University of Minnesota Athletics
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/ Women's Track & Field
Gopher Track Signs 22 to the 2024-25 Roster
7/29/2024 9:58:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota director of track and field and cross country Matt Bingle is pleased to announce the signing class for the 2024-25 cross country and track and field teams who have all signed National Letters of Intent or Financial Aid Tenders with the Golden Gophers.
The newest class of Gophers includes 22 talented additions coming from multiple levels from around the United States and the globe.
MEN'S SIGNEES:
Zion Campbell, Freeport, Bahamas, Iowa Central CC (Sprints)
After a pair of seasons at Iowa Central Community College, Zion Campbell will join the Maroon and Gold sprint group. A native of the Bahamas, Campbell is a Pan American U20 champion in the 4x100m relay and brings in quality times in the 100m and 200m. Campbell was outstanding at the NJCAA Region 11 Indoor Championships in 2024, winning the event with a personal best time of 6.60. The soon-to-be Gopher then went on to finish seventh overall at the NJCAA Indoor Championships in the 60m with a time of 6.78.
Top Marks: 100m – 10.39, 200m – 21.18
Aaron Charles, Baltimore, Md., Dunbar High School/Barton CC (Sprints)
Two seasons spent with Barton, Aaron Charles adds more sprint talent to the Gophers lineup. He finished as a four-time NJCAA All-American, twice with the 4x100m relay team, once in the 60m and once in the indoor 200m. Charles put down his lifetime best in the 60m at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at 6.70 and finished sixth in the final. In the 200m Charles put down a season best of 20.75 indoors and finished as the bronze medalist nationally. Outdoors Charles brings in a lifetime best 100m time of 10.32 (+2.4 m/s), which he set back in 2023.
Top Marks: 100m – 10.32, 200m – 20.75
Lucas Florsheim, Shorewood, Wis., Shorewood High School/Pomona-Pitzer (Distances)
After a four-year career at Division III Pomona-Pitzer, Lucas Florsheim joins the Maroon and Gold for both cross country and track and field. With a lifetime best on the track in the 5000m of 13:59.24, Florsheim brings in experience in six different NCAA Division III Championships, including finishing ninth overall at the 2023 DIII Cross Country Championships in Carlisle, Pa. Florsheim holds a lifetime best cross country 8K time of 23:52.90 and also can run the 1500m, where he holds a lifetime best time of 3:52.70.
Top Marks: 5000m – 13:59.24, 1500m – 3:52.70, 8K – 23:52.9, 10000m – 29:50.74
Aloysius Franzen, Stevens Point, Wis., Stevens Point High School (Distances)
Aloysius Franzen is most recently coming off an All-State performance with Stevens Point in 2024 as a member of the 4x800m relay, and brings in a state cross country runner-up finish from 2023. Franzen's state runner-up cross country finish came with a season-best time of 14:53.6, with Franzen going on to finish 22nd overall at the NXN Nike Cross Nationals in December, at Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon. Franzen was also eighth overall at the NXR Heartland Regional Championships and was fourth overall at the 2023 Roy Griak Invitational back in September.
Top Marks: 3200m – 9:12.68, 5000m (XC) – 14:53.60
Frankie Gray, Brentwood, N.Y., Brentwood High School/Arkansas – Little Rock (Hurdles/Sprints)
In 2024 Frankie Gray reached the NCAA West Regional for the first time as an individual in the 400m hurdles (36th overall) and brings experience at the NCAA regional level in the 4x100m relay. The versatile Jamaican boasts a personal best 400m hurdles time of 51.91, but also brings in three outdoor Ohio Valley Conference Championships. Gray owns one conference title in the open 400m, winning the 2024 400m open title in a lifetime best 46.96, the other individual crown being in 2023 in the 400m hurdles and winning the 4x100m relay in 2023 in a time of 40.05. Gray also was fourth in the 200m at the 2024 OVC Championships, and brings in a personal best time of 20.91 (+1.0 m/s) along with a 100m lifetime best of 10.65 (+0.9 m/s).
Top Marks: 400mH – 51.91, 400m – 46.96, 200m – 20.91, 100m – 10.65
Tyler Kissell, Wayzata, Minn., Wayzata High School (Distances)
Minnesota's own Tyler Kissell of Wayzata joins the program as an outstanding distance runner, reaching the state meet in both the cross country and track seasons in 2023-24. Kissell was 14th overall at the MSHSL Class AAA State Cross Country Championships and then followed that up with an eighth-place finish in the 1600m and helped his 4x400m relay team finish third overall. Kissell brings a personal best cross country 5K time of 15:24.3, and has lifetime bests on the track of 9:15 in the 3200m, 4:15 in the 1600m and 1:56 in the 800m.
Top Marks: 3200m – 9:15, 1600m – 4:15, 800m – 1:56, 5K (XC) – 15:24.3
Sam Scott, Minneapolis, Minn., Minneapolis Southwest (Distances)
Straight from Minneapolis, the Gophers welcome Sam Scott, the Class AAA State runner-up at the MSHSL State Cross Country Championships in 2023. Scott was fourth overall at the NXR heartland Regional Championships and then went on to finish 12th overall at the NXN Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon. On the track Scott was fourth in the 1600m at the state meet and sixth overall in the 3200m in 2024. Scott also ran at the New Balance Nationals outdoor meet the last two years and ran a personal best 8:54.0 in 2023.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 14:36.4, 3200m – 8:54.0, 1600m – 4:14.48
Dwyne Smith Jr., Saint Paul, Minn., Apple Valley High School (Sprints)
The Star Tribune Metro Track Athlete of the Year is a Golden Gopher. Dwyne Smith Jr., of Appley Valley claimed the title after setting the Minnesota state record in the 400m at 46.87 as well as setting an indoor state record in the 400m in 48.73, a time he ran at Minnesota's University Fieldhouse at the Griak Indoor Classic back in January. Smith went on to win the state outdoor 400m, was the runner up in the 200m and was fourth in the 100m. After the high school season Smith went on to win the prestigious Brooks PR Invitational in the 400m, clocking a 47.04.
Top Marks: 400m – 46.87, 200m – 21.43, 100m – 10.60
Sam Snitker, Grand Meadow, Minn., Grand Meadow School (Jumps)
Minnesota's high jump champion this past season, Sam Snitker joins from Grand Meadow, Minn., as a quality high jumper. After claiming his state title Snitker traveled to the 2024 Nike Outdoor Nationals in June, and finished third overall with a new personal best performance of 2.06m (6-9) at Hayward Field in Eugene. Ore.
Top Marks: High Jump – 2.06m (6-9)
Nolan Sutter, Chaska, Minn., Chaska High School (Distances)
The Minnesota 1600m and 3200m state runner-up, Nolan Sutter, is joining the Golden Gophers in 2024-25. Sutter most recently completed one of his best performances of his young career, winning the boys championship 5000m in a personal best 14:36.44 at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia. Out of Chaska, Minn., Sutter was also fourth at the Class AAA State Cross Country Championships in 2023. On the track Sutter dropped four seconds from his 1600m time from his junior season to senior season and brought home a pair of silver medals from the state meet in 2024.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 14:36.44, 1600m – 4:11.60, 3200m – 9:07.46
Waukeem Walters, St. Catherine, Jamaica, Wolmers Boys High School/Iowa Central CC (Jumps/Sprints)
Minnesota's jumps and sprints will be bolstered by Waukeem Walters, a transfer from Iowa Central Community College. The Jamaican national has a long jump lifetime best of 7.77m (25-6), which helped him earn an All-American finish at the NJCAA level. Walters also reached the NJCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump in 2023 and helped the 4x100m relay reach the championships in both 2023 and 2024.
Top Marks: Long Jump – 7.77m (25-6), Triple Jump – 15.14m (49-8 1/4), 100m – 10.66
Josiah Zilmer, Rockford, Minn., Rockford High School (Throws)
Minnesota's throws group is adding Josiah Zilmer in 2024-25, a talented thrower in both the shot put and the discus. Zilmer most recently competed at the New Balance Nationals and set a new personal best in the discus of 54.60m (179-1) to finish 10th overall. At the state level in Minnesota, Zilmer was the state's runner-up in the shot put with a personal best throw of 18.02m (59-1 3/4) and captured the state title in the discus.
Top Marks: Shot Put – 18.02m (59-1 3/4), Discus - 54.60m (179-1)
WOMEN'S SIGNEES:
Zubaydah Akorede, Mundelein, Ill., Mundelein (Carmel) (Sprints/Jumps)
A native of Mundelein, Ill., Akorede, comes to the Twin Cities as a two-time Illinois state qualifier in 2024, finishing as the state's runner up in the triple jump and holds a personal best of 11.33m (37-2 1/4). She also helped her 4x100m relay team reach the state meet in Illinois, where they finished 11th as a team with a season-best time of 49.24.
Top Marks: Triple Jump – 11.33m (37-2 1/4)
Sophia Bablitch, Rosholt, Wis., Rosholt High School (Distances)
Coming from the town of Rosholt, with a population of just 470, Sophia Bablitch brings in a versatile skill set to the Golden Gophers. She claimed two bronze medals at the Wisconsin D3 state track and field meet and was fifth at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships. She dropped a swift personal best 5K time of 18:14.2 at the Moonlight Classic in November and qualified for the NXR Heartland Regional Championships. On the track Bablitch's 800m time of 2:13.20 earned her a third-place finish at the state meet and her personal best 10:45.84 in the 3200m was also good enough for third back in May.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 18:14.2, 800m – 2:13.08, 3200m – 10:45.84
Ana Couto, Braganca Paulista, San Paulo, Brazil, Francisco Ribeiro Sampaio/Barton CC (Multi Event)
Last season's NJCAA indoor and outdoor national champion in the pentathlon and heptathlon, Ana Couto, is set to join the Maroon and Gold in 2024-25. Couto, who is 21 years old, was also seventh overall at the Brazilian Senior Championships in June. Couto has outstanding skill in the hurdles with a lifetime best 100m hurdles time of 13.85 that was set at the Brazilian Senior Championships. Additionally, Couto dropped a lifetime best 200m time of 24.97 in Brazil last month. In 2023 Couto was also named the USTFCCCA Indoor National Scholar Athlete of the Year at the NJCCCA level for her work in the classroom as well as on the track and in the field.
Top Marks: Heptathlon – 5311 points, Pentathlon – 3945 points
Kitania Headley, St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine High School (Sprints)
Minnesota's quarter mile group will gain the talents of Jamaican Kitania Headley in 2024-25. Headley competed only in Jamaica and Grenada in 2024, ending the season with a Jamaican U20 Championship in the 800m in a time of 2:09.77. She brings in a lifetime best 400m time of 53.86 and helped her 4x400m relay squad win the CARIFTA Games in a time of 3:34.69.
Top Marks: 400m – 53.86, 800m – 2:08.98, 400mH – 1:01.27
Caitlyn Osanai, Plymouth, Minn., Robbinsdale Armstrong (Distances)
The distance crew at Minnesota will gain the talents of Caitlyn Osanai for the 2024-25 season in both cross country and track and field. The Robbinsdale Armstrong graduate was seventh at the MSHSL Class AAA State Cross Country Championships and brings in a 5K time of 18:04.1. On the track Osanai then captured a fourth-place finish at the state meet in the 3200m and was eighth in the 1600m.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 18:04.1, 1600m – 4:56.13, 3200m – 10:40.50
Nadia Phillips, Wauwatosa, Wis., Wauwatosa High School/Charlotte (Distances)
Minnesota's distance program will welcome the addition of Nadia Phillips, the reigning American Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year at Charlotte. Phillips was eighth overall at the American Athletic Conference Championships. She posted the third-fastest time in Charlotte history in the 3000m at the 49er Classic, posting a 9:37.71. She was also fourth at the American Conference Outdoor Championships in the 1500m, clocking a 4:29.11 to help the women's program sweep the indoor and outdoor conference titles.
Top Marks: 5K – 17:44.5, 6K – 21:13.2, 5000m – 16:54.72, 1500m – 4:27:97
Lilian Reiner, Madison, Wis., Madison East (Pole Vault)
After a bronze-medal finish at the WIAA D1 State Track and Field Championships in 2024, Lilian Reiner will join the Golden Gophers pole vault group in 2024-25. Reiner posted back-to-back personal best finishes of 3.74m (12-3) to end her outdoor season and was the champion at the UCS Spirit National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, back in January where she cleared 3.71m (12-2).
Top Marks: Pole Vault – 3.74m (12-3)
Isabelle Schmitz, Hutchinson, Minn., Hutchinson High School (Distances)
One of the best distance runners in Minnesota high school state history, Isabelle Schmitz, joins the Maroon and Gold out of Hutchinson, Minn. After the soon-to-be Gopher claimed her second cross country state title in November, Schmitz leaped to the No. 7 all-time performance in state history in the 1600m with a time of 4:48.45. She went on to claim a pair of state titles in 2024, one in the 1600m and the other in the 3200m while also making the state final in the 400m. Schmitz also has an impressive time of 2:10.62 in the 800m, a time that helped her claim a WCC East Conference Championship this past season. In Minnesota state history Schmitz is the only woman to be ranked inside the top 25 all-time in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 17:56.4, 800m – 2:10.62, 1600m – 4:48.45, 3200m – 10:24.14, 400m – 58.03
Ella Weippert, Grand Forks, N.D., Red River High School (Javelin)
Minnesota will have another Red River High School graduate join in 2024-25, with Ella Weippert joining as a talented javelin thrower. At the same high school as Gopher great Shelby Frank, Weippert claimed back-to-back state titles in the javelin and brings in a lifetime best of 43.73m (143-5) to the Twin Cities. Weippert, a four-sport athlete, participating in golf, softball and basketball.
Top Marks: Javelin – 43.73m (143-5)
Kendra Kelley, Cloquet, Minn., Cloquet High School/North Dakota State University (Sprints)
A two-time NCAA West Regional qualifier, Kendra Kelley, will officially join the Golden Gophers this fall. The NDSU school record holder in the 60m as well as the indoor and outdoor 200m, Kelley reached the NCAA West Regional in 2024 in the 100m and the 200m back in 2023. Kelley won the 2024 Summit League indoor 200m conference title with a time of 23.59. Her personal best of 11.54 in the 100m came back in 2023 at the Kip Janvrin Open and qualified for the NCAA West Regional in 2024 with a season-best time of 11.42, which was set at the 2024 UTSA Invitational in March.
Top Marks: 100m – 11.54, 200m – 23.49, 60m – 7.36
The newest class of Gophers includes 22 talented additions coming from multiple levels from around the United States and the globe.
MEN'S SIGNEES:
Zion Campbell, Freeport, Bahamas, Iowa Central CC (Sprints)
After a pair of seasons at Iowa Central Community College, Zion Campbell will join the Maroon and Gold sprint group. A native of the Bahamas, Campbell is a Pan American U20 champion in the 4x100m relay and brings in quality times in the 100m and 200m. Campbell was outstanding at the NJCAA Region 11 Indoor Championships in 2024, winning the event with a personal best time of 6.60. The soon-to-be Gopher then went on to finish seventh overall at the NJCAA Indoor Championships in the 60m with a time of 6.78.
Top Marks: 100m – 10.39, 200m – 21.18
Aaron Charles, Baltimore, Md., Dunbar High School/Barton CC (Sprints)
Two seasons spent with Barton, Aaron Charles adds more sprint talent to the Gophers lineup. He finished as a four-time NJCAA All-American, twice with the 4x100m relay team, once in the 60m and once in the indoor 200m. Charles put down his lifetime best in the 60m at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at 6.70 and finished sixth in the final. In the 200m Charles put down a season best of 20.75 indoors and finished as the bronze medalist nationally. Outdoors Charles brings in a lifetime best 100m time of 10.32 (+2.4 m/s), which he set back in 2023.
Top Marks: 100m – 10.32, 200m – 20.75
Lucas Florsheim, Shorewood, Wis., Shorewood High School/Pomona-Pitzer (Distances)
After a four-year career at Division III Pomona-Pitzer, Lucas Florsheim joins the Maroon and Gold for both cross country and track and field. With a lifetime best on the track in the 5000m of 13:59.24, Florsheim brings in experience in six different NCAA Division III Championships, including finishing ninth overall at the 2023 DIII Cross Country Championships in Carlisle, Pa. Florsheim holds a lifetime best cross country 8K time of 23:52.90 and also can run the 1500m, where he holds a lifetime best time of 3:52.70.
Top Marks: 5000m – 13:59.24, 1500m – 3:52.70, 8K – 23:52.9, 10000m – 29:50.74
Aloysius Franzen, Stevens Point, Wis., Stevens Point High School (Distances)
Aloysius Franzen is most recently coming off an All-State performance with Stevens Point in 2024 as a member of the 4x800m relay, and brings in a state cross country runner-up finish from 2023. Franzen's state runner-up cross country finish came with a season-best time of 14:53.6, with Franzen going on to finish 22nd overall at the NXN Nike Cross Nationals in December, at Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon. Franzen was also eighth overall at the NXR Heartland Regional Championships and was fourth overall at the 2023 Roy Griak Invitational back in September.
Top Marks: 3200m – 9:12.68, 5000m (XC) – 14:53.60
Frankie Gray, Brentwood, N.Y., Brentwood High School/Arkansas – Little Rock (Hurdles/Sprints)
In 2024 Frankie Gray reached the NCAA West Regional for the first time as an individual in the 400m hurdles (36th overall) and brings experience at the NCAA regional level in the 4x100m relay. The versatile Jamaican boasts a personal best 400m hurdles time of 51.91, but also brings in three outdoor Ohio Valley Conference Championships. Gray owns one conference title in the open 400m, winning the 2024 400m open title in a lifetime best 46.96, the other individual crown being in 2023 in the 400m hurdles and winning the 4x100m relay in 2023 in a time of 40.05. Gray also was fourth in the 200m at the 2024 OVC Championships, and brings in a personal best time of 20.91 (+1.0 m/s) along with a 100m lifetime best of 10.65 (+0.9 m/s).
Top Marks: 400mH – 51.91, 400m – 46.96, 200m – 20.91, 100m – 10.65
Tyler Kissell, Wayzata, Minn., Wayzata High School (Distances)
Minnesota's own Tyler Kissell of Wayzata joins the program as an outstanding distance runner, reaching the state meet in both the cross country and track seasons in 2023-24. Kissell was 14th overall at the MSHSL Class AAA State Cross Country Championships and then followed that up with an eighth-place finish in the 1600m and helped his 4x400m relay team finish third overall. Kissell brings a personal best cross country 5K time of 15:24.3, and has lifetime bests on the track of 9:15 in the 3200m, 4:15 in the 1600m and 1:56 in the 800m.
Top Marks: 3200m – 9:15, 1600m – 4:15, 800m – 1:56, 5K (XC) – 15:24.3
Sam Scott, Minneapolis, Minn., Minneapolis Southwest (Distances)
Straight from Minneapolis, the Gophers welcome Sam Scott, the Class AAA State runner-up at the MSHSL State Cross Country Championships in 2023. Scott was fourth overall at the NXR heartland Regional Championships and then went on to finish 12th overall at the NXN Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon. On the track Scott was fourth in the 1600m at the state meet and sixth overall in the 3200m in 2024. Scott also ran at the New Balance Nationals outdoor meet the last two years and ran a personal best 8:54.0 in 2023.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 14:36.4, 3200m – 8:54.0, 1600m – 4:14.48
Dwyne Smith Jr., Saint Paul, Minn., Apple Valley High School (Sprints)
The Star Tribune Metro Track Athlete of the Year is a Golden Gopher. Dwyne Smith Jr., of Appley Valley claimed the title after setting the Minnesota state record in the 400m at 46.87 as well as setting an indoor state record in the 400m in 48.73, a time he ran at Minnesota's University Fieldhouse at the Griak Indoor Classic back in January. Smith went on to win the state outdoor 400m, was the runner up in the 200m and was fourth in the 100m. After the high school season Smith went on to win the prestigious Brooks PR Invitational in the 400m, clocking a 47.04.
Top Marks: 400m – 46.87, 200m – 21.43, 100m – 10.60
Sam Snitker, Grand Meadow, Minn., Grand Meadow School (Jumps)
Minnesota's high jump champion this past season, Sam Snitker joins from Grand Meadow, Minn., as a quality high jumper. After claiming his state title Snitker traveled to the 2024 Nike Outdoor Nationals in June, and finished third overall with a new personal best performance of 2.06m (6-9) at Hayward Field in Eugene. Ore.
Top Marks: High Jump – 2.06m (6-9)
Nolan Sutter, Chaska, Minn., Chaska High School (Distances)
The Minnesota 1600m and 3200m state runner-up, Nolan Sutter, is joining the Golden Gophers in 2024-25. Sutter most recently completed one of his best performances of his young career, winning the boys championship 5000m in a personal best 14:36.44 at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia. Out of Chaska, Minn., Sutter was also fourth at the Class AAA State Cross Country Championships in 2023. On the track Sutter dropped four seconds from his 1600m time from his junior season to senior season and brought home a pair of silver medals from the state meet in 2024.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 14:36.44, 1600m – 4:11.60, 3200m – 9:07.46
Waukeem Walters, St. Catherine, Jamaica, Wolmers Boys High School/Iowa Central CC (Jumps/Sprints)
Minnesota's jumps and sprints will be bolstered by Waukeem Walters, a transfer from Iowa Central Community College. The Jamaican national has a long jump lifetime best of 7.77m (25-6), which helped him earn an All-American finish at the NJCAA level. Walters also reached the NJCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump in 2023 and helped the 4x100m relay reach the championships in both 2023 and 2024.
Top Marks: Long Jump – 7.77m (25-6), Triple Jump – 15.14m (49-8 1/4), 100m – 10.66
Josiah Zilmer, Rockford, Minn., Rockford High School (Throws)
Minnesota's throws group is adding Josiah Zilmer in 2024-25, a talented thrower in both the shot put and the discus. Zilmer most recently competed at the New Balance Nationals and set a new personal best in the discus of 54.60m (179-1) to finish 10th overall. At the state level in Minnesota, Zilmer was the state's runner-up in the shot put with a personal best throw of 18.02m (59-1 3/4) and captured the state title in the discus.
Top Marks: Shot Put – 18.02m (59-1 3/4), Discus - 54.60m (179-1)
WOMEN'S SIGNEES:
Zubaydah Akorede, Mundelein, Ill., Mundelein (Carmel) (Sprints/Jumps)
A native of Mundelein, Ill., Akorede, comes to the Twin Cities as a two-time Illinois state qualifier in 2024, finishing as the state's runner up in the triple jump and holds a personal best of 11.33m (37-2 1/4). She also helped her 4x100m relay team reach the state meet in Illinois, where they finished 11th as a team with a season-best time of 49.24.
Top Marks: Triple Jump – 11.33m (37-2 1/4)
Sophia Bablitch, Rosholt, Wis., Rosholt High School (Distances)
Coming from the town of Rosholt, with a population of just 470, Sophia Bablitch brings in a versatile skill set to the Golden Gophers. She claimed two bronze medals at the Wisconsin D3 state track and field meet and was fifth at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships. She dropped a swift personal best 5K time of 18:14.2 at the Moonlight Classic in November and qualified for the NXR Heartland Regional Championships. On the track Bablitch's 800m time of 2:13.20 earned her a third-place finish at the state meet and her personal best 10:45.84 in the 3200m was also good enough for third back in May.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 18:14.2, 800m – 2:13.08, 3200m – 10:45.84
Ana Couto, Braganca Paulista, San Paulo, Brazil, Francisco Ribeiro Sampaio/Barton CC (Multi Event)
Last season's NJCAA indoor and outdoor national champion in the pentathlon and heptathlon, Ana Couto, is set to join the Maroon and Gold in 2024-25. Couto, who is 21 years old, was also seventh overall at the Brazilian Senior Championships in June. Couto has outstanding skill in the hurdles with a lifetime best 100m hurdles time of 13.85 that was set at the Brazilian Senior Championships. Additionally, Couto dropped a lifetime best 200m time of 24.97 in Brazil last month. In 2023 Couto was also named the USTFCCCA Indoor National Scholar Athlete of the Year at the NJCCCA level for her work in the classroom as well as on the track and in the field.
Top Marks: Heptathlon – 5311 points, Pentathlon – 3945 points
Kitania Headley, St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine High School (Sprints)
Minnesota's quarter mile group will gain the talents of Jamaican Kitania Headley in 2024-25. Headley competed only in Jamaica and Grenada in 2024, ending the season with a Jamaican U20 Championship in the 800m in a time of 2:09.77. She brings in a lifetime best 400m time of 53.86 and helped her 4x400m relay squad win the CARIFTA Games in a time of 3:34.69.
Top Marks: 400m – 53.86, 800m – 2:08.98, 400mH – 1:01.27
Caitlyn Osanai, Plymouth, Minn., Robbinsdale Armstrong (Distances)
The distance crew at Minnesota will gain the talents of Caitlyn Osanai for the 2024-25 season in both cross country and track and field. The Robbinsdale Armstrong graduate was seventh at the MSHSL Class AAA State Cross Country Championships and brings in a 5K time of 18:04.1. On the track Osanai then captured a fourth-place finish at the state meet in the 3200m and was eighth in the 1600m.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 18:04.1, 1600m – 4:56.13, 3200m – 10:40.50
Nadia Phillips, Wauwatosa, Wis., Wauwatosa High School/Charlotte (Distances)
Minnesota's distance program will welcome the addition of Nadia Phillips, the reigning American Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year at Charlotte. Phillips was eighth overall at the American Athletic Conference Championships. She posted the third-fastest time in Charlotte history in the 3000m at the 49er Classic, posting a 9:37.71. She was also fourth at the American Conference Outdoor Championships in the 1500m, clocking a 4:29.11 to help the women's program sweep the indoor and outdoor conference titles.
Top Marks: 5K – 17:44.5, 6K – 21:13.2, 5000m – 16:54.72, 1500m – 4:27:97
Lilian Reiner, Madison, Wis., Madison East (Pole Vault)
After a bronze-medal finish at the WIAA D1 State Track and Field Championships in 2024, Lilian Reiner will join the Golden Gophers pole vault group in 2024-25. Reiner posted back-to-back personal best finishes of 3.74m (12-3) to end her outdoor season and was the champion at the UCS Spirit National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, back in January where she cleared 3.71m (12-2).
Top Marks: Pole Vault – 3.74m (12-3)
Isabelle Schmitz, Hutchinson, Minn., Hutchinson High School (Distances)
One of the best distance runners in Minnesota high school state history, Isabelle Schmitz, joins the Maroon and Gold out of Hutchinson, Minn. After the soon-to-be Gopher claimed her second cross country state title in November, Schmitz leaped to the No. 7 all-time performance in state history in the 1600m with a time of 4:48.45. She went on to claim a pair of state titles in 2024, one in the 1600m and the other in the 3200m while also making the state final in the 400m. Schmitz also has an impressive time of 2:10.62 in the 800m, a time that helped her claim a WCC East Conference Championship this past season. In Minnesota state history Schmitz is the only woman to be ranked inside the top 25 all-time in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m.
Top Marks: 5K (XC) – 17:56.4, 800m – 2:10.62, 1600m – 4:48.45, 3200m – 10:24.14, 400m – 58.03
Ella Weippert, Grand Forks, N.D., Red River High School (Javelin)
Minnesota will have another Red River High School graduate join in 2024-25, with Ella Weippert joining as a talented javelin thrower. At the same high school as Gopher great Shelby Frank, Weippert claimed back-to-back state titles in the javelin and brings in a lifetime best of 43.73m (143-5) to the Twin Cities. Weippert, a four-sport athlete, participating in golf, softball and basketball.
Top Marks: Javelin – 43.73m (143-5)
Kendra Kelley, Cloquet, Minn., Cloquet High School/North Dakota State University (Sprints)
A two-time NCAA West Regional qualifier, Kendra Kelley, will officially join the Golden Gophers this fall. The NDSU school record holder in the 60m as well as the indoor and outdoor 200m, Kelley reached the NCAA West Regional in 2024 in the 100m and the 200m back in 2023. Kelley won the 2024 Summit League indoor 200m conference title with a time of 23.59. Her personal best of 11.54 in the 100m came back in 2023 at the Kip Janvrin Open and qualified for the NCAA West Regional in 2024 with a season-best time of 11.42, which was set at the 2024 UTSA Invitational in March.
Top Marks: 100m – 11.54, 200m – 23.49, 60m – 7.36
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