University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Virginia Challenge
Gophers Rewrite Top-10 Lists in Virginia
4/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
April 22, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Madeline Strandemo, Kaila Urick, and Erin Hawkins all ran program top-10 times and Agnes Esser and Ke-ke Burks improved on their top-10 ranks in the hammer throw as the Gophers combined for eight new career-best marks total on day one of the Virginia Challenge Friday.
Strandemo and Urick climbed in Minnesota's all-time ranks with career-best times in the 3,000-meter steeple chase. Strandemo's 10:03.52 marked the second fastest time ever by a Gopher, trailing only program record-holder Emily Brown (9:56.62), and she placed third at the meet. Meanwhile, Urick climbed from fifth to fourth all-time with a seven-second PR of 10:11.54 for sixth at the meet.
Titania Markland placed fifth in the 400-meter dash in 54.11 seconds, followed by Hawkins in sixth in a career-best 54.31 seconds to move into seventh among all-time Gophers. Kat Keller also ran a career-best 55.51 in a tie for 13th place.
Two Gophers also ran career-best times in the 800-meter run in Haley Johnson (2:10.53) and Kate Shelerud (2:11.32). Ally McSherry led the Gophers in 2:07.25, just shy of her 2:07.17 career best, for sixth place of 64 finishers at the meet. Stacey Swatek ran 2:11.75 as well.
Esser placed fifth in the hammer throw invite and moved into fourth among all-time Gophers with a throw of 60.53m (198-07). Angie Guenther (58.44m, 191-09) and Lyndsey Thorpe (58.28m, 191-02) were eighth and ninth, respectively, and Burks won the open section of the hammer throw with a career-best mark of 60.47m (198-04) and now ranks fifth among all-time Gophers.
Guenther also finished second in the open section of the discus competition with a mark of 47.49m (155-09) followed by Kiley Sabin in seventh place at 43.61m (143-01). Gophers Agnes Esser and Burks compete in the discus invite on Saturday.
Shanique Wright placed seventh in the triple jump invite with her second-best jump of the outdoor season at 12.29m (40-04), and Sabin rounded out Friday's field events with a ninth-place finish in the shot put invite (14.72m, 48-03.50).
Liz Berkholtz wrapped up Friday evening's competition with a third-place finish in the 10,000-meter run. She placed third in 34:14.01, just shy of her career-best time of 34:12.67.
The Virginia Challenge continues on Saturday with two sessions beginning at 8 a.m. CT and 6 p.m. CT.
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Players Mentioned
