Minnesota Men Fifth, Women Seventh in Big Ten Team Race

In a team race where the difference between second and fifth was a point and a half, the Gopher men's track team took fifth with 86 points at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.  Wisconsin won the team title with 90 points, Illinois scored 87.5, Penn State 87, Nebraska 86.66 for the top four spots. It was the tightest race for the team championship since 2003.

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota men came within four  points of the Gophers' fifth team title. Senior Harun Abda earned First Team All-Big Ten honors while Cameron Boy, Jacob Capek and Goaner Deng picked up Second Team awards.

Abda scored in three events. He narrowly missed out on the 600 crown with his runner-up time of 1:15.80 in his first race at the distance in 2013. The senior also made his first appearance of the year in the 400, finishing third in 46.99 - Minnesota's top time this season  -- and was a member of Minnesota's 4x400 relay team along with Capek, Boy and Deng that finished second at 3:07.19. The mark was the fifth-fastest time in Gopher men's indoor history and the fastest this season.

The Gophers had  a two-three finish in the 60  as senior Sean King came in second at 6.77 and newcomer Devin Crawford-Tufts was third in 6.80. Crawford-Tufts also placed eighth in the 200 at 35.11 while Boy finished fifth in 21.27.

After posting the meet's fastest preliminary time on Friday, Nick Hutton was fifth in the mile in 4:03.79.  Alex Brend was seventh in 4:04.99. In the long jump, Oladip Fagbemi lept the seventh-longest distance in school history at 7.46 meters to finish fifth while Sam Kettenhofen also had a personal best of  7.43 meters to finish sixth. Fagbemi also finished sixth in the triple jump at 15.36 meters - his top performance of the year in the event.

Jon Lehman was fourth in the weight throw at 21.79 meters while Travis Burkstrand finished fourth in the 800 int 1:50.38. Jack Szmanda placed fifth in the pole vault at 5.22 meters and was eighth in the heptathlon with 2,892 points. Full men's results are HERE. 

The Minnesota women’s track and field team finished seventh with 56 points, one point out of sixth. Laura Docherty and Todea-Kay Willis each earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors. Illinois won the team title with 115 points.

Docherty and Molly Kayfes finished second and third in the 5K and now rank second and third in school history. Docherty (16:15.00) and Kayfes (16:15.31) took over the second and third slots once the pack separated, and they held off other contenders to the end.

The Gopher 4x400-meter relay team was just .22 seconds away from the school record in finishing fourth. Megan Geyen, Te’Shon Adderley, Jessica Waldvogel and Alena Brooks ran the fastest time in their section of the relay. They were .10 seconds out of third place overall, with the fastest three teams running in the second section.

Adderley finished fourth in the 800  with a new personal record of 2:06.42, which ranks fourth in school history. Brooks came in fifth in the 600  with a time of 1:30.44. Willis, yesterday's runner-up in long jump, finished sixth in the 60 with a time of 7.48. Kylie Peterson finished ninth, just outside of the scoring. Becca Dyson finished eighth in the mile in 4:49.67. 

“I’m proud of Laura Docherty and Molly Kayfes,” director of track and field/cross country Matt Bingle. “They had a great weekend and competed well. TK Willis set the long jump record, and the 4x400 was close to the school record. I’m proud of the team overall. We’ve come a long way since last year. We’re on the right path, but we still have a lot of work to do for outdoor.”

Recap of Gopher Scorers
2. Todea-Kay Willis: long jump, 20-7 3/4 (6.29m) *school record
2. Laura Docherty: 5,000 meters, 16:15.0
3. Molly Kayfes: 5,000 meters, 16:15.31
3. Laura Docherty: 3,000 meters, 9:23.60
4. Te’Shon Adderley: 800 meters, 2:06.42
4. Megan Geyen, Te’Shon Adderley, Jessica Waldvogel, Alena Brooks: 4x400-meter relay, 3:40.99
4. Katie Hill, Alena Brooks, Te’Shon Adderley, Maggie Bollig: distance medley relay, 11:17.94
5. Alena Brooks: 600 meters, 1:30.44
6. Molly Kayfes: 3,000 meters, 9:30.39
6. Todea-Kay Willis: 60 meters, 7.48
7. Katie Murgic:  pole vault, 12-7 1/2 (3.85m)
8. Becca Dyson: mile, 4:49.67

Full women's results are HERE.