University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Indiana Open
Gophers Take Second at IU Open
9/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Sept. 2, 2017
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Three Gophers finished among the top seven and Minnesota finished as runner-up in the team standings as the University of Minnesota women's cross country team officially opened its 2017 season at the Indiana Open 5K Saturday morning.
Bethany Hasz was Minnesota's top runner, placing fourth in 17:46.5, with her sister Megan Hasz (17:48.9) and Madeline Strandemo (17:49.5) on her heels in fifth place and seventh place, respectively.
Only 22 places and less than 40 seconds separated Minnesota's top seven in the season-opening meet. Bailey Ness placed 14th as the fourth Gopher in 18:10.3, followed by Courtney Alama (18:19.2), Emily Betz (18:20.5), and Patty O'Brien (18:25.4) in 21st, 23rd, and 26th places, respectively.
"We had a really good opener today," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "This is a different start to the season than we've ever had before, so it's a little bit hard to compare to what we've done in the past. The course is kind-of a similar challenge-level to our course, so it's fun to see what they did last year on our course and what they did this year on this course. I think we learned a lot today, and that was the biggest reason that we came."
Minnesota finished second to host Indiana (40 points) in the team standings with 51 points. Ohio State (62), Wisconsin (84), and Miami (Ohio) (116) rounded out the team scores. Wisconsin's Amy Davis won the meet in 17:39.9 while IU placed four runners in the top nine. The race served as a preview of this year's Big Ten Conference Championship course.
"We really wanted to get a good sense of the course for this year's Big Ten meet," Hopkins said. "This course is very nuancey; it has lots of challenges to it. We really wanted to go out there and just learn a lot, whether we went out too hard and paid the piper, whether we didn't go out hard enough, we just wanted to learn, and I think we accomplished that today."
Three Gophers made their official collegiate cross country debuts after competing unattached as true freshmen last season. Abby Kohut-Jackson led the rookies in 30th place in a time of 18:32.1. Lindsey Greenlund (18:41.7) and Zetta Mason (18:47.3) also made their debuts representing the Maroon & Gold, placing 34th and 37th, respectively.
"I was really impressed with our new travelers," Hopkins said. "This was the first big travel meet and first time in uniform for Abby Kohut-Jackson, Lindsey Greenlund, and Zetta Mason ... and they handled it really, really well. They managed the pressure well."
The members of the team not traveling to IU raced in the Intrasquad 5K Friday night at Les Bolstad Cross Country Course where newcomers Olivia Hummel, Anastasia Korzenowski, and Jaycie Thomsen led the way. Hummel, a sophomore transfer from the University of Dayton, paced the field in 19:01.68 with true freshmen Korzenowski (19:05.93) and Thomsen (19:11.20) finishing second and third, respectively. Sophomore Elyse Prescott (19:19.92) and rookie Sophie Schmitz (19:32.88) rounded out the top five.
Minnesota returns to Les Bolstad course for its official home-opener next Friday, Sept. 8 when the Gophers host the Oz Memorial 6K at 7 p.m. CT.
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Gopher Results at the Indiana Open
4. Bethany Hasz, 17:46.5
5. Megan Hasz, 17:48.9
7. Madeline Strandemo, 17:49.5
14. Bailey Ness, 18:10.3
21. Courtney Alama, 18:19.2
23. Emily Betz, 18:20.5
26. Patty O'Brien, 18:25.4
29. Abby Kohut-Jackson, 18:32.1
33. Lindsey Greenlund, 18:41.7
36. Zetta Mason, 18:47.3
43. Molly Eastman, 19:05.7
57. Abby Kargol, 19:51.5
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Players Mentioned
