University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
Gophers Place 10th at Nuttycombe Invite
10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Meet Results 
| Meet Results (Open Race) | Listen to Hopkins' Post-Race Interview
MADISON, Wis. - Led by top-25 finishes from Madeline Strandemo, Megan Hasz, and Bethany Hasz, the No. 20 Golden Gopher women's cross country team placed 10th in the team standings at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the Badgers' Thomas Zimmer Championship Course on Friday.
Minnesota's top four runners recorded career-best 6K times led by Strandemo in 20th place with a time of 20:14.5, good for third on the Gophers' all-time list behind Stephanie Price (19:55.50) and Megan Duwell (20:06.90). M. Hasz (20:16.0) and B. Hasz (20:16.9) also posted PRs in 23rd place and 25th place, respectively, while moving up the Gophers' all-time list to fourth and sixth, respectively.
"The goal was top 12 as a team, and to come away with 10th and really be within 30-40 points of sixth was really, really good in a field like that," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "It the highest we've placed since 2013 or 2014, so I'm really, really proud of the women. Obviously, our top three just went in there and took care of their business."
Bailey Ness ran a career-best 21:20.2, narrowly improving on her previous best 6K time of 21:20.6 at last year's NCAA Midwest Regional and coming in 104th overall. Emily Betz (21:38.6), Courtney Alama (21:50.6), and Patty O'Brien (21:53.1) posted season-best times to round out Minnesota's top seven.
"Bailey ran significantly better this week than she ran at Louisville, and she has some more in the tank to keep coming," Hopkins said. "I think she got some confidence today. I think Emily Betz had the best race of her career to this point in cross. It was not quite a PR, but the way she competed and battled and stuck her nose in there was great to see.
"Our fifth has been kind-of a rotating spot for us, and it probably will be a rotating spot for the rest of the year, kind-of whoever is having a great day on that day. I'm really proud of them for stepping up and closing the gap a little bit. We know we can close the gap a bit more. It's going to keep being fun here for the next four or five weeks, which we're excited about."
The Gophers scored 313 points to place 10th in the team standings. New Mexico took the team title with 87 points behind three top-seven individual finishes, followed by runner-up San Francisco with 126 points. NC State (169), Boise State (233), and Providence (253) made up the top five teams in the 33-team field. Just 21 points separated eighth place through 10th place as Furman (257), Washington (257), Stanford (292), and host Wisconsin (298) came in sixth through ninth, respectively.
Minnesota's next seven runners, plus two unattached Gophers, placed fifth in the team standings of the open race with 112 points. Led by career-best times from Abby Kohut-Jackson (21:42.1), Elyse Prescott (21:54.4), and Zetta Mason (20:04.6), the Gophers' top five runners finished among the top 50 overall and were all within the top 28 in the team race.
"That group of redshirt freshmen I thought did a really nice job, and it's exciting to see them really making good progress throughout the whole season this year," Hopkins said.
The Maroon & Gold also has a group set to compete locally at the Tori Neubauer Invitational hosted by UW-La Crosse at Ettrick Golf Club in Ettrick, Wis., on Saturday. The women's 6K race is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Gophers in the Nuttycombe Championship 6K
20. Madeline Strandemo, 20:14.5, PR
23. Megan Hasz, 20:16.0, PR
25. Bethany Hasz, 20:16.9, PR
104. Bailey Ness, 21:20.2, PR
141. Emily Betz, 21:38.6, season-best
158. Courtney Alama, 21:50.6, season-best
160. Patty O'Brien, 21:53.1, season-best
Gophers in the Nuttycombe Open 6K
26. Abby Kohut-Jackson, 21:42.1, PR
29. Elyse Prescott, 21:54.4, PR
34. Zetta Mason, 22:04.6, PR
47. Molly Eastman, 22:14.7, season-best
50. Lindsey Greenlund, 22:18.2, season-best
57. Jaycie Thomsen, 22:29.5 (UA)
77. Abby Lange, 23:03.4
78. Anastasia Korzenowski, 23:04.7 (UA)
93. Carissa Dock, 23:52.3
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Players Mentioned
