Sunday, March 02, 2008

Dramatic Recovery Spurs Gophers' Victory

Memories of Mary Decker Slaney's fall at the 1984 Olympics might have flashed through the minds of those watching the 600 meter run at the women's Big Ten Indoor Championships on Sunday. Junior middle distance star Heather Dorniden tumbled to the track as she moved into the inside lane during her heat of the 600 meter final. Photographer Gene Niemi was trackside covering the action for Down the Backstretch. He provided the series of photos below that show Dorniden's fall, recovery, and subsequent push to the finish. She passed teammate Jamie Dittmar at the line to win the heat and take second in the final.

Coach Matt Bingle, quoted in a U of M press release, credited Dorniden's recovery in securing a second consecutive Big Ten Indoor Championship for the Gophers. And Dorniden proved, for anyone who might have had doubts, that she is a special athlete.


Photos by Gene Niemi.

3 comments:

Chad said...

Great photos. You can see the video here.

miller said...

Excellent video. Thanks Chad.

Chad said...

No problem, but I can't take the credit. Thanks to Eric Paulson for sending it to me.