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Miller Previews Throws
12/27/2018 8:30:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Assistant coach Peter Miller breaks down the Gophers' throws squad for 2019.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Assistant coach Peter Miller breaks down the Gophers' throws squad for 2019, looking at key returners and newcomers heading into the indoor track & field season along with looking ahead to the outdoor season.
"I think it's a balanced group. We have talent across all events, but it's not as deep as we were last year," Miller said. "It's a little different than years past, but we still have three school record-holders on the roster and another person who's top three in multiple events, so we're still a very good group. As a team, we're looking more toward the NCAA meet than the Big Ten meet this year. Obviously they're both important, but we don't have the same depth this year that we did last year."
Temi Ogunrinde and Kiley Sabin lead the Gophers throwers as fifth-year seniors and two of the team's four captains. The two-time defending Big Ten champion in hammer throw, Ogunrinde holds Minnesota's program record in the hammer and ranks sixth in program history in the weight throw. Meanwhile, Sabin owns Minnesota's indoor and outdoor all-time records in the shot put and is a two-time All-American for the Maroon & Gold. Fellow fifth year senior Kaitlyn Long, the 2018 NCAA weight throw champion, returns for her final season of outdoor eligibility as well.
"It's obviously going to be different than last year losing Nicolle Murphy and Agnes Esser -- that's a lot of Big Ten points and a lot of experience at the Big Ten and NCAA levels," Miller said. "Not having Kaitlyn Long indoors is a big loss, too. But, at the same time, we do have Kiley and Temi, who have both scored in multiple Big Ten meets. Together they've scored something like 60 Big Ten points, which is pretty baffling. Then we have a couple younger kids as well with Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers, and Hailey Poole coming off red shirts. They can contribute at the Big Ten and NCAA levels if we can put things together. Nayoka Clunis has had a great fall and threw PRs in both events already, too."
Shot Put
Key Returners: Kiley Sabin, Shay Nielsen
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers
Miller: Shot put should be a great event for us. Kiley Sabin is back. She's obviously been Big Ten runner-up a couple times now, so we're chasing a Big Ten individual title there. She had a little setback with an injury this fall but has gotten through that. We've made some big technical changes, and I think they are working. Being about a month behind is probably good for her, and I think it'll make the outdoor season a little bit better where she won't peak indoors like we have the last couple years. Then we have Shay Nielsen behind Kiley. She's been in three Big Ten finals and has finished as high as fourth. She had a good fall. She's going to be student teaching in the spring, which will be a challenge, but it's exciting to get it done now so her fifth year will be a little bit more relaxed.
We also add Tess Keyzers and Erin Dunning, who are coming off redshirt seasons, and they both have the ability to compete at the Big Ten level in the shot right away. I think Tess is a little bit ahead of Erin, but Erin threw within four inches of what Tess threw last year. They're young. I don't know if I expect them to score because we have Kiley and Shay ahead of them, but our goal is to make the Big Ten meet and be competitive there and then see what happens. We had three in the Big Ten final last year outdoors, so I'd love to see that again. The shot put group looks basically the same indoors and outdoors.
Weight Throw
Key Returners: Temi Ogunrinde
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers
Miller: Temi Ogunrinde returns after finishing seventh in the Big Ten last year. I think three or four of the athletes ahead of her don't return, so our goal there is lofty, to chase a Big Ten title. She's won two Big Ten titles outdoor in hammer, but getting after an indoor title would be exciting. She hates the weight, so that's more my goal than her goal, but she's competitive and wants to throw everything far. She wants to make the indoor national meet, and I think that's a reasonable goal. She threw over 20 meters at our intrasquad, within two feet of her PR and we really haven't trained the weight at all.
Behind Temi will be Tess and Erin. Tess is very, very gifted at the weight. That's going to be her best event for the next couple years while we're continuing to learn in the other events. I expect Tess to be pushing to make the national meet, too. She's already thrown 62 feet and she's still not quite there, so it's exciting to see. I think she can be pushing 70 feet by the end of the year, which for a freshman is baffling. Erin has had two lifetime bests already between SDSU and the intrasquad. She's more of a hammer thrower, but I expect her to be at the Big Ten meet in the weight throw and be trying to make one of the upper flights, pushing to sneak into the final. The hammer for her is going to be a great event outdoors.
Hammer Throw
Key Returners: Temi Ogunrinde, Kaitlyn Long
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers
Miller: In the hammer, the group will look a little bit different than the weight. When you return the all-time Big Ten record-holder, in Temi, obviously that's exciting. She had a super long season last year, so we've taken the fall a little differently. I think that will push her to have PRs later in the season, which is what we're going for and trying to compete, not just for a Big Ten title. She's in the top five returners in the NCAA, so it's exciting to have her competing for an NCAA title. She saw her teammate do it last season with Kaitlyn in the weight, so I think that inspired her to want to reach that level, and then beyond that, to go to the world championships. She's very engaged, training really well and taking care of her body really well.
Then you have Kaitlyn Long, who had a PR finally after a couple years going without a PR in the hammer, last year with only 12 throws outdoors. She's bought in to the hammer, and what we're doing with the weight is more geared towards her throwing the hammer far, even though the weight is going really far right now. I think we can have two people there making the Big Ten final and trying to score.
Erin Dunning, like I said, is definitely a hammer thrower. She had a big PR in October, so I think she's somebody who is going to push to make the NCAA First Round and the Big Ten final. Tess is very athletic and very strong. I think we're probably a year away in the hammer; we're going to spend some more energy on the weight because I don't think she's a year away in the weight. That may create some problems transitioning to the hammer, but long term, I think she projects to be a really good hammer-weight-shot putter.
Javelin
Key Returners: Ryan Crotty, Wilsonique Delson
Key Newcomers: Hailey Poole
Miller: Ayesha Champagnie is going to redshirt this year, so that kind of changes javelin a little bit, but Ryan Crotty has had a great fall of training. Every year she gets better; she understands the event better, and she's a better athlete. I expect her to be competing to score in the Big Ten and then hopefully making the first round of NCAAs. She's at a level where I think trying to make the NCAA final is a legitimate goal for her, which is exciting.
Hailey Poole has become so much better of an athlete through the Tommy Johns experience; we haven't been able to throw any javelin until recently, but her jump numbers, her speed, her vertical, they're all way better than last year. She's been super patient through the process. The next couple months will be the hardest part because she can start to throw a little bit, but we can't throw hard. There are going to be come challenges there, but I expect her, by May, to be in the position where she can throw far enough to score at the Big Ten meet, and the first round of NCAAs will help extend her season. She's someone who is going to have a good year, but next year is going to have a breakout year. People are going to remember who she is, which is exciting.
Wilsonique Delson had a little bit of a breakout last year with a PR by over 10 feet in a horrible spring weather-wise. Hopefully she earns a chance to get to go on the road and throw against better competition and see what she can do in a big meet situation. She's not that far from scoring at the Big Ten meet either, so if we could find that, that'd be exciting for her. She's a fourth-year junior but isn't going to take a fifth year, so this is her last season. Hopefully she gets some opportunities.
Discus
Key Returners: Kiley Sabin
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Emily Stendel
Miller: In the discus, we're going to be led by Kiley Sabin. She's scored in the Big Ten already, she's made the first round of NCAAs twice -- she had a great NCAA prelims last year and just missed the national meet. We were able to do more with the discus than the shot with her this fall, so I think she's ahead of schedule there. That's exciting for us. I think she can be a two-event Big Ten level thrower for sure, and maybe a two-event NCAA competitor if everything lines up. Most of the athletes who beat her last year were seniors, so I'm excited to see her be confident in that event. Erin Dunning will throw the discus for us and is good, but she is definitely more of a hammer thrower. She could be someone who, if she catches one on the right day, could make the first round of NCAAs or be a Big Ten scorer. Emily Stendel is most likely going to red shirt, but she's the next discus thrower for us. I think she can be really, really good at that event.
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"I think it's a balanced group. We have talent across all events, but it's not as deep as we were last year," Miller said. "It's a little different than years past, but we still have three school record-holders on the roster and another person who's top three in multiple events, so we're still a very good group. As a team, we're looking more toward the NCAA meet than the Big Ten meet this year. Obviously they're both important, but we don't have the same depth this year that we did last year."
Temi Ogunrinde and Kiley Sabin lead the Gophers throwers as fifth-year seniors and two of the team's four captains. The two-time defending Big Ten champion in hammer throw, Ogunrinde holds Minnesota's program record in the hammer and ranks sixth in program history in the weight throw. Meanwhile, Sabin owns Minnesota's indoor and outdoor all-time records in the shot put and is a two-time All-American for the Maroon & Gold. Fellow fifth year senior Kaitlyn Long, the 2018 NCAA weight throw champion, returns for her final season of outdoor eligibility as well.
"It's obviously going to be different than last year losing Nicolle Murphy and Agnes Esser -- that's a lot of Big Ten points and a lot of experience at the Big Ten and NCAA levels," Miller said. "Not having Kaitlyn Long indoors is a big loss, too. But, at the same time, we do have Kiley and Temi, who have both scored in multiple Big Ten meets. Together they've scored something like 60 Big Ten points, which is pretty baffling. Then we have a couple younger kids as well with Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers, and Hailey Poole coming off red shirts. They can contribute at the Big Ten and NCAA levels if we can put things together. Nayoka Clunis has had a great fall and threw PRs in both events already, too."
Shot Put
Key Returners: Kiley Sabin, Shay Nielsen
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers
Miller: Shot put should be a great event for us. Kiley Sabin is back. She's obviously been Big Ten runner-up a couple times now, so we're chasing a Big Ten individual title there. She had a little setback with an injury this fall but has gotten through that. We've made some big technical changes, and I think they are working. Being about a month behind is probably good for her, and I think it'll make the outdoor season a little bit better where she won't peak indoors like we have the last couple years. Then we have Shay Nielsen behind Kiley. She's been in three Big Ten finals and has finished as high as fourth. She had a good fall. She's going to be student teaching in the spring, which will be a challenge, but it's exciting to get it done now so her fifth year will be a little bit more relaxed.
We also add Tess Keyzers and Erin Dunning, who are coming off redshirt seasons, and they both have the ability to compete at the Big Ten level in the shot right away. I think Tess is a little bit ahead of Erin, but Erin threw within four inches of what Tess threw last year. They're young. I don't know if I expect them to score because we have Kiley and Shay ahead of them, but our goal is to make the Big Ten meet and be competitive there and then see what happens. We had three in the Big Ten final last year outdoors, so I'd love to see that again. The shot put group looks basically the same indoors and outdoors.
Weight Throw
Key Returners: Temi Ogunrinde
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers
Miller: Temi Ogunrinde returns after finishing seventh in the Big Ten last year. I think three or four of the athletes ahead of her don't return, so our goal there is lofty, to chase a Big Ten title. She's won two Big Ten titles outdoor in hammer, but getting after an indoor title would be exciting. She hates the weight, so that's more my goal than her goal, but she's competitive and wants to throw everything far. She wants to make the indoor national meet, and I think that's a reasonable goal. She threw over 20 meters at our intrasquad, within two feet of her PR and we really haven't trained the weight at all.
Behind Temi will be Tess and Erin. Tess is very, very gifted at the weight. That's going to be her best event for the next couple years while we're continuing to learn in the other events. I expect Tess to be pushing to make the national meet, too. She's already thrown 62 feet and she's still not quite there, so it's exciting to see. I think she can be pushing 70 feet by the end of the year, which for a freshman is baffling. Erin has had two lifetime bests already between SDSU and the intrasquad. She's more of a hammer thrower, but I expect her to be at the Big Ten meet in the weight throw and be trying to make one of the upper flights, pushing to sneak into the final. The hammer for her is going to be a great event outdoors.
Hammer Throw
Key Returners: Temi Ogunrinde, Kaitlyn Long
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Tess Keyzers
Miller: In the hammer, the group will look a little bit different than the weight. When you return the all-time Big Ten record-holder, in Temi, obviously that's exciting. She had a super long season last year, so we've taken the fall a little differently. I think that will push her to have PRs later in the season, which is what we're going for and trying to compete, not just for a Big Ten title. She's in the top five returners in the NCAA, so it's exciting to have her competing for an NCAA title. She saw her teammate do it last season with Kaitlyn in the weight, so I think that inspired her to want to reach that level, and then beyond that, to go to the world championships. She's very engaged, training really well and taking care of her body really well.
Then you have Kaitlyn Long, who had a PR finally after a couple years going without a PR in the hammer, last year with only 12 throws outdoors. She's bought in to the hammer, and what we're doing with the weight is more geared towards her throwing the hammer far, even though the weight is going really far right now. I think we can have two people there making the Big Ten final and trying to score.
Erin Dunning, like I said, is definitely a hammer thrower. She had a big PR in October, so I think she's somebody who is going to push to make the NCAA First Round and the Big Ten final. Tess is very athletic and very strong. I think we're probably a year away in the hammer; we're going to spend some more energy on the weight because I don't think she's a year away in the weight. That may create some problems transitioning to the hammer, but long term, I think she projects to be a really good hammer-weight-shot putter.
Javelin
Key Returners: Ryan Crotty, Wilsonique Delson
Key Newcomers: Hailey Poole
Miller: Ayesha Champagnie is going to redshirt this year, so that kind of changes javelin a little bit, but Ryan Crotty has had a great fall of training. Every year she gets better; she understands the event better, and she's a better athlete. I expect her to be competing to score in the Big Ten and then hopefully making the first round of NCAAs. She's at a level where I think trying to make the NCAA final is a legitimate goal for her, which is exciting.
Hailey Poole has become so much better of an athlete through the Tommy Johns experience; we haven't been able to throw any javelin until recently, but her jump numbers, her speed, her vertical, they're all way better than last year. She's been super patient through the process. The next couple months will be the hardest part because she can start to throw a little bit, but we can't throw hard. There are going to be come challenges there, but I expect her, by May, to be in the position where she can throw far enough to score at the Big Ten meet, and the first round of NCAAs will help extend her season. She's someone who is going to have a good year, but next year is going to have a breakout year. People are going to remember who she is, which is exciting.
Wilsonique Delson had a little bit of a breakout last year with a PR by over 10 feet in a horrible spring weather-wise. Hopefully she earns a chance to get to go on the road and throw against better competition and see what she can do in a big meet situation. She's not that far from scoring at the Big Ten meet either, so if we could find that, that'd be exciting for her. She's a fourth-year junior but isn't going to take a fifth year, so this is her last season. Hopefully she gets some opportunities.
Discus
Key Returners: Kiley Sabin
Key Newcomers: Erin Dunning, Emily Stendel
Miller: In the discus, we're going to be led by Kiley Sabin. She's scored in the Big Ten already, she's made the first round of NCAAs twice -- she had a great NCAA prelims last year and just missed the national meet. We were able to do more with the discus than the shot with her this fall, so I think she's ahead of schedule there. That's exciting for us. I think she can be a two-event Big Ten level thrower for sure, and maybe a two-event NCAA competitor if everything lines up. Most of the athletes who beat her last year were seniors, so I'm excited to see her be confident in that event. Erin Dunning will throw the discus for us and is good, but she is definitely more of a hammer thrower. She could be someone who, if she catches one on the right day, could make the first round of NCAAs or be a Big Ten scorer. Emily Stendel is most likely going to red shirt, but she's the next discus thrower for us. I think she can be really, really good at that event.
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