University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Six Gophers Earn All-American Awards
6/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. -- Jess Herauf and Nicolle Murphy earned First Team All-American honors with top-six finishes in the heptathlon and javelin, respectively, and the 4x400-meter relay team secured a Second Team All-American finish in 13th place as the Gopher women's track & field team wrapped up the 2015 season on day two of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday.
"Overall, it was a good meet for us," director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle said. "We had a great, great year, and it was awesome to see what they were able to accomplish. We're definitely excited for the future of the whole program."
Herauf placed fifth in the heptathlon with 5,965 points after beginning day two of the heptathlon in 13th place. She recorded a career-best long jump of 6.06m (19-10.75) to move into fifth among all-time Gophers before taking second in the javelin with a season-best throw of 47.82m (156-11).
Herauf was in seventh place entering the 800-meter run and won the second heat by nearly five seconds, taking third overall in 2:14.88. She climbed two places overall to take fifth in the heptathlon and match her 2015 indoor finish in the pentathlon.
"Jess is just super tough, and she always comes through," Bingle said. "She's had a great year. Today, it was good for her to PR in the long jump, and she was able to get one big throw off in the javelin, which is just what we needed. She did a good job in the 800m to end the day, too. It's been a heck of a run for her this season."
Murphy joined Herauf in earning First Team All-American honors with a sixth-place showing in the javelin in her NCAA debut. Murphy recorded a season-best throw of 53.56m (175-9) on her third attempt to improve from 18th place to fifth place and advance to finals. Murphy improved her season-best mark by over 3.50m and was just 0.02m off her career best of 53.58m.
"Murphy was awesome today," Bingle said. "When it came down to her third throw to make the final, she did it, and then hung in there and got sixth. It's exciting for her, especially at her first NCAA meet."
The 4x400-meter relay team of Jessica Waldvogel, Titania Markland, Emerald Egwim, and Erin Hawkins ran 3:35.90, their third-best time of the season, for 13th place and Second Team All-American honors. The quartet became the second Minnesota 4x400m relay team ever to advance to the national meet and improved on the Gophers' 19th-place 4x400m relay finish last season.
"It was great to see the 4x400m do what they wanted to do," Bingle said. "If they couldn't make the final, they wanted to get Second Team All-American, and they did. Three of the four of them are young. We're going to miss Jess Waldvogel a lot. She has done a lot for the program in her time here. The other three have big dreams of doing great things over the next couple years."
All seven Gopher NCAA qualifiers competed Thursday as Devin Stanford capped her Gopher career with a 20th place finish in the hammer throw. Stanford threw 57.46m (188-6) in the second NCAA appearance of her career after placing 15th in the hammer a year ago.
With two First Team All-Americans, a Second Team All-American relay team, and four NCAA top-20 finishes, Minnesota's 2015 track & field season comes to a close. The NCAA championships continue through Saturday. Several Gophers have qualified to compete in the USATF Junior & Senior Outdoor Track & Field Championships June 24-28 as well.
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Players Mentioned
