University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Meyo Invite
Gophers Kick Off Meyo Invite
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Meet Results (Day One) 
| Saturday Live Results
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Golden Gopher women's track & field team kicked off this weekend's competition at the Meyo Invitational Friday night. The two-day meet continues all day Saturday at Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Center.
Friday's action for the Gophers included event finals in the 5,000-meter run, 600-meter run, and 200-meter dash, along with preliminary heats in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. The unseeded section of the women's pole vault also took place Friday.
All six Gophers ran career-best times in the 5,000-meter run led by Patty O'Brien and Bailey Ness with top-10 finishes and sub-17:00 performances. O'Brien led Minnesota in sixth place in 16:46.09 with Ness close behind in ninth place in 16:47.68. Tamara Gorman (17:05.66), Emily Betz (17:22.28), Molly Eastman (17:30.27), and Abby Kargol (17:34.22) also posted PRs.
Paige Peschel ran a career-best 1:34.99 in the 600-meter run to finish 15th in a field of 36 runners.
Erin Hawkins led the Gophers in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 24.42 seconds for seventh place in a field of 56 runners. Tayler Whittler (season-best 24.74) finished 14th, and Rachel Schow (career-best 24.78) took 16th. Bolade Jinadu also ran a career-best time in 25.06 while Kat Keller ran a season-best 25.56.
Emma Spagnola, Kimberly Golding, Schow and all moved on to Saturday's semifinals in the 60-meter hurdles. Spagnola (8.40) and Golding (8.43) each won her heat while Schow (8.71) advanced with one of the next 13 best times in a field of 60 athletes.
Likewise, the 60-meter dash saw both Gophers advance to Saturday's semifinal heats as Whittler (season-best 7.53) and Hawkins (season-best 7.59) won their preliminary heats to advance.
In the pole vault, Lexi Kiefer cleared 3.75m (12-03.50) to tie for fifth place in the unseeded section. Cami Gilson is set to compete in the seeded section on Saturday.
Saturday at the Meyo Invitational includes two sessions. The morning session has running events starting at 8:45 a.m. CT, and women's triple jump kicks off the field events at 9 a.m. CT. The afternoon session running events are set to begin at 1 p.m. CT.
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Players Mentioned
