University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set for USATF Championships
6/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS - Nicolle Murphy, Emma Spagnola and Kiley Sabin are among eight competitors with Gopher women's track & field ties set to compete at the 2015 USATF Junior and Senior Outdoor Championships this week at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Murphy, Spagnola and Sabin join incoming freshman Erin Huls and Minnesota alumni Liz Podominick, Gabriele Grunewald, Heather Kampf and Jamie Cheever in competing this week. Action gets underway on Thursday and continues through Sunday in both the junior and senior competitions.
Athletes at both events will look to earn roster spots on the 2015 IAAF World Championships team set for August 22-30 in Beijing, China as well as on the Pan Am Games, Thorpe Cup, Pan Am Juniors and NACAC Championships teams.
Gophers at the USATF Senior Championships
Nicolle Murphy joins four Gopher alumni in competing in the USATF Senior Championships. Murphy will compete in the javelin, heading into the competition ranked 15th with her season-best mark of 53.56m. Murphy finished her sophomore season as a First Team All-American with a sixth-place finish in the javelin at the NCAA Championships. The Big Ten runner-up was also honored as an Academic All-Big Ten selection.
Gopher alum Liz Podominick (National Athletic Institute) enters competition ranked fourth in the discus at 63.87m. A four-year letterwinner with the Gophers from 2005-08, Podominick was a six-time All-Big Ten honoree, including four Big Ten titles in the discus (2005) and the shot put (2005 outdoor, 2006 outdoor and 2008 indoor). Podominick, a Lakeville, Minn., native, placed fifth in the discus at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials.
Three Gopher alumni will compete on the track as well. Gabriele Grunewald (Brooks/Team USA Minnesota) is set to race the 1,500m and 5,000m. She is seeded sixth at 4:04.26 in the 1,500m and ranks ninth in the 5,000m at 15:19.01. Grunewald, then Gabriele Anderson, was a three-time NCAA Cross Country Championships competitor and was second team All Big Ten in cross country in both 2007 and 2008 as a Gopher. On the track, she closed out her Gopher career with a second place finish in the 1500m at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and a second place finish in both the 800m and 1500m at the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
Fellow alum Heather Kampf (ASICS/Team USA Minnesota) joins Grunewald in the 1,500m, ranked eighth at 4:04.50. As a Gopher, Kampf, then Heather Dorniden, was a nine-time All-American. She competed in every NCAA Championship in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track during her time in Maroon & Gold. In 2006, she was the NCAA champion in the 800 meters at the indoor national championships.
Jamie Cheever (Brooks/Club Northwest) rounds out the Gopher alumni, competing in the 3,000m steeplechase and ranked 24th with a time of 9:54.96. During her time at Minnesota, Cheever was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Big Ten honoree on the track.
Gophers at the USATF Junior Championships
Two current Gophers and one incoming freshman are among the competitors at the USATF Junior Championships as well.
Emma Spagnola is ranked eighth in the 100m hurdles at 13.58. She wrapped up her freshman season with the Minnesota program records in the 100m hurdles (13.58). She also ranks second in Gopher history in the 60m hurdles indoor at 8.41 seconds and is seventh all-time in the 400m hurdles (59.91). Spagnola qualified for the NCAA West Prelim in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles and also ran on Minnesota's fourth-place Big Ten 4x100m relay team.
While competing unattached during the 2015 track & field season, Kiley Sabin qualified for the USATF Junior Championships in both the shot put (14.43m) and the discus (46.85m). She will officially represent the Maroon & Gold for the first time this week.
In addition, incoming freshman Erin Huls is set to compete in the 400m hurdles. She is ranked fourth with a 300m hurdles time of 42.63. Huls finished her high school career at Rocori High School this spring as the Minnesota Class 2A State runner-up in the 300m hurdles after winning the event in 2014.
Competition Schedule (All times Central)
Thursday, June 25:
2:30 p.m., Discus Throw, Jr. Women, Final (Sabin)
9:05 p.m., 3000m Steeplechase, Sr. Women, 1st Round (Cheever)
Friday, June 26:
1:40 p.m. 100m Hurdles, Jr. Women, 1st Round (Spagnola)
3:25 p.m., 400m Hurdles, Jr. Women, 1st Round (Huls)
4:45 p.m. Shot Put, Jr. Women, Final (Sabin)
5:23 p.m. 100m Hurdles, Jr. Women, Final (TBD)
7:55 p.m. 1500m, Sr. Women, 1st Round (Grunewald, Kampf)
9 p.m., Javelin, Sr. Women, Final (Murphy)
Saturday, June 27:
2:45 p.m., Discus Throw, Sr. Women, Final (Podominick)
3:55 p.m., 3000m Steeplechase, Sr. Women, Final (TBD)
6:44 p.m., 400m Hurdles, Jr. Women, Final (TBD)
Sunday, June 28:
2:39 p.m., 5000m, Sr. Women, Final (Grunewald)
4:40 p.m., 1500m, Sr. Women, Final (TBD)
USATF Championships Broadcast Schedule
Broadcast coverage of the championships is as follows:
Thursday: 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. CT on NBC Sports
Friday: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. CT on NBC
Saturday: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. CT on Universal Sports
Sunday: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. CT on NBC
USATF.TV will have bonus coverage outside of the TV windows and will show field events in full during the TV broadcast (which tends to focus mostly on races), including video on demand directly following each day of competition.
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Players Mentioned
