was awesome," Bingle said. "We were third after Jess led off, and Emerald maintained that with about a 53 flat. Then with about 100m to go, Erin ran down Purdue to move into second. Titania ran a great final leg in 52 flat. She caught up to Ohio State, and they both surged. I thought she was going to catch her. The whole place was going crazy."
Minnesota's 4x100-meter relay team of Egwim, Emma Spagnola, Waldvogel and Hawkins used a season-best time of 45.17 seconds to place fourth and secure five points in the team race. Their time also ranks sixth in Minnesota history.
Individually, Markland and Spagnola contributed to the Gophers' team score on the final day of competition as well. Markland clocked a 53.66 in the 400-meter dash to place fourth after setting a new Minnesota program record in the 400m prelim (53.53) on Saturday. Meanwhile, Spagnola took fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.45.
The Gophers entered the final day of competition with a lead in the team race, but host Michigan State earned 53 points on day three to win the team title on its home track. Nebraska finished second with 97 points, and Ohio State (77 points) and Michigan (67 points) rounded out the top five teams behind Minnesota (93 points).
Minnesota also had competitors in the 5,000-meter run, high jump, and shot put on the final day of B1G action.
Kaila Urick ran a career-best 17:07.02 to place 11th in the 5,000m ahead of Becca Dyson in 12th (17:20.13). Heta Tuuri and Alex Beckman both cleared 1.68m (5-6.00) to tie for 13th in high jump, and Lyndsey Thorpe led the way in the shot put with a career-best throw of 14.01m (45-11.75) in 17th place.
"There's still a lot to come for this team, and they're even better than what they're showing right now," Bingle said. "Today was an awesome day, and overall it was a very good team weekend for us."
2015 Big Ten Team Standings
1. Michigan State, 128
2. Nebraska, 97
3. Minnesota, 93
4. Ohio State, 87
5. Michigan, 80
6. Purdue, 67.5
7. Penn State, 66
8. Iowa, 52
9. Wisconsin, 46
10. Maryland, 45
11. Illinois, 27.5
12. Indiana, 26
13. Rutgers, 3
Gophers' B1G Scoring Finishes
1. Jess Herauf, heptathlon, 6,014, 10 points
2. Devin Stanford, hammer throw, 61.44m (201-7.25), 8 points
2. Nicolle Murphy, javelin, 48.90m (160-5.50), 8 points
2. Waldvogel, Egwim, Hawkins, Markland, 4x400m relay, 3:33.76, 8 points
3. Rachel Melum, javelin, 47.39m (155-6), 6 points
3. Devin Stanford, discus, 52.98m (173-10), 6 points
4. Egwim, Spagnola, Waldvogel, Hawkins, 4x100m relay, 45.17, 5 points
4. Titania Markland, 400m, 53.66, 5 points
4. Jess Herauf, javelin, 47.19m, 154-10.25, 5 points
4. Alex Beckman, heptathlon, 5,088, 5 points
4. Agnes Esser, discus, 52.93m (173-8.25), 5 points
4. Kaila Urick, 3,000m steeplechase, 10:18.45, 5 points
5. Emma Spagnola, 400m hurdles, 1:00.45, 4 points
5. Lyndsey Thorpe, hammer throw, 59.78m (196-1.75), 4 points
6. Angie Guenther, hammer throw, 59.38m (194-10), 3 points
6. Katie Murgic, pole vault, 4.02m (13-2.25), 3 points
7. Ke-ke Burks, hammer throw, 58.90m (193-3.25), 2 points
8. Liz Berkholtz, 10,000m, 34:55.80, 1 point
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