Women Defend Big Ten Indoor Title

The University of Minnesota women’s indoor track team successfully defended their Big Ten team title at the University Fieldhouse Sunday, topping runner-up Michigan 136-128. They did it without an individual winner on Sunday but with eight top-three finishers.

“It’s always great winning in front of your fans, the crowd, the people that support our program,” said Minnesota head coach Matt Bingle. “To win it back to back is a very special thing for these young women.”

The Gophers held a ten point (130-120) advantage over the Wolverines heading into Sunday’s final event, the 4x400 meter relay. Minnesota’s team of Ritita Butler, Julie Schwengler, Jamie Dittmar and Heather Dorniden finished in third place, just spot behind Michigan to seal the conference crown.

Leading by just three points (77-74) over second-place Penn State after eleven events, Minnesota soared into the lead for good place by placing three runners (junior Schwengler, junior Gabrielle Anderson and freshman Nikki Swenson) in the top four of the 800-meter run. The event earned 19 team points and put them 16 ahead of Michigan.

The day’s most memorable performance, however, was turned in by the junior Dorniden in the 600 meter dash. Dorniden, a five-time track and field All-American, tripped while moving to the inside lane after one lap of the event, falling several meters behind the rest of the pack. (See Gene Niemi's photo of the fall here, and the full sequence in the story above.) But Dorniden recovered quickly made a move during the event’s final lap, passing teammate Dittmar at the finish line to win her heat and come in second place with a time of 1 minute, 31.72 seconds.

“When I started running again I was thinking I just had to get a decent time to get in scoring range, and then they just seemed close,” said a breathless Dorniden about her dramatic come-from-behind race. “There is just so much adrenaline rushing through you there; I didn’t even feel it.”

Dittmar, a freshman, placed third in the 600 with a career-best time of 1 minute, 31.76 seconds.

“It was a huge race for us,” said Bingle about the Gophers’ performance in the 600. "Michigan was coming and coming and that race determined how everything else went. If (Dorniden) wouldn’t have gotten up, we would have lost.”

Junior Jamie Cheever placed sixth in the 5,000 meter run with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16 minutes, 39.04 seconds. Cheever also placed second in the mile with an NCAA provisional time of 4 minutes, 43.34 seconds, while Dorniden (4:44.26) took fourth place also qualified provisionally for nationals.

In the 800 meters, Schwengler came in second with an NCAA provisional time of 2 minutes, 9.39 seconds, with Anderson and Swenson placing third and fourth, respectively.

Junior Caitlin Roemhildt was the Minnesota’s top field event performer Sunday, placing second in the high jump at a height of 5', 10 ", an NCAA provisional mark.All told, the Gophers had twelve top-three finishers and three individual champions (Liz Roehrig in the pentathalon, Alicia Rue in the pole vault and Liz Podominick in the shot put).

The indoor conference title was the second in a row for Minnesota and the second in program history. The Gophers won by 13 points (121.5-108.5) over Michigan last season in Champaign, IL.

The Gophers will now turn their attention to the NCAA Championships, which will held March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark. The Gophers tied for 34^th last season with six team points.

Saturday and Sunday’s action was also taped by the Big Ten Network and will be broadcast March 10 beginning at 6 p.m.

For quotes from the athletes, click here. For notes from Sunday, click here. For complete results, click here.