University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 19 Gophers Set for B1G Championship
10/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
| 2017 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championship | |||||||||||
| Date | Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017 | ||||||||||
| Location | IU Championship Cross Country Course | Bloomington, Ind. | ||||||||||
| Time | 9:45 a.m. CT Men's 8K | 10:45 a.m. CT Women's 6K | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Meet Info | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | #Gophers | ||||||||||
Oct. 25, 2017
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 19 University of Minnesota women's cross country team heads to the 2017 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships in Bloomington, Ind., this Sunday.
About the 2017 Big Ten Championship
The 2017 Big Ten Conference Championship will be hosted by Indiana at IU Championship Cross Country Course in Bloomington, Ind., on Sunday. The men's 8K race is set for 9:45 a.m. CT with the women's 6K race to follow at 10:45 a.m. CT. Admission is free; parking is available for $10 (cash only). Championship merchandise will be available for purchase (cash only).
Six Big Ten Conference teams are ranked among the top 30 in the nation in the most recent USTFCCCA National Poll heading into the B1G Championship in No. 9 Penn State, No. 10 Michigan, No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 19 Minnesota, No. 20 Michigan State, and No. 29 Indiana.
Big Ten Network Delayed Coverage
The B1G Championships will air on the Big Ten Network on delay on Monday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The event will also be available for viewing on BTN2Go after it airs on BTN.
Gophers at the Big Ten Championship
All nine Gophers from last year's fourth-place Big Ten Championship team returned to the team this season, but two Gophers will make their B1G debuts this season in Abby Kohut-Jackson and Elyse Prescott. Madeline Strandemo, Megan Hasz; Bethany Hasz, Bailey Ness, Emily Betz, Patty O'Brien, and Courtney Alama return to the B1G field after also racing at last year's Big Ten meet. Strandemo leads the Gophers with two top-20 B1G cross country finishes and two Big Ten track & field titles in the mile and 3,000m steeplechase to her name.
2016 B1G Championship Rewind
Behind top-20 finishes from Madeline Strandemo, Megan Hasz, and Bethany Hasz, the Gophers earned a fourth-place team finish at the 2016 Big Ten Cross Country Championship. Strandemo led the Gophers in eighth place in 21:10.2. Rookies Megan Hasz (11th, 21:24.9) and Bethany Hasz (20th, 21:41.5) each earned top-20 finishes in their B1G debuts. Abby Kargol also made her Big Ten debut as the fourth Gopher finisher in 41st place overall (22:19.3), and Bailey Ness rounded out Minnesota's scoring finishers right behind Kargol in 42nd place (22:20.7).
Michigan took home last year's B1G team title with 63 points, edging team runner-up Penn State (70 points) and third-place finisher Michigan State (80). Minnesota scored 120 points in fourth, followed by Ohio state in fifth (130). The Wolverines claimed their first Big Ten team title since 2012. Michigan's Erin Finn cruised to her second-straight individual title in 20:37.3, earning a 25.5 second victory over runner-up Katherina Receveur of Indiana.
Last Time Out: Jack's Twilight Run
Elyse Prescott led the Gophers and finished as the overall runner-up at the 10th annual running of Jack's Twilight Run last Friday. Twenty-two Gophers raced, and 19 recorded career-best times led by Prescott's runner-up time of 20:56.7. Unattached Gopher Jaycie Thomsen posted a PR of 21:13.2 in fourth place overall while Molly Eastman came in fifth in a career-best 21:20.2. Zetta Mason (21:28.6), Paige Peschel (21:35.8), and Ally Smith (21:47.3) also recorded career-best times and finished within the top-10 overall finishers in sixth, ninth, and 10th, respectively. Fifty total competitiors toed the line at Jack's Twilight Run led by individual champion Julia Webb of the Bowerman Track Club in 20:47.1.
Gophers Move Up All-Time List
With her career-best 6K performance of 20:14.5 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, Madeline Strandemo moved into third on the Gophers' all-time list behind Stephanie Price (19:55.50) and Megan Duwell (20:06.90). Megan Hasz (20:16.0) and Bethany Hasz (20:16.9) also posted PRs at the meet in Wisconsin to move into fourth and sixth, respectively, in Gopher history. Bailey Ness has also improved her time on Minnesota's all-time list at 21:20.2, good for 36th in program history.
Gophers Up One Place to No. 19 in USTFCCCA Week Five Poll
Following a 10th place showing at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, the Gophers climbed one place to No. 19 in the nation according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Week Five National Coaches' Poll. This week, Minnesota also took back the top spot in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings. The week six 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: Rocky's Run
Minnesota wraps up the regular season by hosting Rocky's Run at Les Bolstad Course next Sunday, Nov. 5. The open 6K race begins at 10:30 a.m. CT. The race is open to the public with a registration fee of $10 and race-day registration only.
Rocky's Run was founded in 1981 to honor former Gopher runner Rochelle "Rocky" Racette, who died in a car accident that fall at the age of 22. While at the University of Minnesota, Racette was an All-American in track & field and cross country and champion of the Big Ten and Drake Relays 5,000-meter titles. The annual race is staged by the many members of the running community who knew and loved her. Racette's legacy lives on through the memory of those who knew her, and through Rocky's Run and the scholarship for which it raises money.
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