University of Minnesota Athletics
Join the No. 13 Gophers for Rocky's Run
10/31/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 13 University of Minnesota women's cross country team wraps up the regular season by hosting Rocky's Run at Les Bolstad Course this Sunday.
This Sunday marks the 37th annual running of Rocky's Run. The 6K race begins at 10:30 a.m. CT and is open to the public. Online registration is available through 6 p.m. Saturday.
About Rocky's Run
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.
Last Time Out: B1G Runners-Up
Minnesota placed second in the team standings behind Madeline Strandemo's individual runner-up finish at the Big Ten Cross Country Championship. 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. Bailey Ness and Abby Kohut-Jackson completed Minnesota's scoring finishes in 30th and 39th, respectively. 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.
2016 Rocky's Run Rewind
Carlin Schulz, Tess Wasowicz, and Danielle Anderson led the way as 98 total runners toed the line at Rocky's Run last season. Schulz ran 23:12.5 to lead 46 female finishers, including 24 Gophers. Wasowicz (23:33.7) and Anderson (23:37.5) completed the top three females, and freshman Abby Kohut-Jackson was fourth in 23:43.8 while racing unattached. Haley Rasmussen (23:46.3), Megan Flanagan (23:55.1), Samantha Prouty, (24:04.9), and Emily Castanias (24:09.9) rounded out Minnesota's top seven attached runners with top-10 overall showings.
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); Strandemo improved her PR by one second at the B1G Championship. 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 also improved her time on Minnesota's all-time list at 21:20.2, good for 36th in program history, and climbed one more spot into a tie for 35th all-time with a time of 21:15.1 at Big Tens. Abby Kohut-Jackson moved into 40th in program history with a PR of 21:26.2 at the B1G Championship.
Gophers Jump to No. 13 in USTFCCCA Week Six Poll
Following the team's runner-up showing at the Big Ten Championship, the Gophers climbed six places to No. 13 in the nation according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Week Six National Coaches' Poll. This week, Minnesota also maintained the top spot in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings. The week seven poll will be released next Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Minnesota's No. 13 ranking is the program's highest ranking since also ranking 13th in the week seven poll in 2009; that season, the Gophers went on to finish 10th at the NCAA Championship.
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: NCAA Midwest Regional
The NCAA postseason begins with the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 10 in Ames, Iowa.
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