Friday, April 19, 2013

Gopher Multi-Eventers Perform in California and Kansas


Jack Szmanda finished third in the decathlon at the Mt. SAC Relays on Thursday after improving from eighth midway through the competition. Minnesota's all-time school record holder in the decathlon, Szmanda finished the competition with 7,317 points including a first-place finish in the pole vault that matched the senior's season-high leap of 5.20 meters. Additionally, Szmanda finished third in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:39.20 and fourth in the javelin throw with a toss of 49.79 meters. The senior also posted a throw of 35.31 meters to finish eighth in the discus and finished the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.45 seconds. 

Szmanda's first day of competition was highlighted by a third-place finish in the shot put with a distance of 13.38 meters. Szmanda also finished third in his section and fifth overall in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.28 and fifth in his section in the 100-meters with a time of 11.31 seconds. The senior also tied for seventh-place finish in the high jump (1.92 meters) and posted a 10th-place finish in the long jump (6.52 meters). 

Meanwhile at the California Invite, Kenny Schofield finished tenth with a total of 6,371 points. Schofield finished fifth or better in each of the four events he competed in on Wednesday, including a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.25 seconds. Schofield also posted a third-place finish in the long jump (6.70 meters), a fourth-place finish in the shot put (12.81 meters) and tied for fifth in the high jump (1.89 meters). Schofield also finished third in his section and fifth overall in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.20 seconds. 

Schofield added a throw of 44.00 meters in the javelin on Thursday to finish eighth and posted a ninth-place finish in both the pole vault with a leap of 4.15 meters and the 1,500 with a time of 4:59.18. The Minnesota multi-eventer also added a throw of 22.23 meters in the discus and time of 16.22 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.


Gopher women Alex Beckman and Amanda Beckman finished third and fourth, respectively, in the heptathlon at the Kansas Relays. Alex tallied 4,537 points, just ahead of Amanda at 4,516. Unattached competitor Rachael Klinger (4,699) and Nebraska’s Jourdan Doffeny (4,629) claimed the top two spots.

The Beckmans battled through rain and snow in their first collegiate heptathlon competition. Amanda got off to a strong start on Thursday by finishing second in the long jump, her second runner-up finish of the meet. She closed out the day with a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters, while Alex posted her third runner-up finish of the meet.

“I’m proud of their efforts in their first heptathlon,” Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Matt Bingle said. “They still have some improvements to make, and we’re excited to get back to work on Monday.”
Alex was tied for second place with 2,927 points through Wednesday’s four events. Amanda was in fifth with 2,736 points.

Alex finished second in Wednesday's last two events, the shot put and 200. Amanda finished second in the high jump. Heptathon result is HERE

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