University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, September 10
University Park, PA
9:00 AM
University of Minnesota
at
Spike Shoe Invitational
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Gophers Open the Season at Spiked Shoe Invite
9/10/2021 12:34:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
The University of Minnesota men's and women's cross country programs opened the 2021 campaign at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, hosted by Penn State in University Park, Pa. The Golden Gopher women's program placed second overall, while the men's finished fourth. It will be the first of two times the Gophers will compete on this course this season as the Big Ten Championship will be held here Oct. 29.
On the women's side, Minnesota had three individuals finish in the top 10, led by senior Bethany Hasz. She crossed the line in a team-best time of 20:47.2 during the 6K race, and placed third overall. Abby Kohut-Jackson added a seventh-place finish with a time of 20:59.2, while Anastasia Korzenowski placed 10th in 21:04.1. Tate Sweeney clocked a personal-best time of 21:15.5 and finished 13th, while Jaycie Thomsen added a time of 21:31.6 for 18th. The Gophers rounded out their scoring with Carissa Dock (21:55.1) in 28th place and a personal-best time for Emma Atkinson (22:04.1) in 31st.
The team title was also a competitive race among nationally ranked teams on the women's side with the Gophers scoring 51 to finish three points behind Georgetown at 48 and three points in front of Michigan at 54.
"Women's day was really solid," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "We came into today wanting to really know the course and compete. Typically we don't come out to a bigger high power meet this early in the season and to race this early against some of these teams is a shock to the system, but they managed it well. This course is unique and tricky and we wanted to get a sense of it before the Big Ten meet. It was the biggest reason we came, but also to see where we were at against some good conference teams as well as good teams out east in Georgetown and Syracuse. Georgetown ran great. We are at where we want to be right now and the mindset of everyone is great. We saw some great races from our usual group, but Tate and Emma really raced well and started off the year on a great note. We know a whole lot more than we knew at the beginning of the day and this course."
On the men's side, Minnesota placed fourth overall with 93 points behind Michigan, Syracuse and Georgetown on a 5.2 mile course. The Gophers were led by senior Alec Basten, who finished fifth in a time of 25:23.1 Matt Wilkinson competed in his first Division I race after transferring from Carleton and added a time of 25:42.6 for 15th overall. Owen Hoeft was 18th in a time of 25:44.7, followed by Ethan Cannon (26:04.9) in 30th place. It was also Cannon's first race as a Golden Gopher after transferring from BYU. Jack Manderscheid (26:09.4) finished 31st overall, followed by Eli Hoeft (26:33.9) in 45th and Khalid Hussein (26:55.1) in 52nd.
"This course has always been a 5.2-mile course, which was designed by Harry Groves and is similar to someone like Roy Griak. He coached the team and the course distance is an homage to him," Hopkins said. "It's a little unique in that way, so times don't always mean much. It's good for the team because it helps later in the year to go a little longer in these races and ease into that 10K mindset. It was the first longer race for the guys and thought they handled it really well. Our top three ran great, including Matt who ran in his first Gopher race. Coming out of DIII, he was used to running for the lead so he got experience on how to run in a big pack and handled it well. Alec has been a little under the weather, but he managed it well and raced really solid. For Owen, it was one of his better cross country races of his career and can battle. We strategically made a couple mistakes early, but will be able to compete and not be afraid to be assertive early. It's Sept 10 and super early and we have a lot of good things to build on and from the right spot."
Minnesota is back in action on Sept. 18, when both the men's and women's team competes in the St. Olaf Invite in Northfield, Minn. Race time is slated for an 11 a.m. start.
On the women's side, Minnesota had three individuals finish in the top 10, led by senior Bethany Hasz. She crossed the line in a team-best time of 20:47.2 during the 6K race, and placed third overall. Abby Kohut-Jackson added a seventh-place finish with a time of 20:59.2, while Anastasia Korzenowski placed 10th in 21:04.1. Tate Sweeney clocked a personal-best time of 21:15.5 and finished 13th, while Jaycie Thomsen added a time of 21:31.6 for 18th. The Gophers rounded out their scoring with Carissa Dock (21:55.1) in 28th place and a personal-best time for Emma Atkinson (22:04.1) in 31st.
The team title was also a competitive race among nationally ranked teams on the women's side with the Gophers scoring 51 to finish three points behind Georgetown at 48 and three points in front of Michigan at 54.
"Women's day was really solid," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "We came into today wanting to really know the course and compete. Typically we don't come out to a bigger high power meet this early in the season and to race this early against some of these teams is a shock to the system, but they managed it well. This course is unique and tricky and we wanted to get a sense of it before the Big Ten meet. It was the biggest reason we came, but also to see where we were at against some good conference teams as well as good teams out east in Georgetown and Syracuse. Georgetown ran great. We are at where we want to be right now and the mindset of everyone is great. We saw some great races from our usual group, but Tate and Emma really raced well and started off the year on a great note. We know a whole lot more than we knew at the beginning of the day and this course."
On the men's side, Minnesota placed fourth overall with 93 points behind Michigan, Syracuse and Georgetown on a 5.2 mile course. The Gophers were led by senior Alec Basten, who finished fifth in a time of 25:23.1 Matt Wilkinson competed in his first Division I race after transferring from Carleton and added a time of 25:42.6 for 15th overall. Owen Hoeft was 18th in a time of 25:44.7, followed by Ethan Cannon (26:04.9) in 30th place. It was also Cannon's first race as a Golden Gopher after transferring from BYU. Jack Manderscheid (26:09.4) finished 31st overall, followed by Eli Hoeft (26:33.9) in 45th and Khalid Hussein (26:55.1) in 52nd.
"This course has always been a 5.2-mile course, which was designed by Harry Groves and is similar to someone like Roy Griak. He coached the team and the course distance is an homage to him," Hopkins said. "It's a little unique in that way, so times don't always mean much. It's good for the team because it helps later in the year to go a little longer in these races and ease into that 10K mindset. It was the first longer race for the guys and thought they handled it really well. Our top three ran great, including Matt who ran in his first Gopher race. Coming out of DIII, he was used to running for the lead so he got experience on how to run in a big pack and handled it well. Alec has been a little under the weather, but he managed it well and raced really solid. For Owen, it was one of his better cross country races of his career and can battle. We strategically made a couple mistakes early, but will be able to compete and not be afraid to be assertive early. It's Sept 10 and super early and we have a lot of good things to build on and from the right spot."
Minnesota is back in action on Sept. 18, when both the men's and women's team competes in the St. Olaf Invite in Northfield, Minn. Race time is slated for an 11 a.m. start.
Cinematic Recap: 2025 Griak Invitational
Monday, September 29
Cinematic Recap: 2024 NCAA Regional
Sunday, November 17
Oz Memorial Highlights
Sunday, September 01
Big Ten Championship Highlights
Tuesday, November 07