University of Minnesota Athletics
Big Ten Championship Up Next
5/7/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
| 2018 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championship | |||||||||||
| Date | Friday-Sunday, May 11-13, 2018 | ||||||||||
| Location | Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex | Indiana Univeristy | Bloomington, Ind. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | B1GTF Meet Central | Schedule | Entries | ||||||||||
| Coverage | FloTrack | Live Results | @GopherWCCTF | @bigtenchamps | #Gophers | #B1GTF | ||||||||||
May 7, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 10 University of Minnesota women's track & field team is back in action at the 2018 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind., this week. The Golden Gophers are in search of the program's third outdoor and seventh overall B1G track & field crown.
About the B1G Championship
Indiana University will host the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships this Friday through Sunday. The three-day meet will take place at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex on the IU campus. Action begins Friday, including event finals for women's hammer throw, pole vault, javelin, and the 10,000m, along with the first four heptathlon events.
Last Time Out: Tommie Twilight
No. 10 Minnesota won 13 events titles at the local Tommie Twilight last week. Karlie Place won pole vault with an outdoor career-best mark of 4.25m (13-11.25) to win her fourth pole vault title of the season and move into fourth among all-time Gophers. The Gophers swept the jumping events. Ashley Ramacher tied her career-best height to win high jump, clearing 1.81m (5-11.25). Lorean Murray posted a mark of 5.72m (18-09.25) to win long jump while Shanique Wright took home the triple jump crown at 12.49m (40-11.75). The Gophers also swept the throwing events. Wilsonique Delson won javelin with a career-best mark of 40.92m (134-03) while Kaitlyn Long (hammer throw, 53.75m, 176-04), Erin Dunning (discus, 42.42m, 139-02), and Tess Keyzers (shot put, 14.17m 46-06.00) all won event titles while competing unattached. Minnesota won five events on the track as well. Kelli Schmidt ran a career-best 800m time of 2:12.43 to lead a field of 56 finishers in the event, and Erin Huls ran 1:00.41 to win the 400m hurdles. Sophia Anderson (400m, 56.12) and Emily Betz (5,000m, 17:31.08) also recorded first-place finishes. The Gophers won the 4x400m relay in 3:58.49 as well.
2017 B1G Outdoor Championship Rewind
Minnesota finished as team runner-up at last year's B1G Outdoor Championship led by Big Ten champions Emerald Egwim (400m), Temi Ogunrinde (hammer throw), and Madeline Strandemo (3,000m steeplechase). Purdue took home the team title with 133 points, followed by the runner-up Gophers with 105.5 points. Penn State (101), Ohio State (84.5), and Michigan (79) rounded out the top five in the team race. The Gophers scored points in 14 different events at the meet.
Gophers Remain No. 10
Minnesota remained No. 10 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week Six National Team Computer Rankings heading into this week's Big Ten Conference Championship.
No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Kentucky make up the nation's top five teams in the week six rankings. Two teams represent the Big Ten Conference as No. 11 Purdue joins the Gophers among the top-25.
As of the week six rankings, Minnesota is among the nation's top-10 teams in eight events: first in hammer throw, first in heptathlon, second in 400m hurdles, third in shot put, sixth in 10,000m, seventh in high jump, eighth in javelin, and ninth in 400m.
Six Outdoor Records Fall
Five Gophers have already broken six Minnesota program records during the outdoor season: Bethany Hasz (5,000m, 15:59.46), Agnes Esser (discus, 57.98m), Emma Spagnola (100m hurdles; 12.97; 400m hurdles, 57.35), Kiley Sabin (shot put, 16.89m), and Temi Ogunrinde (hammer throw, 67.45m). The Gophers have set all-time top-10 marks in 15 different events so far during the 2018 outdoor season.
Indoor Season Wraps Up at NCAA Championship
Five Gophers earned USTFCCCA All-America nods at the NCAA Indoor Championship to cap off the indoor season. NCAA weight throw champion Kaitlyn Long and Kiley Sabin, who placed fifth in the shot put, were named First-Team All-Americans while Agnes Esser, Karlie Place, and Nayoka Clunis earned Second-Team honors. Esser finished 11th in weight throw, Place was 12th in pole vault, and Clunis finished 16th in weight throw at the NCAA Championship. Ayesha Champagnie was recognized as honorable mention after competing in the long jump but fouling all three attempts.
Long Becomes Gophers' Second NCAA Champion
Kaitlyn Long won the weight throw to become the second national champion in University of Minnesota women's track & field history at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship. Long recorded a winning mark of 23.30m (76-05.50) on her sixth and final throw to take the lead after being in fifth place through three rounds of the competition. Long joins Minnesota alumnae Heather Dorniden, the 2006 indoor 800-meter champion, to make up the program's two national champions. A two-time NCAA Division II national champion, Long fouled her first two attempts and moved into fifth place with a throw of 22.15m (72-08.00) on her third throw, securing a place in the event final. She then threw 21.57m (70-09.25) and 21.82m (71-07.25) on her fourth and fifth throws, remaining in fifth place, before moving into the lead on her final attempt. Along with her distinction as national champion, Long was named a First Team All-American and the Big Ten Indoor Field Athlete of the Year as well.
2018 Big Ten Indoor Champions
The Gophers won the program's fourth indoor and sixth overall Big Ten Conference Track & Field Championship this season. Led by Kaitlyn Long's weight throw title and runner-up showings by Titania Markland in the 600m, Madeline Strandemo in the mile, and Karlie Place in pole vault, the Gophers scored 91.50 points in the team race for a convincing team victory to defeat runner-up Purdue by 11.50 points. The Boilermakers recorded 80 points for second place, followed by Ohio State and Indiana tied for third with 75 points apiece while Iowa (74 points) rounded out the top five B1G women's teams.
Indoor Program Records Fall in 2018
The Gophers set three new indoor program records this season: 3,000m (Bethany Hasz, 9:13.95), long jump (Ayesha Champagnie, 6.56m, 21-06.25), and weight throw (Kaitlyn Long, 24.37m, 79-11.50).
'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 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, Lindsey Greenlund, Bethany Hasz, Megan Hasz, Abby Kohut-Jackson, Val Larson, Zetta Mason, Elyse Prescott, Ashley Ramacher, Kelli Schmidt, and Sarah Werking made their official collegiate debuts this year after redshirting the 2017 season.
Gophers Name Captains
Four Gophers are leading the Maroon & Gold 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 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.
Up Next: NCAA West Prelim
The championship portion of the season continues with the NCAA West Prelim in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, May 24 through Saturday, May 26. Qualifiers for the NCAA preliminary rounds will be announced on Thursday, May 17.
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