University of Minnesota Athletics
Distance Squad Set for Raleigh Relays
3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| Raleigh Relays | |||||||||||
| Date | Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25, 2017 | ||||||||||
| Location | Paul Derr Track & Field facility, NC State, Raleigh, N.C. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Info | Schedule | Accepted Entries | ||||||||||
| Time | Friday 8:45 a.m. CT | Saturday 9 a.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | ESPN Friday | ESPN Saturday | @GopherWCCTF | #Gophers | ||||||||||
March 21, 2017
MINNEAPOLIS -- Members of the Golden Gopher women's track & field team are back on the road this weekend as Minnesota's distance corps kicks off the outdoor season by traveling to the Raleigh Relays hosted by NC State this Friday and Saturday.
About the 2017 Raleigh Relays
North Carolina State is set to host the 2017 Raleigh Relays at the Paul Derr Track & Field facility in Raleigh, N.C., this weekend. The two-day meet has competition going on essentially all day both Friday and Saturday with Friday's tentative schedule beginning with section one of the women's 5,000-meter run at 8:45 a.m. CT and continuing until section two of the women's 10,000-meter run set for 8:49 p.m. CT. Competition resumes Saturday with field events at 9 a.m. CT, and the first event on the track is section one of the men's 4x1500-meter relay at 10 a.m. CT. Minnesota has entries in the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, 3,000m steeplechase, and 4x800m relay.
Last Time Out: Bulls Invitational
Minnesota opened up the outdoor season with the sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throws groups competing at the Bulls Invitational hosted by the University of South Florida last week. Taylor Wiebke (high jump), Rachel Schow (400-meter hurdles), and Kiley Sabin (shot put) won their respective individual events to lead Minnesota, and the Gophers' 4x400-meter relay team of Sophia Anderson, Erin Huls, Bolade Jinadu, and Lindsey Smits also picked up a title.
Gophers Post All-Time Top-10 Marks
Three Gophers have already improved their ranks among all-time Gophers in their respective events. In the hammer throw, Angie Guenther moved into fifth all-time (60.79m, 199-05) and Temi Ogunrinde climbed into 10th in program history (58.46m, 191-09). Taylor Wiebke posted a career-best mark of 1.80m (5-10.75) to move into a tie for second among all-time Gopher high jumpers as well.
Gophers Rank Among Big Ten's Best
Several Gophers rank among the top-10 performers in the Big Ten Conference so far this season, including Taylor Wiebke (high jump), Kiley Sabin (shot put), Agnes Esser (discus), and Angie Guenther (hammer throw) leading the B1G in their respective events.
1. Taylor Wiebke, high jump (1.80m, 5-10.75)
1. Kiley Sabin, shot put (15.74m, 51-07.75)
1. Agnes Esser, discus (53.13m, 174-04)
1. Angie Guenther, hammer throw (60.79m, 199-05)
T-2. Heta Tuuri, high jump (1.70m, 5-07.00)
3. Sophia Anderson, Erin Huls, Bolade Jinadu, and Lindsey Smits, 4x400m relay (3:44.65)
3. Rachel Schow, 400m hurdles (1:00.26)
3. Kiley Sabin, discus (51.37m, 168-06)
3. Temi Ogunrinde, hammer throw (58.46m, 191-09)
4. Agnes Esser, hammer throw (58.07m, 190-06)
4. Angie Guenther, discus (49.53m, 162-06)
4. Shay Nielsen, shot put (14.46m, 47-05.25)
4. Erin Huls, 400m hurdles (1:00.61)
6. Sofie Albrechtsen, javelin (32.58m, 106-11)
6. Lindsey Smits, 400m hurdles (1:03.15)
9. Kayla Nelson, javelin (23.08m, 75-09)
10. Sofie Albrechtsen, long jump (5.22m, 17-01.50)
10. Nina Horvath, hammer throw (55.00m, 180-05)
USTFCCCA Releases Outdoor Preseason Rankings
No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 LSU, and No. 5 USC make up the nation's top five in the outdoor preseason NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Two Big Ten Conference teams are among the top-25 in No. 18 Nebraska and No. 21 Michigan. The Gophers are just beyond the top-25, coming in at No. 30 according to the complete rankings; the week one rankings will be released on Monday, April 3.
Minnesota Welcomes 23 Newcomers
The Gophers' 2017 roster includes 23 newcomers, including two who have competed in uniform as true freshmen this season in Brieasha Hobbs and Natalie Manders. Fellow freshmen Hannah Arason, Jane Baude, Meleah Biermaier, Jenna Conzemius, Ryan Crotty, Carissa Dock, Delaney Eigenberger, Alyssa Faucett, Maddie Gourley, Lindsey Greenlund, Bethany Hasz, Megan Hasz, Abby Kohut-Jackson, Val Larson, Zetta Mason, Elyse Prescott, Ashley Ramacher, Kelli Schmidt, Rebekah Walter, and Sarah Werking also join the Minnesota family while senior sprinter Tayler Whittler is in her Gopher debut as a graduate student from DePaul University. The Gophers' roster also includes 18 redshirt freshmen making their official collegiate debuts this year.
Outdoor Track & Field Schedule
The Gophers' outdoor schedule has the team traveling to 18 meets in 10 different states. After kicking off the outdoor season in Florida, the team also competes in North Carolina, California, Minnesota, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oregon this season.
Gophers Sign 10 for 2017-18
The Minnesota women's track & field and cross country program is pleased to announce the addition of 10 student-athletes who have signed for the 2017-18 season. Erin Dunning (Ashwaubenon, Wis.), Allison Gerads (Champlin, Minn.), Alexis Hurst (Robbinsdale, Minn.), Tess Keyzers (Little Chute, Wis.), Elizabeth "Bit" Klecker (Minneapolis), Anastasia Korzenowski (Chanhassen, Minn.), Lorean Murray (Kingston, Jamaica), Sophie Schmitz (Willmar, Minn.), and Jaycie Thomsen (Plymouth, Minn.) will join the Gophers as freshmen next season while Nayoka Clunis (Kingston, Jamaica) comes to the University of Minnesota as a junior after competing for Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan., for two seasons.
Seven Gophers to Captain 2017 Squad
The seven Gophers who will lead the defending Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field co-champions are Cami Gilson, Kimberly Golding, Angie Guenther, Erin Hawkins, Titania Markland, Nicolle Murphy, and Madeline Strandemo. Markland and Murphy return to the Gophers' leadership group after serving as captains last season while Strandemo was a captain for Minnesota's cross country team this fall. The remaining four Gophers enter their first seasons as captains.
2016 Outdoor Season Rewind
Led by B1G event titles from Jess Lehman (heptathlon) and Nicolle Murphy (javelin) and points from 16 different Gophers, Minnesota secured its second outdoor and fifth overall Big Ten Conference title in program history last spring. The Gophers sealed a share of the B1G title with a fourth-place finish by the 4x400-meter relay team of Erin Hawkins, Kat Keller, Emerald Egwim, and Titania Markland; the Gophers entered the final event trailing Michigan by one point, 102-101, and the 4x400m team finished one place ahead of the Wolverines to finish the meet tied at 106 points each.
Minnesota then finished tied for 22nd place in the team standings at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship, marking the program's highest finish since placing 18th in 2009. Eight Gophers competed at the NCAA Championship, the most since eight also competed at the 2008 national meet. Five Gophers earned All-American honors in Agnes Esser (discus), Jess Lehman (heptathlon), Nicolle Murphy (javelin), Lyndsey Thorpe (hammer throw), and Shanique Wright (triple jump), marking the most individual All-Americans in a single season in program history.
2016 Cross Country Season Rewind
The Gophers wrapped up the 2016 cross country season with three NCAA All-Midwest Region honorees, two All-Big Ten Conference honorees, and one NCAA individual national qualifier. Madeline Strandemo represented Minnesota at the NCAA Championship with a 51st-place showing, running her second fastest 6K time of her career in 20:31.5.
Strandemo, Megan Hasz, and Bethany Hasz led Minnesota with all-region showings at the NCAA Midwest Regional after Strandemo and M. Hasz picked up Second Team All-Big Ten honors. The duo led host Minnesota to a fourth-place team finish at the B1G Championship.
2017 Indoor Season Rewind
Minnesota finished fourth at the Big Ten Indoor Championship led by Madeline Strandemo's B1G title in the mile and Agnes Esser's runner-up showing in the weight throw. Double-digit points in the weight throw, 60-meter hurdles, and high jump propelled the Gophers to a fourth-place showing overall with 70 points in the team race. Penn State won the team title with 96.50 points, claiming a 2.50-point victory over runner-up Purdue (94 points). Ohio State (83), Minnesota (70), and Indiana (69) rounded out the top five teams.
The Gophers saw 20 performances land on the program's all-time indoor top-10 list with changes in 12 different events. Three Minnesota indoor program records fell, including Kiley Sabin's record-breaking performance in the shot put (17.17m, 56-04.00). Emerald Egwim improved on her own program record in the 400m dash (52.73), and Kimberly Golding and Emma Spagnola tied for the top 60m hurdles time in program history at 8.13 seconds. In addition, three Gophers posted the second-best marks in program history in four different events: Strandemo (mile, 4:38.88; 3,000m, 9:17.54); Taylor Wiebke (high jump, 1.79m, 5-10.50), and Esser (weight throw, 20.94m, 68-08.50).
Egwim (400m), Golding (60m hurdles), Sabin (shot put), and Spagnola (60m hurdles) all represented Minnesota at the NCAA Indoor Championship and went on to earn Second Team All-American honors. The team's four individual indoor qualifiers was the most since the program sent five individuals and a relay to the 2008 NCAA indoor meet.
2017 Senior Salute
The Gophers honored 18 seniors during the Parents Day Invite: Danielle Anderson, Caitlin Dillon, Megan Flanagan, Cami Gilson, Kimberly Golding, Angie Guenther, Anne Haakenstad, Erin Hawkins, Allie Heifort, Bolade Jinadu, Kailee Kamps, Kat Keller, Naomi Ollila, Carlin Schulz, Tess Wasowicz, Violet Weibel, Laura Werking, and Tayler Whittler.
Up Next: UCLA Legends Invitational
The Gophers' sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throws crew is back in action at the UCLA Legends Invitational next Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1. Members of the team will also compete locally at the Hamline Invite on Saturday, April 1.
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Players Mentioned
