University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Louisville Classic 5K
Gophers Place Three in Top Eight at Louisville
9/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bethany Hasz, Madeline Strandemo, and Megan Hasz earned top-eight finishes to lead the No. 20 University of Minnesota women's cross country team to a fourth-place team showing at the Greater Louisville Classic 5K Saturday morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
Bethany Hasz led Minnesota in sixth place overall, posting a career-best cross country 5K time of 16:46.63. Strandemo (season-best 16:47.66) and Megan Hasz (career-best 16:48.81) followed in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
The Gophers scored 129 points to place fourth in the team standings. Boise State won the team title with 82 points followed by Wisconsin (107) and Furman (127) to make up the top three teams. Northern Arizona scored 181 to round out the top five in the 37 teams.
The 11 Gopher finishers combined for six 5K PRs, and the remaining five Gophers posted season-best 5K times.
The meet served as a preview of the 2017 NCAA Championship, which will be held at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Members of the team also competed at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational on Friday evening where Abby Lange recorded a career-best 6K time of 22:34.5 to place 11th and lead Minnesota for the first time in her career. Sarah Werking ran a season-best 22:45.2 as Minnesota's second finisher in 17th overall, and Kelli Schmidt also posted a career-best 6K time of 22:54.6 in 24th overall to round out the top-three Gophers.
After a week off from competition, the Gophers will once again split the squad for a pair of meets the following weekend. Minnesota's top runners will travel to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Oct. 13 while the rest of the team competes locally at the Tori Neubauer Invitational hosted by UW-La Crosse on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Gopher Results at Louisville Classic
6. Bethany Hasz, 16:46.63 (PR)
7. Madeline Strandemo, 16:47.66 (season best)
8. Megan Hasz, 16:48.81 (PR)
46. Bailey Ness, 17:27.49 (PR)
66. Patty O'Brien, 17:40.05 (season best)
73. Courtney Alama, 17:42.55 (PR)
77. Abby Kohut-Jackson, 17:45.58 (PR)
86. Zetta Mason, 17:48.29 (PR)
113. Emily Betz, 18:02.97 (season best)
133. Molly Eastman, 18:11.39 (season best)
146. Elyse Prescott, 18:16.23 (season best)
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Players Mentioned
