University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Lehman Leads B1G Heptathlon on Day One
5/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 13, 2016
Updated to include 10,000m results.
Meet Results (Day One) 
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LINCOLN, Neb. - The Golden Gopher women's track & field team kicked off action at the 2016 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship Friday at Nebraska's Ed Weir Stadium in sunny conditions with wind upwards of 30 miles per hour.
With finals complete in the hammer throw and 10,000-meter run, Minnesota and Wisconsin are tied for second place in the team standings with 15 points behind early leader Indiana with 18 points. The first four events of the B1G heptathlon took place Friday as well.
"We're off to a good start with a good team effort today," director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle said. "I thought the group did a nice job executing and responding today. We're right where we need to be, but we still have two days to go."
Friday's Event Finals
Three Gophers picked up points in the hammer throw led by Lyndsey Thorpe's fifth-place showing. Thorpe matched her 2015 hammer finish with a throw of 61.29m (201-01). Agnes Esser posted a career-best throw of 61.00m (200-01) to place seventh and move into third in Gophers' history. Ke-ke Burks rounded out the top eight with a throw of 60.13m (197-03). Angie Guenther finished 12th (53.51m, 175-07) as well.
Liz Berkholtz led the Gophers with a runner-up finish in the 10,000m in 34:21.89 after running fifth in the lead pack most of the race. Bailey Ness finished ninth in a career-best 35:16.48, and fellow redshirt freshmen Tamara Gorman (35:45.26) and Patty O'Brien (36:06.86) also recorded career-best times.
Lehman Leads on Heptathlon Day One
Jess Lehman is in the lead and on pace to defend her Big Ten heptathlon title with 3,439 points through four events, and three Gophers are in the top five with long jump, javelin, and the 800-meter run remaining.
Lehman won the heptathlon shot put with a throw of 13.17m (43-02.50) on her third throw after tying for first in the high jump with a season-best jump of 1.74m (5-07.25). She finished eighth in the 100m hurdles in 14.43 seconds and took sixth in the 200m in 25.08 seconds.
Through four heptathlon events, Alex Beckman is in fourth overall with 3,314 points. Her highest finish of the day was winning the 200m in 24.67 seconds. Beckman led the Gophers with a fourth-place finish in the 100m hurdles, clocking a time of 14.21 seconds, just .01 seconds off her career-best mark, and she cleared a season-best 1.68m (5-06.00) to place fourth in high jump. Beckman also finished seventh in the shot put (11.34m, 37-02.50).
Audra Winter is close behind Beckman with 3,222 points through four events. She clocked career-best times in the 100m hurdles (14.46 seconds) and 200m dash (24.99 seconds). Winter also cleared 1.65m (5-05.00) to place fifth in high jump and finished sixth in the shot put at 11.45m (37-06.75).
Amanda Beckman is in 10th through four heptathlon events with 2,994 points. Her highest finish of the day was a second-place showing in the 200m in a career-best 24.73 seconds. She recorded a season-best time of 15.25 seconds in the 100m hurdles and cleared 1.56m (5-01.25) to take 11th in high jump. Beckman also finished eighth in the shot put with a throw of 10.83m (35-06.50).
Action continues at the Big Ten Championship with a full day of competition on Saturday beginning with the decathlon 110m hurdles at 9:30 a.m. CT. The first women's event is the heptathlon long jump at 10:15 a.m. CT.
Gopher B1G Scoring Finishes
2. Liz Berkholtz, 10,000m (34:21.89), eight points
5. Lyndsey Thorpe, hammer throw (61.29m, 201-01), five points
7. Agnes Esser, hammer throw (61.00m, 200-01), two points
8. Ke-ke Burks, hammer throw (60.13m, 197-03), one point
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Players Mentioned
