University of Minnesota Athletics
Nationally Ranked Field Awaits No. 20 Gophers
10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
| Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational | |||||||||||
| Date | Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 | ||||||||||
| Location | Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, Madison, Wis. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Central | About the Course | ||||||||||
| Time | Women's 6K B race - 11 a.m. | Women's 6K Championship - 12:20 p.m. | ||||||||||
| Coverage | FloTrack ($) | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | #Gophers | ||||||||||
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 20 Golden Gopher women's cross country team will once again split the squad for a pair of meets this weekend. Minnesota's top runners will travel to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis., on Friday while the rest of the team competes locally at the Tori Neubauer Invitational hosted by UW-La Crosse on Saturday.
About the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
The ninth annual Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational is set for Friday. The highlight of the event is an 8-kilometer men's race and a 6-kilometer women's race. The event also includes "B' races for both men and women. All races will be held on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, which is located adjacent to University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis.
The No. 20 Gophers are set to face competition from 32 teams, including 15 nationally-ranked teams in No. 3 New Mexico, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 San Francisco, No. 7 North Carolina State, No. 8 Providence, No. 11 Washington, No. 13 Boise State, No. 14 Indiana, No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 18 Iowa State, No. 21 Furman, No. 22 (tie) Georgetown, No. 22 (tie) Utah, No. 27 Yale, and No. 28 Virginia, along with Air Force (RV), Baylor (RV), Cal (RV), Colorado State, Columbia (RV), Eastern Michigan (RV), Florida State (RV), Harvard, Kentucky, Michigan State (RV), Notre Dame (RV), Penn, Purdue, Syracuse, Tulsa, UCLA, and Vanderbilt (RV).
About the Tori Neubauer Invitational
UW-La Crosse will host the 2017 Tori Neubauer Invitational this Saturday at Ettrick Golf Club in Ettrick, Wis. The women's 6K race is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. CT following the men's 8K race to kick off the day at 10:30 a.m. CT. Spectator parking is available for $10/vehicle.
Last Time Out: Greater Louisville Classic
Bethany Hasz, Madeline Strandemo, and Megan Hasz earned top-eight finishes to lead Minnesota to a fourth-place team showing at the Greater Louisville Classic 5K. Bethany Hasz finished sixth overall, posting a career-best cross country 5K time of 16:46.63. Strandemo (season-best 16:47.66) and Megan Hasz (career-best 16:48.81) followed in seventh and eighth place, respectively. The Gophers scored 129 points to place fourth in the team standings. Boise State won the team title with 82 points followed by Wisconsin (107) and Furman (127) to make up the top three teams. Northern Arizona scored 181 to round out the top five in the 37 teams.
Last Time Out: UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite
Abby Lange led the Gophers with an 11th-place individual showing at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational, recording a career-best 6K time of 22:34.5 to place 11th and lead Minnesota for the first time in her career. Sarah Werking ran a season-best 22:45.2 as Minnesota's second finisher in 17th overall, and Kelli Schmidt also posted a career-best 6K time of 22:54.6 in 24th overall to round out the top-three Gophers. In the team standings, Minnesota finished fourth of 15 teams with 104 points. Host UW-Eau Claire took home the team title with 47 points, followed by UW-La Crosse (76 points) and Winona State (97 points) ahead of the Gophers.
Gophers Come in at No. 20 in USTFCCCA Week Four Poll
The Gophers remained No. 20 in the nation according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Week Four National Coaches' Poll. This week, Minnesota also remained the second-ranked team in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings. The next poll and rankings are slated to be released next Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
Who's Back?
Minnesota's 2017 roster includes all top nine runners from last year's postseason roster led by individual NCAA qualifier Madeline Strandemo. Bethany Hasz and Megan Hasz join Strandemo as returning NCAA all-region performers.
Quintet Serving as Captains
Five captains are leading this year's team: first-year captains Amelia Barczi, Bailey Ness, Patty O'Brien, and Paige Peschel and returning captain Madeline Strandemo.
Up Next: Jack's Twilight Run
The Gophers return home to Les Bolstad Course to host Jack's Twilight Run next Friday, Oct. 20. The 6K race is open to the public.
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Players Mentioned
