University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set for Summer Competitions
6/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS - The NCAA track & field season is over, but the Golden Gopher women's track & field team is far from done competing for the season. Mark your calendars for a busy month and a half leading up to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
JAAA National Senior Championships: June 30-July 3
Gophers Kimberly Golding (100m hurdles) and Titania Markland (400m dash) are set to compete at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior Championships this week. The meet runs Thursday through Sunday at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. The event serves as Jamaica's Olympic trials.
Both Markland and Golding qualified for the meet by surpassing the entry standards in their respective events. Markland ran faster than the 400m qualifying time of 53.70 twice during the 2016 outdoor season, posting a season-best time of 53.25 seconds to win the 400m at the Rock Chalk Classic. She also ran 53.53 at the Sun Angel Invitational.
Meanwhile, all eight of Golding's 100m hurdles times bested the 100m hurdles entry standard of 13.75 seconds. Golding's season-best time of 13.11 seconds at the Rock Chalk Classic improved on the Minnesota program record she broke three times in 2016.
Markland is set to race in the 400m prelim at 4:45 p.m. CT Friday with the 400m semifinals set for 5:50 p.m. CT Saturday and the final at 5 p.m. CT Sunday. Golding is slated for the 100m hurdles prelim at 4:45 p.m. CT Sunday with the final to follow at 5:55 p.m. CT Sunday.
U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials: July 1-10
Current Gophers Nicolle Murphy (javelin) and Jess Lehman (heptathlon) join Minnesota alumni Gabriele Grunewald (1,500m, 5,000m), Jamie Cheever (3,000m steeplechase), Heather Kampf (1,500m), and Liz Podominick (discus) in competing at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Following a fourth-place finish in the javelin at the NCAA Championship, Murphy enters the U.S. Olympic Trials with a career-best mark of 55.84m (183-02) to rank second in Minnesota history. A four-time All-American during her Gophers career, Lehman enters the trials after a seventh-place NCAA finish in the heptathlon (5,835 points).
Grunewald qualified in the 800m, 1,500m, and 5,000m but scratched from the 800m. She enters the trials with marks of 4:04.26 in the 1,500m and 15:19.50 in the 5,000m. Kampf is seeded immediately behind Grunewald in the 1,500m at 4:04.46. Meanwhile, Cheever enters the trials seeded 10th in the 3,000m steeplechase at 9:37.12, and Podominick owns the third-best mark in the discus at 63.87m (209-06).
Gophers at the U.S. Olympic Trials Schedule:
1,500m (July 7 First Round; July 8 Semifinals; July 10 Final) - Grunewald, Kampf
5,000m (July 8 First Round; July 10 Final) - Grunewald
3,000m Steeplechase (July 4 First Round; July 7 Final) - Cheever
Discus (July 1 Qualifying; July 2 Final) - Podominick
Javelin (July 7 Qualifying; July 9 Final) - Murphy
Heptathlon (July 9-10) - Lehman
European Athletics Championships: July 6-10
Former Gopher Barbora Spotakova is the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in the javelin after winning the event in 2008 and 2012. She threw a world-leading throw of 66.87m (219-04) to win at the Czech Championships earlier this month and is slated to compete in the javelin at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 6-10). Spotakova competed for one season at Minnesota, where she earned All-America honors in 2002 in the javelin and competed at the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon.
Canadian Track & Field Championships: July 7-10
Agnes Esser is slated to compete in both discus and hammer throw at the 2016 Canadian Championships and Rio Selection Trials in Edmonton, Alberta. The qualifying rounds for both events are set for Thursday, July 7 with the discus qualifier at 11:30 a.m. CT and hammer throw later that night at 8:30 p.m. CT. The discus final is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT Friday, July 8, and the hammer final is at 8:30 p.m. CT Saturday, July 9.
Esser wrapped up her sophomore season with the Gophers as a Second Team All-American after placing 15th in the discus (52.61m, 172-07) at the NCAA Championship. She became Minnesota's program record-holder in the discus at the NCAA West Prelim with a career-best throw of 57.91m (190-00). Esser also ranks third in program history in hammer throw at 61.00m (200-01), a mark that earned her seventh place at this year's Big Ten Championship.
NACAC U23 Championships: July 15-17
Agnes Esser has also been selected to compete for Canada at the 2016 NACAC U23 Championships at the athletic track of the National Stadium "Jorge Magico Gonzalez" in San Salvador, El Salvador. The event is put on by the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association. The hammer throw final is set for 3 p.m. CT with the discus final to follow at 5:05 p.m. CT on Friday, July 15.
IAAF World U20 Championships: July 19-24
Earlier this summer, Shanique Wright finished as triple jump runner-up at the 2016 JAAA National Junior Championships with a jump of 12.83m (42-01.25). She also was named to the Jamaican team for the upcoming IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Wright is scheduled to compete in the triple jump qualifying round at 4:50 p.m. CT on Friday, July 22 with the final to follow at 3:40 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 23.
A Second Team All-American honoree, Wright finished 12th in triple jump (12.99m, 42-07.50) at the NCAA Championship. She ended her rookie season ranked third among all-time Gopher triple jumpers with a career-best jump of 13.03m (42-09.00) at the NCAA West Prelim.
Incoming Gophers Shine at U.S. Junior Championship
Two incoming Gopher freshmen competed at the 2016 USATF Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium in in Clovis, Calif., last weekend. Ashley Ramacher tied for fifth in high jump with a jump of 1.72m (5-07.75), and Meleah Biermaier took fifth in the 400m hurdles in 58.85 seconds after running 59.30 in the preliminary round.
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