University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Championships
Gophers Finish as B1G Runner-Up
5/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 14, 2017
Photo Gallery | Meet Results (Complete) 
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Emerald Egwim won the 400-meter dash and the Golden Gophers secured three runner-up finishes on day three of the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship on the way to a runner-up team showing at Nittany Lion Outdoor Track on Sunday.
Egwim won the 400m in 52.39 seconds after improving on her own Minnesota program record with a time of 51.99 seconds in the preliminary round. Egwim became the Gophers' third B1G champion of the meet, joining Temi Ogunrinde (hammer throw) and Madeline Strandemo (3,000m steeplechase) as event winners.
Minnesota earned second-place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles, 4x100-meter relay, and shot put to close out the competition on Sunday. Competing in nine of 13 possible events, the Gophers remained in the lead in the team race until midway through day three.
Purdue took home the team title with 133 points, followed by the runner-up Gophers with 105.5 points. Penn State (101), Ohio State (84.5), and Michigan (79) rounded out the top five in the team race.
The Gophers held on to second place in the team competition by closing out the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Heading into the final event with a 2.5-point lead over the host Nittany Lions, 100.5 to 98, Minnesota's team of Bolade Jinadu, Egwim, Erin Hawkins, and Lindsey Smits finished in 3:39.53 to grab five points in the team standings and hold off third-place team Penn State, which finished sixth in the 4x400m relay.
Minnesota picked up 19 points in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. Kimberly Golding (12.98 seconds) and Emma Spagnola (13.02 seconds) finished second and third in a wind-aided (3.6 m/s) 100m hurdles race. Spagnola added a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 57.88 seconds to move into second in Minnesota history as well.
Golding, Egwim, Spagnola, and Hawkins earned a runner-up finish in the 4x100m relay, clocking a second-place time of 45.30 seconds behind event champion Purdue in 44.79 seconds.
Kiley Sabin led the way in the field events, using a Minnesota program record mark to finish as B1G shot put runner-up for her best Big Ten showing of her career. She threw a career-best 16.65m (54-07.50) on her second attempt to lead the competition before eventual champion Sade Olatoye of Ohio State recorded a mark of 16.69m (54-09.25) on her third throw. Shay Nielsen finished 18th with a mark of 13.75m (45-01.50) on her third throw after fouling her first two attempts.
Strandemo added a fourth-place showing in the 1,500-meter run less than 24 hours after winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase, clocking a season-best time of 4:24.24 to secure five more points in the team standings.
Shanique Wright also earned a fourth-place finish for the Gophers, recording a season-best mark of 12.97m (42-06.75) in the triple jump.
The Big Ten Network is scheduled to broadcast delayed coverage of the B1G Championship at 6 p.m. CT Sunday evening.
Up next for the Gophers is the NCAA West Preliminary as the championship portion of the season continues. The NCAA qualifiers are scheduled to be announced next week with the meet set for Thursday, May 25 through Saturday, May 27 in Austin, Texas.
Gophers' B1G Scoring Finishes
1. Madeline Strandemo, 3,000m steeplechase (10 points)
1. Temi Ogunrinde, hammer throw (10 points)
1. Emerald Egwim, 400m (10 points)
2. Kiley Sabin, shot put (8 points)
2. Golding, Egwim, Spagnola, Hawkins, 4x100m relay (8 points)
2. Kimberly Golding, 100m hurdles (8 points)
3. Emma Spagnola, 100m hurdles (6 points)
3. Agnes Esser, discus (6 points)
T-3. Cami Gilson, pole vault (5.5 points)
4. Madeline Strandemo, 1,500m (5 points)
4. Shanique Wright, triple jump (5 points)
4. Emma Spagnola, 400m hurdles (5 points)
4. Jinadu, Egwim, Hawkins, Smits, 4x400m relay (5 points)
5. Agnes Esser, hammer throw (4 points)
6. Heta Tuuri, high jump (3 points)
6. Angie Guenther, hammer throw (3 points)
7. Bailey Ness, 10,000m (2 points)
T-7th. Taylor Wiebke, high jump (1 point)
8. Kiley Sabin, discus (1 point)
###
Players Mentioned
