Gopher Women to Face #1 Washington

The #4-ranked University of Minnesota women's cross country team will face #1-ranked Washington in Saturday's "Blue Race" at the NCAA Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The meet, which draws many of the top Division I teams to the course that will host the NCAA Championships in November, splits its women's and men's entrants into two races.

The Gopher women will face twelve nationally ranked teams including top-10 ranked Stanford (#6) and Michigan (#9).

The #14-ranked Golden Gopher men have been placed in the men's "Blue Race" where they will face #2-ranked Oklahoma State, a Midwest Region rival. Eleven nationally ranked teams will compete in the "Blue Race," including #6 Alabama, #9 Michigan, #13 Florida State.

Complete race assignments can be found HERE.

The Gopher women's varsity squad at Pre-Nationals will be: Gabriele Anderson (Sr., Perham, Minn./Perham), Jamie Cheever (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest), Heather Dorniden (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount), Megan Duwell (Jr., West Bend, Wis./West Bend West), Amy Laskowske (Jr., Palatine, Ill./Palatine), Felicitas Mensing (Gr., Neuhausen, Germany/Kepler/Coastal Carolina), and Mallory Van Ness (Jr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View/Missouri).

The full Gopher women's media release for the event can be found HERE.

The Gopher men plan to contest the meet with: Ben Blankenship (So., Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater/Mississippi State), Ben Kampf (Jr., Farmington, Minn./Farmington), Mike McFarland (So., Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Hassan Mead (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South), Sean Olson (R-Fr., Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie), Chris Rombough (Sr., Fremont, Wis./New London), Mike Torchia (So., Rochester, Minn./Lourdes).

The full men's media release for the meet is HERE.