Gophers Start Busy Week Hosting Gary Wilson Invite Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS - It's a full and busy week for the Minnesota track and field program starting Wednesday, April 24 when it hosts the Gary Wilson Invitational on campus. The Golden Gophers then send student-athletes to multiple meets across the country to compete at the Drake Relays (Drake), Desert Heat Classic (Arizona), and the Rider/Bolstorff Invitational (Macalester) through the weekend in their final scheduled events until next month's Big Ten Championships.

ABOUT THE GARY WILSON INVITATIONAL
Minnesota's only home meet of the outdoor season is free and open to the public Wednesday with the women's hammer throw as the first event and set to begin at 11 a.m. The action continues on the track at 2 p.m. in the preliminary round of the men's 110m hurdles before the jumps start at 2:30 p.m. with the men's long jump. The meet concludes around 8:30 p.m. following the men's and women's 5k. Fans can tune into live video coverage on B1G+ or follow the results at Wayzata Results.

ABOUT THE DRAKE RELAYS
The Gophers are sending a dozen student-athletes from both the men's and women's teams to compete at the 114th Drake Relays April 24-27 in Des Moines, Iowa. The women are set for 10 different events at the world-renowned meet, while the men will take part in six between mid-distance, distance, relays, and throws disciplines. Live results can be found via PrimeTime Timing throughout the four days of competition.

ABOUT THE DESERT HEAT CLASSIC
Minnesota sends a large contingent of its sprinters, jumpers, and pole vaulters to Tucson, Ariz., for the Desert Heat Classic hosted by the University of Arizona at Drachman Stadium. The competition gets underway Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (CT) with the first Gophers taking flight in the women's long jump, while the running events begin with the men's 110m hurdles at 6 p.m. (CT). Live results will be available through Finished Results.

ABOUT THE RIDER/BOLSTORFF INVITATIONAL
Starting Thursday night in the hammer throw (3:30 p.m.) and the 5,000m (7 p.m.), Minnesota is set to take part in the Janis Rider/Doug Bolstorff Invitational hosted by Macalester in St. Paul, Minn. The meet picks back up Saturday morning with the field events at 9:40 a.m. and the track events at 10 a.m. Fans can follow along all day with live results from Macalester Athletics.

LAST TIME OUT
The Gophers competed at both the LSU's Alumni Gold Meet and Concordia St. Paul's Holst Invitational last weekend and came away with huge performances across the board. Minnesota set a school record in addition to posting eight event victories and 14 personal-bests, while 13 student-athletes cracked the team's top-10 all-time lists. Devin Augustine set a school record (10.02) in the 100m in Baton Rouge, La., with the third-fastest time by any NCAA Division I athlete this season and broke Kion Benjamin's previous school record of 10.07 from 2022. Augustine also won the 200m with a time of 20.98, which placed him at No. 10 in school history.

In the women's 100m at LSU, Odell Frye took second with a time of 11.19, while Victory Godah went 11.28 to finish third. Both times ranked in the top-20 of all NCAA Division I athletes this season. Fyre's time ranked second all-time in school history, and it was her fourth victory in the event this season. The Gophers got another stellar performance from Maja Maunsbach in the 100m hurdles when she placed 11th with a personal-best mark of 13.34, a time that ranks No. 3 all-time for Minnesota.

MINNESOTA IN THE RANKINGS
The USTFCCCA released Week No. 5 rankings for the outdoor season on Tuesday with both the men and women jumping up the list. The Gophers moved up six spots to No. 24 on the men's side, which sits second of all B1G teams, while the women pushed to No. 33, four spots higher than last week, and are fourth among B1G programs.

GOPHERS COLLECT WEEKLY AWARDS ON APRIL 10
Minnesota collected both weekly men's B1G awards on April 10, as Devin Augustine won the Big Ten Men's Track Athlete of the Week while Charles Godfred took home Big Ten Men's Field Athlete of the Week. Augustine set a school record in the 200m, posting a second-place result of 20.37 seconds, and followed up that effort by nearly breaking another record Saturday in the 100m as his time of 10.08 seconds was the top time by anyone in the Big Ten Conference this season. Godfred broke a 29-year-old school record in the long jump by nearly three full inches Friday at the 44 Farms Team Invitational at Texas A&M. The native of Nigeria leaped 8.19m (26-10.5) to place second in the event with the nation's second-best jump of the year.

UP NEXT
Minnesota returns to the track May 10-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the 2024 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships hosted by the University of Michigan.

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 X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.

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Players Mentioned

Devin Augustine

Kion Benjamin

Odell Frye

Victory Godah

Charles Godfred

Maja Maunsbach