University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Sun Angel Classic
Gophers Wrap Up Sun Angel Classic
4/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
TEMPE, Ariz. - Kimberly Golding won the 100-meter hurdles and two Minnesota program records fell in the 400-meter dash and shot put as the Golden Gopher women's track & field team wrapped up day two at the Sun Angel Classic Saturday.
Emerald Egwim ran an outdoor career-best time of 52.75 seconds to place third in the invite section of the 400m dash, adding the Gophers' outdoor program record to the indoor 400m record she already holds at 52.73 seconds.
Likewise, Kiley Sabin added the Gophers' outdoor shot put record to the indoor record she set this season. Sabin threw an outdoor career-best mark of 16.63m (54-06.50), bettering the program record previously held by Liz Podominick at 16.30m (53-05.75) since 2006. In addition, Shay Nielsen threw a career-best 15.81m (51-10.25) to tie for sixth among all-time Gophers.
"It was great for Kiley to get another big one out there like that," director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle said. "It was a great opportunity for her to get back to having fun and enjoying herself. That's really the key for her.
"For Emerald, it was good to open up that fast in her first outdoor open 400m. She executed well and still has a lot of room for improvement. It was a solid performance, so hopefully she'll have some consistency."
On the track, Golding and Emma Spagnola took the top two places in the 100-meter hurdles. Golding won in 13.29, and Spagnola came in second in 13.36. Rachel Schow also earned a top-eight finish, taking eighth in 13.94 seconds.
Spagnola also led the way in the 400-meter hurdles, coming in sixth in 59.27 seconds. All four Gophers placed in the top nine as Schow ran a career-best 59.51 to place seventh and move into ninth among all-time Minnesota hurdlers. Erin Huls ran 59.81 for eighth, and Lindsey Smits posted a career-best time of 1:01.41 for ninth.
"We still have lots of work to do in the hurdles, but their times were good with some PRs and season bests," Bingle said. "It was the right step. We have more steps to take, but it was a good weekend.
"I think, generally speaking, a lot of people took some of the right steps, even if they didn't get their mark. A lot of people learned and emotionally improved this week. Anytime we travel back-to-back weekends, especially with these long trips, it can be pretty challenging. They responded well to back-to-back weeks of competition. Even if they didn't get a PR, they responded well to the environment."
Minnesota's 4x100-meter relay team of Golding, Egwim, Spagnola, and Schow finished fourth in a season-best 45.39 seconds, good for sixth in program history.
The Gophers ran two 4x400-meter relays. The team of Huls, Egwim, Kat Keller, and Bolade Jinadu ran 3:41.90 for fifth place while Smits, Sophia Anderson, Anne Haakenstad, and Paige Peschel ran 3:54.12 for 12th place.
"It was good to have all of the groups represented and be together this weekend," Bingle said. "It was good to reconnect with everybody and watch everyone compete from a team standpoint. From a performance standpoint, I thought we had some good things happen, but we still have some things we need to improve on. We have plenty of time to make positive changes, or negative changes, so everyone has to keep doing their job, push forward, and hold one another accountable to our standards."
Madeline Strandemo finished as runner-up in the invite section of the 1,500-meter run in 4:27.33. The Gophers also put four in the top 10 of the open section of the 1,500-meter run, led by Bailey Ness in third place in a career-best 4:35.10. Patty O'Brien (4:36.40) took fifth, Tess Wasowicz (4:40.80) was eighth, and Abby Lange came in 10th (4:42.91).
Taylor Wiebke (1.75m, 5-08.75) and Heta Tuuri (1.70m, 5-06.75) finished fourth and sixth in high jump, respectively. Likewise, in the discus invite section, Agnes Esser (52.04m, 170-08.75) and Sabin (50.47m, 165-07) took fourth and sixth. Angie Guenther came in fifth in the open section of the discus with a throw of 44.72m (146-08.50) as well.
Cami Gilson cleared an outdoor season-best 3.91m (12-09.75) to place ninth in the invite section of the pole vault.
Day one of the Sun Angel Classic saw Esser, Temi Ogunrinde, Guenther, and Nina Horvath compete in the hammer throw, led by Esser's fourth-place finish (60.83m, 199-06.75) in the invite section; Horvath won the open section with a toss of 58.78m (192-10). In addition, Lexi Kiefer took third in the open section of the pole vault (3.75m, 12-03.50).
Next weekend, members of the women's track & field team are set to compete locally at the Hamline Women's Twilight meet on Wednesday, April 12.
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Players Mentioned
