University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Intrasquad Meet
Gophers Make Strides at Intrasquad 5K
9/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS - Madeline Strandemo led the way as the No. 26 Minnesota women's cross country team hosted its annual intrasquad exhibition meet to unofficially kick off the season. Twenty-seven Gophers completed the five-kilometer race in their first competition of the year at Les Bolstad Course Friday evening.
The Big Ten runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last spring, Strandemo paced the field in a career-best 18:27.11, marking her second time as the Gophers' top runner on the cross country course and first since she led the Gophers at Jack's Run as a redshirt freshman in 2014.
True freshmen Megan Hasz (18:32.59) and Bethany Hasz (18:36.01) rounded out the top three finishers in their first collegiate appearance, followed by Bailey Ness in 18:36.26, who returned to the Gophers' lineup after red-shirting the 2015 season. The pack of four led for the entire race.
Minnesota's top seven runners all posted faster times than last year's Intrasquad runner-up time of 18:55.69 as Danielle Anderson (18:50.37), Courtney Alama (18:52.51), and Elyse Prescott (18:54.79) rounded out the top seven. The top 11 Gophers were within one minute of one another; last year only the top four were within one minute of individual champion Liz Berkholtz (18:28.79).
"I'm thrilled with where we are," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "What I was really impressed with was how packed-up it was, how grouped up it was, and how well people worked together. Having true freshmen up in that group and seeing them stick their noses in there and not back down in their first collegiate race, even though it's low-key, was great to see. The upperclassmen did their thing and were right where they needed to be."
The top 12 finishers included Emily Betz (18:58.39), Patty O'Brien (19:15.90), Tess Wasowicz (19:19.26), Abby Kargol (19:23.09), and Ellen Snyder (19:33.34). The biggest improvement from a year ago saw Snyder take nearly three minutes off her time from 2015 when she finished 25th in 22:26.42.
"I don't think there's anyone today who ran slower than they did at this meet last year," Hopkins said. "Overarchingly, everyone is light-years ahead of where we were last year at this time, which is obviously fun for me and fun for them, too."
Strandemo echoed Hopkins' sentiments.
"I'm really excited about where our team is at," Strandemo said. "Coach Hopkins went through some statistics comparing where we're at compared to where we were last year. It feels really encouraging for the rest of the season knowing that we're in a better position than last year because I thought we were in a great position last year. It's hard to tell after the first meet, but I'm still excited and encouraged."
Along with being impressed with the strides shown by the Gophers' returners, Hopkins was also encouraged by what she saw on the course from the team's younger runners, noting that the future is bright for Gopher cross country.
"Megan and Bethany Hasz being two and three today as true freshmen, even as talented as we all knew they were, was great to see," Hopkins said. "It takes a lot to come out in your first collegiate effort and perform that way. That just speaks to their character, toughness, and talent.
"It's going to be a fun year. There's going to be a lot of parity and movement within the top group, but that makes it better for everybody. It makes training fun when you have a big group like that working together and helping each other out. Not only is this season going to be fun, but I'm already licking my chops for what we can do here over the next stretch with this generation of talent."
2016 Intrasquad 5K Results
1. Madeline Strandemo, 18:27.11
2. Megan Hasz, 18:32.59
3. Bethany Hasz, 18:36.01
4. Bailey Ness, 18:36.26
5. Danielle Anderson, 18:50.37
6. Courtney Alama, 18:52.51
7. Elyse Prescott, 18:54.79
8. Emily Betz, 18:58.39
9. Patty O'Brien, 19:15.90
10. Tess Wasowicz, 19:19.26
11. Abby Kargol, 19:23.09
12. Ellen Snyder, 19:33.34
13. Molly Eastman, 19:38.30
14. Samantha Prouty, 19:44.23
15. Emily Castanias, 19:48.01
16. Naomi Ollila, 19:51.47
17. Haley Rasmussen, 19:58.85
18. Megan Flanagan, 20:01.24
19. Abby Kohut-Jackson, 20:01.55
20. Carissa Dock, 20:12.48
21. Carlin Schulz, 20:13.00
22. Paige Peschel, 20:50.23
23. Liz Miller, 20:58.61
24. Madeline Brighouse Glueck, 21:33.32
25. Sarah Klecker, 21:59.95
26. Violet Weibel, 22:09.14
27. Laura Werking, 22:27.22
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Players Mentioned
