Gopher Track Teams on the Road to Begin Outdoor Season

A week after closing out the indoor season at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships, the Minnesota men’s track and field team the 2013 outdoor season.The Gophers will bring a full squad of 34 athletes to the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe, AZ. Arizona State hosts the Friday-Saturday meet that also includes Texas A&M and Kansas State.

Arizona State will provide live stats and a running blog (Saturday only) on TheSunDevils.com. Gophersports.com will have updates following each day of competition.

The women's team will travel to Las Vegas for the UNLV Invitational. The sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throws groups will compete. Hammer is the only event on Friday, with the rest of the meet to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“Some people will be competing in odd events this weekend,” director of track and field/cross country Matt Bingle said. “We haven’t practiced outside yet. This weekend is more about training, and I want to see good mental effort. This meet is a chance to shake off some rust.”

Minnesota lost half of its 4x100m relay team, which made it to the NCAA Championships in 2012. Nyoka Giles and Chimerem Okoroji graduated last year, but Todea-Kay Willis and Kylie Peterson are back again. Bingle believes the Gophers have some young runners who can step up and make the relay a contender again this year.

Willis and Brooks, who were both coming back from injuries going into the 2012 outdoor season, are coming off of full indoor seasons in 2013. They set new indoor PRs and will look to end their senior campaigns on a high note.

The full list of returning 2012 NCAA West Preliminary competitors includes:
Emily Betz - javelin 
Alena Brooks - 400m, 4x400m relay 
Christina DeLakis - shot put 
Laura Docherty - 5,000m
Rachel Drake - 10,000m 
Megan Geyen - 4x400m relay 
Molly Kayfes - 3,000m steeplechase 
Katie Moraczewski - 3,000m steeplechase 
Paige Orcutt - 3,000m steeplechase
Kylie Peterson - 4x100m relay 
Todea-Kay Willis - long jump, 4x100m relay