University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set for NCAA Championships
6/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships | |||||||||||
| Date | Wednesday, June 10-Saturday, June 13 | ||||||||||
| Location | Hayward Field | Eugene, Ore. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Schedule | Live Results | USTFCCCA Coverage | Meet Info | ||||||||||
| Television | ESPN Network | Broadcast Schedule | ||||||||||
| Gophers | Outdoor Performance List | Top Performers List | ||||||||||
| Social | @GopherWCCTFÂ | Facebook | #NCAATF | ||||||||||
June 8, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota women's track & field team is set to compete in four events at the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., this week. The action begins Wednesday and is set to conclude Saturday.
Three individuals and one relay team will represent the Maroon & Gold. Sophomore Nicolle Murphy will compete in the javelin, senior Devin Stanford will participate in the hammer throw, and junior Jess Herauf will compete in the heptathlon. The Gophers' 4x400-meter relay team of freshman Emerald Egwim, senior Jessica Waldvogel and sophomores Titania Markland and Erin Hawkins is the second-straight Gopher 4x400m relay team to advance to the NCAA championships.
Jess Herauf begins the heptathlon at 12 p.m. CT Wednesday. Stanford and Murphy compete in their respective events at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday while the heptathlon concludes Thursday evening as well. The 4x400m relay semifinal is scheduled for 7:18 p.m. Thursday night followed by the final at 4:20 p.m. CT Saturday.
About the 2015 NCAA Championships
The University of Oregon will host the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday through Saturday, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. All-session ticket prices are as follows: $108 reserved; $80 general admission; $44 student; Free children age two and under.
Three Individuals, 4x400m Relay Qualify for NCAA Championships
Big Ten heptathlon champion Jess Herauf was Minnesota's first NCAA qualifier as she ended the regular season ranked sixth in the heptathlon with 6,014 points. She earned a bid straight to the NCAA Championships as the multi-event competitions are not held at the preliminary round meets.
Devin Stanford qualified in the hammer throw for the second-straight season following a 10th place finish at the NCAA West Prelim. She tied her Minnesota program record with a throw of 61.82m (202-10). In one of her best series as a Gopher, she threw 59.20m on her first throw, 61.82m on her second, and 61.65m on her third attempt. Her mark of 61.82m ranks 12th in the NCAA field.
Nicolle Murphy will make her NCAA Championships debut after a third-place finish in the javelin at the NCAA West Prelim. She secured the Gophers' highest finish at the NCAA West Prelim with a season-best throw of 51.84m (170-1). She enters the NCAA meet seeded sixth at 51.84m; her career-best mark of 53.58m lands fifth among NCAA qualifiers.
Minnesota's 4x400-meter relay team of Jessica Waldvogel, Emerald Egwim, Erin Hawkins, and Titania Markland used a new program record time of 3:32.68 to place fifth and punch its ticket to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Championships. At the West Prelim, the Gophers broke the school record for the second time this season, and the team enters the national meet seeded 17th. Lauren Domski and Emma Spagnola will travel with the 4x400m relay team as alternates.
Gophers' Schedule at the 2014 NCAA Championships
Minnesota is slated to compete on Wednesday and Thursday, and the 4x400m relay final is set for Saturday.
Wednesday, 1 p.m. CT - 100m Hurdles (heptathlon) - Herauf
Wednesday, 2 p.m. CT - High Jump (heptathlon) - Herauf
Wednesday, 4:45 p.m. CT - Shot Put (heptathlon) - Herauf
Wednesday, 6:28 p.m. CT - 200m (heptathlon) - Herauf
Thursday, 2 p.m. CT - Long Jump (heptathlon) - Herauf
Thursday, 3:15 p.m. CT - Javelin (heptathlon) - Herauf
Thursday, 3:30 p.m. CT - Hammer Throw final - Stanford
Thursday, 6:28 p.m. CT - 800m (heptathlon) - Herauf
Thursday, 7:30 p.m. CT - Javelin final - Murphy
Thursday, 9:18 p.m. CT - 4x400m Relay semifinal - Waldvogel, Egwim, Hawkins, Markland
Saturday, 6:20 p.m. CT - 4x400m Relay final - TBD
ESPN to Cover NCAA Championships
ESPN Networks will cover all four days of the 2015 NCAA Championships with day one and day two being broadcasted on ESPN3 and ESPNU, starting at 2 p.m. CT. Events on day three can be found on ESPN3 and ESPN, and day four can be found on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
Bingle on the 2015 NCAA Championships
Director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle previewed the Gophers at the NCAA Championship for GopherSports.com.
Gopher Sports: What do you expect from Nicolle Murphy and Jess Herauf in their NCAA outdoor debuts?
Matt Bingle: "Nicolle is ranked in the top ten in the javelin. I believe she's sixth, so that's exciting. It will be her first opportunity at an NCAA meet, so it should be exciting to see how she does. She did a really good job last time out at the NCAA preliminaries, and I was encouraged by that. I'm hopeful for her.
"This is Jess's first outdoor NCAA meet because she was hurt last year. We would like to come away with some positive things. She has NCAA experience indoors in the pentathlon, so she knows what to expect. We have a lot of young people out there competing, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I am hopeful and excited, but we just have to be able to be confident in that environment."
GS: How do you feel about Devin Stanford heading into her final meet as a Gopher?
MB: "Devin has been throwing really well in practice, so she should be super confident right now coming off another school record. This is her second year advancing to NCAAs, so hopefully she feels even more comfortable."
GS: What does the 4x400m relay have to do to be successful on the national stage?
MB: "The 4x400m relay team did a great job at the first round and competed well; if they can put it together one last time, there's an opportunity to make the final. They do have to put some work in. They are seeded 17th coming in, but there are a lot of teams within one second of one another, so that makes a big difference. They have to execute well."
2014 NCAA Championships Rewind
Devin Stanford placed 15th in the hammer throw; she was the lone individual for the Gophers to advance to the 2014 NCAA finals. She earned All-American honorable status after finishing with a mark of 198-3. Meanwhile, Minnesota's 4x400m relay team of Titania Markland, Jessica Waldvogel, Te'Shon Adderley, and Megan Geyen finished 19th (3:37.08) as the first Gopher 4x400m team to advance to the NCAA championships in program history.
Last Time Out: 2015 NCAA West Preliminary Rewind
Eighteen Gophers competed at the 2015 NCAA West Prelims. Along with Nicolle Murphy and Devin Stanford's top-10 finishes and the 4x400m relay team's fifth-place showing, Titania Markland narrowly missed making the NCAA finals in the 400m dash. Both Markland and Emma Spagnola broke program records at the 2015 NCAA West Prelim as Markland ran 52.86 in the 400m and Spagnola finished in 13.58 in the 100m hurdles.
USTFCCCA National & Regional Rankings Update
No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 5 USC are the top five teams in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I National Team Rankings heading into the NCAA Championships. No. 14 Michigan State, No. 22 Nebraska, No. 23 Michigan, and No. 24 Wisconsin of the Big Ten are ranked in the top 25.
The Gophers finished the season ranked fourth in the Midwest Region according to the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Regional Index. Kansas State led the way, followed by Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Oklahoma in the top five. The Gophers finished ahead of Big Ten foes Iowa (eighth) and Illinois (13th).
Gopher Track and Cross Country Rank 20th
Following the cross country and indoor track & field seasons, Minnesota ranked 20th in the nation for the 2014-15 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Program of the Year award. The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Awards are awarded annually to the most outstanding cross country/track & field programs.
The Program of the Year award honors the institution that has achieved the most success in each academic year (spanning the cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field seasons) based on the institution's finish at the NCAA Championships. The Gophers placed 31st at the 2014 NCAA cross country championship, and Jess Herauf was fifth in the pentathlon for Minnesota at the NCAA indoor track & field championship.
Nine Program Records Fall
The Gophers have broken nine Minnesota program records this season. The indoor season saw records fall in the 200m (Erin Hawkins, 24.03), 60m hurdles (Kimberly Golding, 8.34), high jump (Heta Tuuri, 1.80m) and pentathlon (Jess Herauf, 4,372 points). Outdoor, the team has broken records in the 400m (Titania Markland, 52.86), 4x400m relay (Waldvogel, Egwim, Hawkins, Markland, 3:32.68), 100m hurdles (Emma Spagnola, 13.58), hammer throw (Devin Stanford, 61.82m) and heptathlon (Jess Herauf, 6,014 points).
Gophers Add 19 for 2015-16
Director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle has announced the addition of 19 student-athletes for the 2015-16 academic year. The class includes five distance runners, five sprinters, three hurdlers, two pole vaulters, two throwers, one triple jumper, and one high jumper.
The Gophers are pleased to welcome Sophia Anderson, Emily Betz, Allison Dugan, Emma Gambol, Erin Huls, Mallori Johnson, Madayln Kammer, Abigail Kargol, Alexis Kiefer, Abigail Lange, Kayla Nelson, Shay Nielsen, Veronica Rasmussen, Rachel Schow, Allyson Smith, Christina Stathakis, Rachel Wians, Taylor Wiebke, and Shanique Wright to the Minnesota family.
Gophers at the NCAA Championships
Earlier this season, Jess Herauf became Minnesota's most recent All-American in representing the Maroon & Gold at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships. Herauf earned first-team All-American honors with a fifth-place finish in the pentathlon.
Sixty-one Gophers have competed in the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships since 1983. Minnesota's highest outdoor team finish is tied for 13th in 2008. Indoors, the Gophers' best finish is 12th, a feat accomplished in 2006 and 2009 (tied for 12th).
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Players Mentioned
