University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Open Kicks Off 2016
1/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| 2016 Minnesota Open | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Location | Minnesota Fieldhouse, Minneapolis, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Home Meet Info | Schedule | Heat Sheets | ||||||||||
| Time | 12 p.m. Field events | 1 p.m. Running events | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | @GopherMCCTF | ||||||||||
Jan. 13, 2016
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Open officially kicks off the Golden Gopher women's track & field team's 2016 season at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse this Saturday. The field events will begin at 12 p.m. and running events will begin at 1 p.m.
Gophers Compete at Early Meets
Minnesota's pentathletes got an early start to the 2016 season, competing at the St. Scholastica Opener in December. Jess Lehman won the pentathlon title with 4,242 points, followed by Alex Beckman (3,497), Audra Winter (3,475), and Amanda Beckman (3,248) claiming the top four places, respectively. Gophers rookies Rachel Schow and Kayla Nelson competed unattached as Schow scored 2,727 points for seventh place while Nelson was ninth with 2,572 points.
Five Gophers set career bests while competing in the weight throw at the Northwest Open hosted by the Minnesota men's track & field team last weekend. Kailee Kamps led Minnesota with a career-best throw of 16.39 meters (53-09.25) to place second, followed by Allie Heifort in third place at a career best 16.18m (53-01.00). Temi Ogunrinde posted a career-best throw of 14.81m (48-07.25) for fifth place, making her official collegiate debut for the Gophers after competing unattached during the 2015 season. Nina Horvath (17.04m, 55-11.00) and Shay Nielsen (12.34m, 40-06.00) competed unattached.
Pentathletes Rank Among Nation's Best
Jess Lehman currently ranks No. 1 in the nation in the pentathlon (4,242 points). She is also tied for seventh in the long jump (6.06m) and tied for 27th in the high jump (1.73m). Fellow pentathletes Alex Beckman (3,518 points), Audra Winter (3,496) and Amanda Beckman (3,270) rank 21st, 22nd, and 46th, respectively.
Lehman Named B1G Field Athlete of the Week
Jess Lehman was named the Big Ten Conference Field Athlete of the Week after winning the pentathlon with 4,242 points at the St. Scholastica Opener. Lehman won all five events and recorded indoor career-best marks in the long jump (6.06m, 19-10.75) and shot put (13.88m, 45-06.5) en route to her pentathlon title. Her 4,242 points was just 130 points shy of her Minnesota program record set at 4,372 points at the 2015 Big Ten Championship.
Gophers to Celebrate Alumni
The Gophers are pleased to host an alumni gathering following next Saturday's Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual. The program will recognize the 2006 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championship women's team prior to the competition with a ceremony at 12:40 p.m., and the Minnesota Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Booster Club is hosting the first-ever Dual After Party following the meet. The event will take place at the DQ Club Room in TCF Bank Stadium from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Contact Julie Gabrielson (jgabriel@umn.edu), Rachel McKessock (rmckess@umn.edu) or Laura Blackledge (mass0105@umn.edu) with questions or to RSVP.
USTFCCCA Releases Preseason National Poll
Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, Kansas State, and Oregon make up the top five teams in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Preseason Division I National Team Computer Rankings as of Jan. 6.
Three Big Ten Conference teams are ranked in the preseason top 25 with No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 14 Michigan, and No. 19 Michigan State making the list. The Gophers come in 43rd of 144 women's teams in the complete rankings, which are complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. For the preseason ranking and early-season rankings, data will be taken from previous seasons as well as the current season. The next rankings will be released on Jan. 25.
Six Gophers to Captain 2016 Squad
Minnesota has named six captains for the 2015-16 season: Alex Beckman, Jess Lehman, Titania Markland, Nicolle Murphy, Lyndsey Thorpe and Kaila Urick. Beckman and Lehman are in their second seasons as track & field captains, while Urick served as a captain during the 2015 cross country season. Markland, Murphy, and Thorpe are first-year captains for the Gophers this year.
2015 Minnesota Open Rewind
The Gophers won 12 event titles, and Heta Tuuri broke the Minnesota indoor program record in the high jump with a leap of 1.80 meters (5-10.75) at the 2015 Minnesota Open. Along with Tuuri's record-breaking event title, Emma Spagnola won the 60m hurdles and clocked then the second-fastest time ever by a Gopher in her first collegiate race (8.64 seconds), setting a new Minnesota Open record.
In addition to Spagnola's 60m hurdles title, Minnesota picked up six more event titles on the track as Erin Hawkins won the 200m dash, Titania Markland won the 600m dash, Lauren Domski won the 800m run, Jamie Piepenburg won the mile, Becca Dyson won the 3,000m, and the 4x400m relay team picked up a win. In the field events, Kelly Flynn won the triple jump, Cami Gilson won pole vault, Agnes Esser won shot put, and Devin Stanford won weight throw.
Bingle on the Minnesota Open
Gopher Sports: What are the team goals for the Minnesota Open?
Matt Bingle: We just want to be mentally prepared to compete and control what we can control. The physical side will come as the weeks go by, but we need to be mentally ready to go, ready to compete, warm up, cool down, eat right, sleep right, manage the things we can. We can't get caught up in performance just yet.
I really just want everyone to come out of it healthy. The coaching staff has to get in meet-mode, too. After this, everything gets real, and the indoor season goes super fast. It's one of those things where we have to focus, think about what we're going to do, and figure out who we are.
GS: How beneficial is it to start off the season at home?
MB: I think it's helpful, especially when you look at it long-term with the outdoor season where we travel a lot. It's nice to be at home. There are a lot of distractions at home, but this is a pretty mature group for the most part so they should be able to handle those things. It's nice to have the Minnesota Open, the dual meet, and the Jack Johnson Classic all at home. It gives us a few more training days since we don't have to be traveling, so that's a bonus, too.
GS: How will you use the Minnesota Open to springboard into the Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual next week?
MB: Well, one we want to come out of it healthy, and two, it will help us make some decisions about where we want to put people for the dual meet. I'm hoping that this week will help us prepare, make some decisions, and come out of it healthy.
GS: How do the early meets help you measure the team?
MB: You can always look at where we were last year at this time if people are doing the same events. I think just watching how the upperclassmen lead, how they handle stress in competition, how they compete, it gives us some answers if they take control, do what they're told, and execute. That's one of our big goals. We want to be better at executing, whether it's to run a certain way or a certain tempo, or do a specific technique. We want to move towards being in control of everything we can control. There are a lot of returners, so there's a 'do your job' mentality. Each week we'll get better and add to it.
Up Next: Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual
The Gophers host Wisconsin in the second annual Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 23. The Gophers won in inaugural head-to-head Border Battle track & field showdown last year, claiming eight event titles to defeat Wisconsin, 85-77, in Madison, Wis.
FloTrack will provide live coverage of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual beginning at 12:45 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale now at MyGopherSports.com, and a gold out is planned for the meet where attendees will receive a free gold t-shirt while supplies last. Goldy's Kids Race is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. as well.
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Players Mentioned
