University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Championships
Gophers, Strandemo Land B1G Runner-Up Showings
10/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 29, 2017
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 19 Minnesota women's cross country team placed second in the team standings behind Madeline Strandemo's individual runner-up finish at the Big Ten Cross Country Championship hosted by Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., Sunday morning.
Strandemo led the Gophers with a career-best 6K time of 20:13.5 while Megan Hasz (fifth) and Bethany Hasz (10th) also earned top-10 finishes to lead Minnesota. Strandemo and M. Hasz both gained ground over the final 1,000 meters as Strandemo surged to second after running in fourth place and M. Hasz improved from eighth to fifth over the final kilometer.
"What a great day to be a Gopher," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "Second as a team, second individual with Madeline Strandemo, three All-Big Ten individuals - I could not be more proud of the women today. I think we started the race in fourth or fifth as a team and just kept grinding away. We were in fourth as a team at the 5K and passed a bunch of people over the last 1K and came out in second."
Bailey Ness and Abby Kohut-Jackson completed Minnesota's scoring finishes in 30th and 39th, respectively. Ness improved her B1G finish from last season by 12 places, running a career-best time of 21:15.1 for 30th while Kohut-Jackson's top-40 individual finish came in her Big Ten debut and saw her secure a 6K PR of 21:26.2.
Minnesota scored 86 points to edge third-place Wisconsin with 100 points. Michigan placed all five of its scoring runners among the top 17 individuals to score 55 points for the team title. Penn State (107 points) and Michigan State (119 points) rounded out the top five teams, and host Indiana placed seventh (156 points) but had the individual champion in junior Katherine Receveur, who ran 20:10.3 for the win.
Elyse Prescott (54th), Patty O'Brien (56th), and Courtney Alama (59th) finished within eight and a half seconds of one another, and Emily Betz also represented the Maroon & Gold in 87th in 22:40.7.
Minnesota now looks ahead to the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 10 in Ames, Iowa, but not before the team hosts the 37th annual running of Rocky's Run in its final home competition of the season at 10:30 a.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 5. The 6K race is open to the public, and online registration is available now.
Minnesota's Big Ten Results
2. Madeline Strandemo, 20:13.5 (PR)
5. Megan Hasz, 20:23.5
10. Bethany Hasz, 20:34.4
30. Bailey Ness, 21:15.1 (PR)
39. Abby Kohut-Jackson, 21:26.2 (PR)
54. Elyse Prescott, 21:43.5
56. Patty O'Brien, 21:45.1
59. Courtney Alama, 21:51.8
87. Emily Betz, 22:40.7
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Players Mentioned
