University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set for Meyo Invitational
1/31/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| Meyo Invitational | |||||||||||
| Date | Friday-Saturday, Feb. 3-4, 2017 | ||||||||||
| Location | Loftus Sports Center | University of Notre Dame | South Bend, Ind. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Info | Schedule | Accepted Entries | Heat Sheets | ||||||||||
| Time | 2:30 p.m. CT Friday | 8:45 a.m. CT Saturday | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | #Gophers | ||||||||||
Jan. 31, 2017
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Golden Gopher women's track & field sprinters, distance runners, pole vaulters, and horizontal jumps are headed to the Meyo Invitational hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., this Friday and Saturday.
About the Meyo Invitational
The University of Notre Dame will host the Meyo Track & Field Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the Loftus Sports Center on the Notre Dame campus. The meet includes a Friday night session and two sessions on Saturday. Friday's session is scheduled to begin with women's long jump at 2:30 p.m. CT, and running events kick off with the women's 60-meter hurdles prelims at 3:30 p.m. CT. Saturdays's morning session has running events starting at 8:45 a.m. CT and women's triple jump scheduled for 9 a.m. CT. The afternoon session running events are set to begin at 1 p.m. CT.
2016 Meyo Invite Rewind
Titania Markland and Liz Berkholtz won their respective events to lead the Gophers at last year's Meyo Invitational. Markland won the 600-meter run in a career-best 1:28.51 to rank third in Gophers' history while Berkholtz won the 5,000-meter run in 16:37.77 racing her first 5,000m of the season. In total, the Gophers recorded 19 season-best marks and 11 career-best performances at the meet.
Last Time Out: Gophers Win Eight Titles at Home
The Gophers won eight event titles at the Jack Johnson Classic at the Minnesota Fieldhouse last week. Kimberly Golding (60m hurdles), Erin Hawkins (200m), and Heta Tuuri (high jump) defended their respective titles from the 2016 Jack Johnson Classic, and Tayler Whittler (60m) and Nina Horvath (weight throw) also won their events. The Gophers also earned three titles with unattached competitors as Titania Markland (800m) and Erin Huls (600m) earned first-place finishes, and the unattached 4x400-meter relay team of Markland, Val Larson, Huls, and Sophia Anderson ran 3:47.24 for first place.
USTFCCCA Releases Week Two National Rankings
The nation's top five teams remain unchanged in this week's national poll as No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Florida make up the top five in the week two NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Two Big Ten Conference teams are among the top-25 again this week in No. 11 Michigan and No. 12 Purdue.
The Gophers slipped one place to the No. 65-ranked team according to the complete rankings, which are complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. For the preseason ranking and early-season rankings, data is taken from previous seasons as well as the current season. The week three rankings will be released on Feb. 6.
Gophers Rank Among Big Ten's Best
Several Gophers rank among the top-10 performers in the Big Ten Conference so far this season, including Kiley Sabin leading the B1G in the shot put.
1. Kiley Sabin, shot put (56-04.00, 17.17m)
2. Cami Gilson, pole vault (13-02.25, 4.02m)
3. Emerald Egwim, 400m (53.84)
3. Kimberly Golding, 60m hurdles (8.20)
4. Emma Spagnola, 60m hurdles (8.25)
4. Taylor Wiebke, high jump (5-10.00, 1.78m)
5. Shanique Wright, triple jump (41-07.00, 12.67m)
5. Heta Tuuri, high jump (5-09.75, 1.77m)
5. 4x400m relay (3:41.30)
5. Angie Guenther, weight throw (64-00.25, 19.51m)
6. Nina Horvath, weight throw (63-08.75, 19.42m)
7. Kayla Nelson, pentathlon (3,283 points)
5. Carlin Schulz, 5,000m (17:34.76)
9. Madeline Strandemo, 800m (2:11.15)
9. Haley Rasmussen, 5,000m (18:04.55)
Sabin Honored By Big Ten
Kiley Sabin was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week following her record-breaking performance at the Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual. Sabin was one of eight event champions to lead the Gophers to an 82-80 win over the rival Badgers in the dual meet. She threw 17.17m (56-04.00) to win the shot put, defeating runner-up Banke Oginni (15.72m) of Wisconsin by 1.45m for the title.
With her throw, Sabin improved on one of Minnesota's oldest program records, besting the record held by Aubrey Schmitt at 16.58m (54-04.75) since 1999 by nearly two feet. Sabin improved on her own career-best mark by nearly five feet (15.79m, 51-09.75).
Minnesota Welcomes 23 Newcomers
The Gophers' 2017 roster includes 23 newcomers. Freshmen Hannah Arason, Jane Baude, Meleah Biermaier, Jenna Conzemius, Ryan Crotty, Carissa Dock, Delaney Eigenberger, Alyssa Faucett, Maddie Gourley, Lindsey Greenlund, Bethany Hasz, Megan Hasz, Brieasha Hobbs, Abby Kohut-Jackson, Val Larson, Natalie Manders, Zetta Mason, Elyse Prescott, Ashley Ramacher, Kelli Schmidt, Rebekah Walter, and Sarah Werking join the Minnesota family while senior sprinter Tayler Whittler comes to Minnesota as a transfer from DePaul University. The Gophers' roster also includes 18 redshirt freshmen making their official collegiate debuts this year.
2017 Track & Field Schedule
The Gophers' indoor schedule is made up of 12 meets, including three home meets at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse: Minnesota Open (Jan. 14), Jack Johnson Classic (Jan. 27-28), and Parents Day Invite (Feb. 18). The outdoor schedule has Minnesota traveling to 18 meets in 10 different states. In total, the team will compete in 15 different states in 2017.
Who's Back?
The Gophers return 11 of 19 point scorers from last year's B1G championship team. Among those returners are six Minnesota program record-holders in Emerald Egwim (indoor 400m, indoor 4x400m, outdoor 4x400m), Agnes Esser (discus), Kimberly Golding (indoor 60m hurdles, outdoor 100m hurdles), Erin Hawkins (indoor 4x400m, outdoor 4x400m), Kat Keller (indoor 4x400m, outdoor 4x400m), and Titania Markland (indoor 4x400m, outdoor 4x400m).
Minnesota's returners also include five all-time No. 2 performers in program history in Titania Markland (indoor 400m), Nicolle Murphy (outdoor javelin), Emma Spagnola (indoor 60m hurdles, outdoor 100m hurdles), Madeline Strandemo (outdoor 3,000m steeplechase), and Heta Tuuri (outdoor high jump).
Gophers Sign 10 for 2017-18
The Minnesota women's track & field and cross country program is pleased to announce the addition of 10 student-athletes who have signed for the 2017-18 season. Erin Dunning (Ashwaubenon, Wis.), Allison Gerads (Champlin, Minn.), Alexis Hurst (Robbinsdale, Minn.), Tess Keyzers (Little Chute, Wis.), Elizabeth "Bit" Klecker (Minneapolis), Anastasia Korzenowski (Chanhassen, Minn.), Lorean Murray (Kingston, Jamaica), Sophie Schmitz (Willmar, Minn.), and Jaycie Thomsen (Plymouth, Minn.) will join the Gophers as freshmen next season while Nayoka Clunis (Kingston, Jamiaca) comes to the University of Minnesota as a junior after competing for Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan., for two seasons.
Seven Gophers to Captain 2017 Squad
The seven Gophers who will lead the defending Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field co-champions are Cami Gilson, Kimberly Golding, Angie Guenther, Erin Hawkins, Titania Markland, Nicolle Murphy, and Madeline Strandemo. Markland and Murphy return to the Gophers' leadership group after serving as captains last season while Strandemo was a captain for Minnesota's cross country team this fall. The remaining four Gophers enter their first seasons as captains.
2016 Cross Country Season Rewind
The Gophers wrapped up the 2016 cross country season with three NCAA All-Midwest Region honorees, two All-Big Ten Conference honorees, and one NCAA individual national qualifier. Madeline Strandemo represented Minnesota at the NCAA Championship with a 51st-place showing, running her second fastest 6K time of her career in 20:31.5.
Strandemo, Megan Hasz, and Bethany Hasz led Minnesota with all-region showings at the NCAA Midwest Regional after Strandemo and M. Hasz picked up Second Team All-Big Ten honors. The duo led host Minnesota to a fourth-place team finish at the B1G Championship.
2016 Indoor Season Rewind
The Gophers capped the 2016 indoor track & field season with a fourth-place showing at the Big Ten Conference Indoor Championship led by Titania Markland's 600-meter title and Jess Lehman's pentathlon title. Minnesota scored 89 points to finish fourth, its highest indoor team finish since also placing fourth in 2014. Michigan took home the team title with 109 points, followed by Purdue (102 points) and Penn State (96.50 points) in the top three.
2016 Outdoor Season Rewind
Led by B1G event titles from Jess Lehman (heptathlon) and Nicolle Murphy (javelin) and points from 16 different Gophers, Minnesota secured its second outdoor and fifth overall Big Ten Conference title in program history last spring. The Gophers sealed a share of the B1G title with a fourth-place finish by the 4x400-meter relay team of Erin Hawkins, Kat Keller, Emerald Egwim, and Titania Markland; the Gophers entered the final event trailing Michigan by one point, 102-101, and the 4x400m team finished one place ahead of the Wolverines to finish the meet tied at 106 points each.
Minnesota then finished tied for 22nd place in the team standings at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship, marking the program's highest finish since placing 18th in 2009. Eight Gophers competed at the NCAA Championship, the most since eight also competed at the 2008 national meet. Five Gophers earned All-American honors in Agnes Esser (discus), Jess Lehman (heptathlon), Nicolle Murphy (javelin), Lyndsey Thorpe (hammer throw), and Shanique Wright (triple jump), marking the most individual All-Americans in a single season in program history.
Up Next: Three-Meet Weekend
The Gophers will split the squad at three meets next weekend with Maroon & Gold representatives headed to the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, and the Music City Challenge hosted by Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., next Friday and Saturday along with a group competing locally at the UST Showcase at the University of St. Thomas on Friday.
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Players Mentioned
