University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 10 Gophers Split Squad for Three Meets
2/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| Iowa State Classic | |||||||||||
| Date | Friday-Saturday, Feb. 9-10, 2018 | ||||||||||
| Location | Lied Recreation Athletic Center, Ames, Iowa | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Info | Schedule | Heat Sheets | ||||||||||
| Time | 11 a.m. CT Field events | 12 p.m. CT Running events (Both days) | ||||||||||
| Coverage | FloTrack ($) | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | #ISUClassic | #Gophers | ||||||||||
| Music City Challenge | |||||||||||
| Date | Friday-Saturday, Feb. 9-10, 2018 | ||||||||||
| Location | Vanderbilt Student Rec Center, Nashville, Tenn. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Meet Info | Schedule | Heat Sheets | ||||||||||
| Time | 4 p.m. CT Friday | 10 a.m. CT Saturday | ||||||||||
| Coverage | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | #Gophers | ||||||||||
Feb. 6, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 10 University of Minnesota women's track & field team is set for three meets this weekend, including the Iowa State Classic and the Music City Challenge.
The Gophers will send members of the team's sprints, multis, jumps, and hurdles groups to the Music City Challenge hosted by Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., while the team also competes in high jump, hurdles, distance, and pole vault 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.
Last Time Out: Gophers Win Five Events at Michigan
Minnesota won five events at the Power Five Invite. Minnesota's 4x400m relay team of Val Larson, Emerald Egwim, Rachel Schow, and Titania Markland won in 3:36.36, good for second in Gophers' history. Also on the track, Larson won the 600m in 1:29.87 and Megan Hasz won the 5,000m in 16:28.92, both career-best times. Leading the way in the field events for the Gophers were Agnes Esser, who won weight throw with a mark of 20.71m (67-11.50) to lead five Gophers among the top eight finishers, and Heta Tuuri, who cleared a season-best 1.79m (5-10.50) to win high jump. In total, the Gophers recorded seven all-time program top-10 marks and 16 career-best marks at the meet.
2017 Iowa State Classic Rewind
At the 2017 Iowa State Classic, day one saw the Gophers record 14 career-best performances, including Madeline Strandemo running the second-fastest 3,000m in program history at 9:17.54 to place sixth in the invite section of the 3,000m. Cami Gilson (3.95m, 12-11.50) earned a runner-up finish in the pole vault and Tess Wasowicz (4:56.81) led the Gophers in the mile with a fourth-place finish.
2017 Music City Challenge Rewind
Last year's Music City Challenge saw Kimberly Golding improve on her own Minnesota program record to win the 60-meter hurdles (8.16 seconds) while Minnesota's team of Erin Hawkins, Brieasha Hobbs, Rachel Schow, and Bolade Jinadu won the 4x400-meter relay in 3:39.59, then the fifth-best time in program history. In addition, Emerald Egwim ran the eighth-best 200m time in program history (24.37), and Hobbs moved into ninth in program history in the 400m (55.30).
Gophers Achieve Top-10 Ranking
Minnesota climbed one place to No. 10 in the nation in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week Three National Team Computer Rankings. The Gophers' appearance in the top 10 is the program's first since the second week of the 2009 season. Minnesota is the top-ranked Big Ten Conference team, ahead of No. 13 Michigan, No. 15 Wisconsin, and No. 23 Indiana. The SEC leads the top-25 with 12 teams, followed by the Big Ten, Big 12, and MPSF with four teams apiece.
Gophers Lead USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings
Minnesota leads the nation in the weight throw, shot put, and pentathlon according to the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings, which calculate the best foursome in the country by event. In addition, the Gophers rank second in the 5,000m, fourth in high jump, and 11th in the 400m.
- 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 as Hannah Arason (3,851), Sofie Albrechtsen (3,811), Ayesha Champagnie (3,732), and Ashley Ramacher (3,684) average 3,770 points.
'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: Parents Day Invite
The Gophers return home to host the Parents Day Invite at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse next Saturday, Feb. 17.
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Players Mentioned
