University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 11 Gophers to Compete at Michigan
1/31/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| Michigan Power Five Invite | |||||||||||
| Dates | Friday-Saturday, Feb. 2-3, 2018 | ||||||||||
| Location | University of Michigan Indoor Track Building, Ann Arbor, Mich. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Info | Schedule | Heat Sheets | ||||||||||
| Time | 11:30 a.m. CT Friday | 9:40 a.m. CT Saturday | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | #Gophers | ||||||||||
Jan. 31, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 11 University of Minnesota women's track & field team is back on the road this week, traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Power Five Invite hosted by the University of Michigan.
About the Power Five Invite
The No. 11 Gophers are set to face competition from No. 16 Stanford, No. 17 Michigan, No. 19 Baylor, Duke, Indiana, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), NC State, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. The combined events begin the action at 11:30 a.m. on Friday and 9:30 a.m. on Saturday; meanwhile, the first track event is set for 4 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Field events are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. Doors open for spectators one hour prior to the start of the day's first event at Michigan's new U-M Indoor Track Building, part of the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus South Competition and Performance Center.
Last Time Out: Gophers Win Five Events at Home
Minnesota won five events at the Jack Johnson Classic last week. Karlie Place won pole vault with a career-best mark of 4.28m (14-00.50), and Agnes Esser also used a career-best mark in the weight throw to win at 20.99m (68-10.50); both Place and Esser rank third among all-time Gophers in their respective events. The Gophers took home two more event titles in the field events as Taylor Wiebke cleared a season-best 1.77m (5-09.75) to win high jump and Kiley Sabin threw 16.03m (52-07.25) to win the shot put. On the track, Emma Spagnola won the 60m hurdles in a season-best 8.41 seconds.
Gophers Remain No. 11
Minnesota maintained its No. 11 ranking in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week Two National Team Computer Rankings. The Gophers are the top-ranked Big Ten Conference team, ahead of No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 17 Michigan, and No. 24 Penn State. No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Florida remain the top five teams but switched places among the top five this week.
Gophers Lead USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings
Minnesota leads the nation in the 5,000m, weight throw, shot put, and pentathlon according to the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings, which calculate the best foursome in the country by event.
- The Gophers average 16:45.16 in the 5,000m led by Madeline Strandemo (16:46.81), Megan Hasz (16:47.87), Bethany Hasz (16:48.09), and Molly Eastman (17:08.65).
- Kaitlyn Long (22.74m), Agnes Esser (20.99m), Nayoka Clunis (20.54m), and Temi Ogunrinde (20.07m) average 21.09m to lead the nation in the weight throw; they also own four of the top six marks in Gopher history. Nina Horvath (19.95m) also ranks seventh in Minnesota history to add even more depth to the weight throw.
- In the shot put, program record-holder Kiley Sabin (16.78m), Nayoka Clunis (16.24m), Shay Nielsen (14.79m), and Ayesha Champagnie (14.68m) combine to average 15.62m to lead the country this year.
- Minnesota also leads the nation in the pentathlon. Sofie Albrechtsen (3,811), Ayesha Champagnie (3,732), and Ashley Ramacher (3,684) all set their season-best scores at the Jack Johnson Classic, and Hannah Arason rounds out the group at 3,614.
'U' Breaks Ground on T&F Facility
The University of Minnesota officially broke ground on a new outdoor track & field venue on Friday, Oct. 20. The new stadium will feature a nine-lane track with three chutes, full field event hosting capabilities, and a design to allow sprints and certain field events to be held in multiple directions to take advantage of wind conditions on competition days. These features, along with permanent and event-based seating, provide the flexibility and the amenities to host a wide variety of meets.
Gophers Welcome 19 Newcomers
The Gophers' 2018 roster includes 19 newcomers. Freshmen Sam Baer, Erin Dunning, Allison Gerads, Tess Keyzers, Bit Klecker, Anastasia Korzenowski, Lorean Murray, Hailey Poole, Molly Roach, Sophie Schmitz, Tate Sweeney, and Jaycie Thomsen have joined the Gophers this season along with seven transfers in sophomore Olivia Hummel, sophomore Maria Eastman, junior Ayesha Champagnie, junior Nayoka Clunis, senior Karlie Place, senior Delaney FitzPatrick, and senior Kaitlyn Long.
Meanwhile, Hannah Arason, Meleah Biermaier, Jenna Conzemius, Ryan Crotty, Carissa Dock, 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 will make their official collegiate debuts this year after redshirting the 2017 season.
Gophers Name Captains
Four Gophers will lead the Maroon & Gold in search of the program's sixth Big Ten track & field title this season in Titania Markland, Temi Ogunrinde, Emma Spagnola, and Madeline Strandemo. Markland and Strandemo return as captains while Ogunrinde and Spagnola are first-year captains for Minnesota.
2017-18 Track & Field Schedule
Under the direction of Matt Bingle for the seventh season, the Gophers' 2017-18 schedule includes nine weeks of indoor meets and nine weeks of outdoor meets with competitions in 12 different states. Highlighting the indoor slate are three home meets, beginning with the Minnesota vs. Wisconsin Dual which returns to the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 13, the Jack Johnson Classic (Jan. 26-27) and the Parents Day Invite (Feb. 17). The outdoor season includes nine weeks of competition, and the Gophers will compete in Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Minnesota, California, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, and Oregon.
2017 Cross Country Season Rewind
The Gophers wrapped up the 2017 season with three NCAA All-Midwest Region honorees, three All-Big Ten Conference awards, B1G team and individual runner-up showings, and a top-20 NCAA Championship finish.
Madeline Strandemo finished as B1G runner-up to lead Minnesota to a runner-up team showing while Megan Hasz and Bethany Hasz joined Strandemo as All-Big Ten and All-Midwest Region honorees. The Gophers closed out the season with a 19th-place team finish at the NCAA Championship.
Program Records Fall in 2017
The Gophers broke three Minnesota indoor program records last season, 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.
Outdoors, six Gophers set new program records last spring in Emerald Egwim (400m, 51.99), Kimberly Golding (100m hurdles, 12.98) Madeline Strandemo (3,000m steeplechase, 9:51.83), Kiley Sabin (shot put, 16.65m, 54-07.50), Temi Ogunrinde (hammer throw, 64.01m, 210-00), and Taylor Wiebke (high jump, 1.85m, 6-00.75). Sixteen Gophers and two relay teams made improvements to the program's top-10 list in 12 different events.
Up Next: Gophers Split Squad for Three Meets
Minnesota will split the squad for three meets next Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10. The sprints, jumps, pole vault, and relays are set to compete at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn., while the distance and throws groups compete at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. A group will also compete locally at the UST Showcase hosted by the University of St. Thomas.
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