University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Virginia Challenge
Gophers Set Six Program Top-10 Marks
4/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
April 23, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Golden Gophers wrapped up competition at the Virginia Challenge with six all-time top-10 performances to continue rewriting the Minnesota recordbook on Saturday. In total, Minnesota finished the meet with 11 all-time top-10 marks and 19 personal records.
Kimberly Golding (100m hurdles), Emma Spagnola (400m hurdles), Shanique Wright (long jump), Nicolle Murphy (javelin), Heta Tuuri (high jump), and the 4x400-meter relay team of Erin Hawkins, Kat Keller, Spagnola, and Titania Markland all posted program top-10 marks on day two of the meet.
Golding improved on her Minnesota program record time in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing seventh in a career-best 13.28 seconds. Spagnola was 10th in 13.64 and also finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles in a career-best 58.97 seconds. Spagnola won her heat and moved into sixth in Minnesota history in the 400m hurdles.
Minnesota placed third in the 4x400-meter relay as Hawkins, Keller, Spagnola, and Markland ran a season-best 3:39.23 to rank eighth in Gophers' history.
The career-best performances for the Gophers continued in the field events as Murphy finished as runner-up in the javelin invite with a career-best mark of 53.96m (177-00) to move into fourth in Minnesota history.
Tuuri also earned a runner-up finish, tying for second in the high jump invite with an outdoor career-best mark of 1.76m (5-09.25) to move into a tie for third in Minnesota history. Taylor Wiebke tied for eighth at in an outdoor collegiate-best 1.71m (5-07.25) as well.
Wright posted a career best in the long jump as well, placing third in the open section and moving into seventh among all-time Gophers with a jump of 5.94m (19-06).
The Gophers also posted five career-best times in the distance events on the track on Saturday.
Kaila Urick led the Gophers in the 1,500-meter run in a season-best 4:25.40 for 23rd place of 71 finishers, followed by Jamie Piepenburg (4:26.66) and Taylor Mikkalson (4:28.65) in career-best times. Haley Johnson rounded out the Gophers' 1,500m runners in 4:31.18.
Three Gophers ran career bests in the 5,000-meter run led by Tamara Gorman in 17:04.90 for 44th place in a field of 73. Bailey Ness (17:07.11) and Danielle Anderson (17:34.87) also ran career-best times, and Patty O'Brien was less than two seconds off her PR in 17:31.29.
Saturday's field event action also included Agnes Esser placing sixth at 54.19m (177-09) and Ke-ke Burks finishing ninth (40.58m, 133-02) in the discus invite, a day after both secured career-best marks in the hammer throw, and Cami Gilson taking 16th in the pole vault invite (3.70m, 12-01.50).
The Gophers are slated to compete at the Hamline Twilight (April 27), Kip Janvrin Open (April 28-29), Drake Relays (April 28-30), Kansas Invitational (April 30), and Macalester Janis Rider Invite (April 30) next week.
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Players Mentioned
