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/ Women's Track & Field
Gopher Women Secure Three Tickets to NCAA Championships
5/27/2023 11:53:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota women's track and field team wrapped up the NCAA West Regional in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday with a trio of tickets punched for the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In her final season Amira Young put forth the best meet of her outdoor career, contributing to all three NCAA bids the Golden Gophers secured at Hornet Stadium. Young not only became the first Gopher to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100m, but also secured an individual bid in the 200m, also a first for the program outdoors.
Young's legendary individual performance all got started with the 4x100m relay that kicked off the events on the track on Saturday. Young, who anchored the relay, joined by Odell Frye, Lauren Hansen and Akilah Lewis who clocked a time of 43.86 to qualify for the national meet for the second straight year as a time qualifier.
The quartet is the identical team that qualified for the NCAA meet in 2022 and will look to improve on their 17th-place finish from last season.
It took a school-record performance for Amira Young to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 100m just a short time after the 4x100m relay punched their tickets to Austin, Texas. Young, who was faced with a tall task in her heat, exploded for a massive wind-legal lifetime best of 11.07 (+0.7 m/s) to earn a time qualifying spot. Young's time was good enough to finish sixth among the 12 student-athletes that advanced.
In the 200m Young somehow improved on her performance earlier by dropping a third of a second off of her lifetime best in the event to clock a 22.84 and a time qualifying spot to the NCAA Championships. Young's 200m time is the second-fastest by an individual in the event this season and her 100m time of 11.07 is also No. 2 in the conference this season.
Young's achievements on Saturday go beyond just her bids to the NCAA Championships this season. Young's 11.07 in the 100m goes down as the second-fastest time by anyone in the Big Ten conference since at least 2010 (according to TFRRS) and her 200m time of 22.84 makes her the fifth-fastest performer in the event since 2010 (according to TFRRS).
The Gophers also had a number of near qualifiers on Saturday with Lewis missing out on a bid in the 100m by one spot, finishing in 13th in a wind-legal personal best time of 11.21. Sophomore Nyalaam Jok, a two-time high jump All-American, finished 17th in her second outdoor regional meet with a clearance of 1.77m (5-9 3/4).
The Maroon and Gold also saw Taylor Kreitinger post yet another personal best in the 3000m steeplechase. In her NCAA West Regional debut Kreitinger, who came in seeded 41st of 48 competitors finished 26th overall. She also posted a lifetime best in the event at 10:16.37 and took eighth in her heat out of 16 runners.
In total Minnesota will send 10 entries to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas, between the men's and women's teams. This season marks the first time in program history the team is sending the 4x100m relay to nationals on both sides and will have representatives in both the 100m and 200m for both genders.
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
In her final season Amira Young put forth the best meet of her outdoor career, contributing to all three NCAA bids the Golden Gophers secured at Hornet Stadium. Young not only became the first Gopher to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100m, but also secured an individual bid in the 200m, also a first for the program outdoors.
Young's legendary individual performance all got started with the 4x100m relay that kicked off the events on the track on Saturday. Young, who anchored the relay, joined by Odell Frye, Lauren Hansen and Akilah Lewis who clocked a time of 43.86 to qualify for the national meet for the second straight year as a time qualifier.
The quartet is the identical team that qualified for the NCAA meet in 2022 and will look to improve on their 17th-place finish from last season.
It took a school-record performance for Amira Young to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 100m just a short time after the 4x100m relay punched their tickets to Austin, Texas. Young, who was faced with a tall task in her heat, exploded for a massive wind-legal lifetime best of 11.07 (+0.7 m/s) to earn a time qualifying spot. Young's time was good enough to finish sixth among the 12 student-athletes that advanced.
In the 200m Young somehow improved on her performance earlier by dropping a third of a second off of her lifetime best in the event to clock a 22.84 and a time qualifying spot to the NCAA Championships. Young's 200m time is the second-fastest by an individual in the event this season and her 100m time of 11.07 is also No. 2 in the conference this season.
Young's achievements on Saturday go beyond just her bids to the NCAA Championships this season. Young's 11.07 in the 100m goes down as the second-fastest time by anyone in the Big Ten conference since at least 2010 (according to TFRRS) and her 200m time of 22.84 makes her the fifth-fastest performer in the event since 2010 (according to TFRRS).
The Gophers also had a number of near qualifiers on Saturday with Lewis missing out on a bid in the 100m by one spot, finishing in 13th in a wind-legal personal best time of 11.21. Sophomore Nyalaam Jok, a two-time high jump All-American, finished 17th in her second outdoor regional meet with a clearance of 1.77m (5-9 3/4).
The Maroon and Gold also saw Taylor Kreitinger post yet another personal best in the 3000m steeplechase. In her NCAA West Regional debut Kreitinger, who came in seeded 41st of 48 competitors finished 26th overall. She also posted a lifetime best in the event at 10:16.37 and took eighth in her heat out of 16 runners.
In total Minnesota will send 10 entries to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas, between the men's and women's teams. This season marks the first time in program history the team is sending the 4x100m relay to nationals on both sides and will have representatives in both the 100m and 200m for both genders.
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
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