MIAC AOW

MIAC Athletes of the Week HERE

MIAC Indoor Track Preview, AOW

MIAC Indoor Track Preview HERE
Athletes of the Week HERE.

NSIC AOW; Weekly Summary #1

.@UMDTFCC sophomore @emitrost chosen first NSIC Indoor Track Athlete of the Week for 2015-16 https://t.co/OIO2G9dSRT pic.twitter.com/tT27fRLL1U

— UMD Athletics (@UMDBulldogs) December 8, 2015

Men's Summary is HERE  Women's HERE

U-Mary summary from the Bison Classic HERE
Winona State summary from the Chuck Peterson Preseason Open HERE

UMAC Athletes of the Week

Way to go captain, our captain! #BeEXCellent https://t.co/ygAJoAOrk4

— NCU Cross Country (@NCU_XC) September 29, 2015

WXC: Griak Performance Lands Schroeder UMAC Runner of the Week Nod http://t.co/47sxX0Xe3m pic.twitter.com/mdOTBKr5Ua

— NCURams (@NCURams) September 29, 2015

Gonder and Maki for the win! Another week of UMAC awards for two more Eagle athletes http://t.co/ZjHvD5rkVQ pic.twitter.com/ZJZ8oUOTD0

— Northwestern Eagles (@unweagles) September 29, 2015

Roehrig, Studt Named Athletes of Week

The best multi-event athlete in Minnesota Golden Gopher history and an emerging U of M shot put star are the current Big Ten Athletes of the Week.

Liz Roehrig, who set new school records in the heptathlon and high jump last week at the Kansas Relays, and Aaron Studt, who threw a PR 62-7 1/2 in the shot put at the Tommie Twilight meet earned the awards, the school has announced.

Roehrig accumulated 5740 points in the heptathlon, bettering her own Gopher record of 5621 and falling just 10 points shy of an automatic Olympic Trials A Standard. The mark currently ranks the junior second in the NCAA. A three-time All-American, Roehrig set the school high jump record during the heptathlon. Roehrig cleared 6-0, improving the Minnesota record she has held since her freshman season. She is one of only five jumpers in the NCAA to clear the 6-0 mark this season.

Studt's 62-7 1/2 was a personal best by over three feet. The effort is also the third-best throw in school history and the Big Ten’s top mark this season. The sophomore got a second victory last weekend as well, throwing the shot 60-10 1/2 at the Carleton Relays.

Also ... The Gopher media department recently published two feature stories on U of M tracksters. There's a piece, HERE, on the Gophers' Polish triple jumper Anna Arciszewska. There's also another story, HERE, on Gopher captain Pete Miller.

Athletes of the Week: Rombough in Big Ten; Winona's Easker; Mankato's Krajsa, Too

Defending Big Ten cross country champion Chris Rombough was named the conference's Athlete of the Week yesterday. The Camp Fremont, Wisconsin junior won the BYU Autumn Classic last weekend, leading the #18 ranked Gophers to the team title there.

Also recognized as Athletes of the Week by their conferences this week were Winona State's Bethany Easker (you may remember her parents, former Badger stars John Easker and Cathy Branta) in the NSIC and Minnesota State Mankato's James Krajsa in the NCC.

Easker finished second for the Warrior women at the St. John's Invitational; Krajsa did the same for the Maverick men at St. John's.

Erichsen, Bristow Won't Clash in MIAC Steeplechase This Weekend

Chris Erichsen of St. John's and Travis Bistow of Hamline, the #1 and #2 ranked 3000m steeplechasers in NCAA Division III, respectively, will not meet in the event at this weekend's MIAC Championships in Collegeville.

Entrants into the meet were announced last night and are listed HERE.

Erichsen, who clocked 9:03.84 to finish 4th at the Drake Relays, will attempt to defend his conference 1500m title and then double back in the 5000. Bristow, who owns a 9:06.09 mark over the barriers this year, will attempt to defend his MIAC steeplechase title on Saturday after running the 10,000m on Friday night.

The MIAC has previews of the men's and women's competition up on its site.

The official meet web-site is HERE.

You can catch up on MIAC Athletes of the Week -- we've been a little lax in that area, we admit -- via this link.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named its Athletes of the Week recently.

Gustavus Adolphus College senior Tanner Miest, who won the 110 meter hurdles at the Carleton Relays in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 14.84 last Saturday, and Bethel University sophomore Lucas Blodgett, who also qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw with a toss of 173-11 at Carleton, were then men's honorees.

For women, Concordia College senior Heather Schuster (pictured), who finished second in the University/College 800 meters at the Kansas Relays in an auto-qualifying 2:11.79, and Hamline University senior Dana Luiken, who posted an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the heptathlon at the Bison Classic with a score of 4346, were honored.

In the North Central Conference, UMD's Matt Kleffman, who placed fifth in the hammer throw at the Carleton Relays with a throw of 163-11, finished sixth in the discus (135-7), and was fourth in the shot put (48-7) was the only Minnesota athlete highlighted by the conference.

All the the Nothern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's Athletes of the Week this week were from out-of-state.

Photo courtesy of Concordia-Moorhead.

Gearman Named Big Ten Athlete of the Week

Minnesota Golden Gopher uber-jumper Derek Gearman was named the Big Ten's Field Event Athlete of the Week after high jumping 7-0 1/2 at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona last weekend. Gearman (pictured) now has NCAA Midwest Regional qualifying marks in the long, triple, and high jumps.

Elsewhere ... The North Central Conference named Minnesotan's Rachel Stangler of Augustana and Kali Erlandson and Jim Dilling of Minnesota State among its Athletes of the Week. Stangler clocked 11:08.99 in the steeplechase, Erlandson high jumped 5-8 3/4, and Dilling cleared 7-4 1/4 in the high jump in meets last weekend.

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tabbed Minnesotan's Kawaskii Bacon of Concordia-St. Paul and Zac Preble and Sheena Devine of Bemidji State among its Athletes of the Week. Bacon ran a 21.32 200m and was a member of the Golden Bears 41.64 4 x 100 relay, Preble scored 6,487 points in the decathlon, and Devine put the shot 47-1 3/4.

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named St. John's Chris Erichsen, Gustavus' Andy Klaers and Lisa Brown, Carleton's Kelsey Barale, and Concordia-Moorhead's Heather Schuster its Athlete of the Week. Erichsen clocked 9:05.84 in the 3000m steeplechase, Klaers threw 160-6 and and 159-6 for the discus and hammer throw, respectively, Barale ran 11:15.34 in the steeplechase, Schuster clocked 4:39.34 in the 1500m, and Brown, the defending NCAA Division III champion in the event, threw 146-1 in the javelin.

Photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota.

Stelten, McNamara are KARE 11 Prep Athletes of the Week

When I went to bed last night, I figured I had today's DtB post taken care of. Chaska pole vaulter Lauren Stelten and Mounds View jumper Tommy McNamara were featured as the KARE 11 Prep Athletes of the Week last night.

Unfortunately, KARE's Prep Athlete info and clips don't make it to KARE's web-site immediately. No matter how often I refreshed this morning, a hockey player and hoopster still graced the Prep Athlete of the Week page.

I'm sure Stelten and McNamara will decorate the page soon enough. Until then, however, you can hunt through KARE's Prep Athlete of the Week archives to find vintage clips of Jerrell Hancock and Elizabeth Yetzer.

The site purportedly features some other archived clips, including McNamara's own Mounds View teammate Quinn Evans, but I couldn't get them to run on my computer. (An annoying LA Wieght Loss spot works just fine, though!)

Update: Stelten and McNamara's Prep Athlete of the Week clips are now up on the KARE 11 site.

A Little of This, This, and This. Plus, Weather!

Like a runner who has let the lead pack get away from him, we're playing a little catch-up today at DtB -- listing a bunch of links to items we haven't had a chance to get to yet this week.

USA 100K -- According to the Running USA form-chart for the event, the USA 100K Championship held in conjunction with the Mad City 100K this weekend could be a battle of Minnesotans. Duluth native Scott Jurek (who currently resides in Seattle) and Pat Russell (who we featured earlier this week) are listed among the race favorites. Jurek, the seven-time winner of the Western States 100 Mile Race, is coming down in his typical distance for Mad City.

Kleiminhagen to Race Webb -- Team USA Minnesota reports that miler Ryan Kleiminghagen will toe the starting line in the mile at the Furman Invitational on Saturday against Alan Webb. Event officials hope the winner will run the first sub-four-minute mile on South Carolina soil in the event. Kleimenhagen clocked 3:59.00 indoors last year.

Athletes of the Week (This and Last) -- The college conferences are minting athletes of the week again. Jenny Hoese, Katelin Rains, and Jim Dilling, all of Minnesota State - Mankato, earned the distinction last week. This week, Heidi Evans of UND and Lindsey Schultz of Augustana, and James Martinsen of UMD earned the weekly honors. The MIAC just got back into the AOW game this week noting the performances of Travis Bristow of Hamline, Katie Theisen of St. Thomas, and Amanda Weinmann of St. Mary's. In the NSIC, Emily King of Winona State was the only athlete with Minnesota ties to earn that conference's honors.

Roehrig Leads Nation, Big-10 -- Gopher heptathlete Liz Roehrig currently leads the nation in her event after her school-record 5621 point performance at Texas-Arlington last weekend. Roehrig was named a Big-10 Athlete of the Week for the performance. Last year, Roehrig ranked 17th in the nation in the event with a 5498 score.

Mounds View Boys Open Strongly -- Defending boys State True Team and MSHSL Class AA champs Mounds View is off to a strong start in 2007. The Mustangs won the the Minnesota/ROTC meet by a whopping 54.8 to 23 over Minneapolis South last weekend. Defending MSHSL champs Quinn Evans (400) and Sean Duling (hurdles) won events at the meet, as did Tommy McNamara (TJ & LJ), and the 4 x400.

It's Cold Outside (Duh!) -- Hamline University has cancelled the Hamline Invitational originally scheduled for Friday due to the cold weather.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

Leading up to its indoor championship this weekend at St. Olaf, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named their Athletes of the Week.

In the field, Macalester's Susan Brown earend her second weekly honor. She tripled jumped 38-4 at the Pre-MIAC meet at Carleton. Brown is currently the third best triple jumper in Division III. She also won the high jump at Pre-MIAC with a 5-4 1/4 mark. For men, St. John's Erik Diley earned honors for winning both the long jump (21-11 1/2) and triple jump in (45-3 3/4) at The Qualifier meet at St. Olaf. Both were season-best performances for Diley.

On the track, Concordia-Moorhead's Heather Schuster (pictured) earned conference props for running 2:16.51 in the 800 at the Dakota Duals, an NCAA Division III provisional mark. Schuster's time ranks first in the MIAC by nearly 5 seconds. Also noted for performance on the oval -- or the straightaway, at least -- was Gustavus Adolphus College's Tyler Geyen who won the the 55 hurdles at the Pre-MIAC meet. Geyen's time if 7.85 ranks him first in the MIAC.

Photo courtesy of Concordia College.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

In our weekly round-up of Minnesota's small college Athletes of the Week, some familiar names have again risen to the top ...

In the the North Central Conference MSU-Mankato's Katelin Rains and Jim Dilling earned Athlete of the Week distinction for the 4th and 6th time this season, respectively. Rains (pictured) vaulted 13-6 1/2 last weekend, to set the U of M fieldhouse record and the NCAA Division II all-time record. Also honored were half-milers Liz Palkie of the University of Minnesota - Duluth and Pat Lehmann of Mankato.

In the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, St. Mary's thrower Amanda Weinmann earned her conference's weekly notice for the 4th time. Macalester jumper Kaela Schramm earned mention for the 3rd time, while St. John's distance runner Chris Erichsen was honored for the first time this season.

Erichsen clocked an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 5000 meters over the weekend. I'm compelled to quote the last sentence of the MIAC blurb describing Erichsen's effort: "The time of 14:31.32 currently ranks him fourth in NCAA Division III and surpasses the previous Saint John's record of 14:39.1 set by Charlie Mahler in 1985."

In the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Winona State hurdler Jessica Devine was the lone Minnesotan named Athlete of the Week. Devine clocked a school record 8.28 in the 55m hurdles at the UW-L Dual in her hometown of La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Photo courtesy of MSU - Mankato.

Kabia, Schnaible Named Big Ten Athletes of the Week

Gophers Ibrahim Kabia and Adam Schnaible were named Big Ten Track and Field Athletes of the Week for their performances at the Snowshoe Open last Friday.

Kabia, a Brooklyn Center native, broke the school and the fieldhouse records in the 60 meter dash with his 6.66 second performance. The mark provisionally qualified Kabia for the NCAA Indoor Championships and is the second-fastest time run in the Big Ten this season.

Schnaible recorded the best weight throw mark in the Big Ten this year with a distance of 67 feet, 3 1/4 inches, bettering his previous NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 65-4 1/4. The Burnsville native also marked a season-best in the shot put with a 56-10 3/4 throw. Schnaible holds the school record in the weight throw with a toss of 69-8 1/4 from last season.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

As always, we note the top small college performances, as recognized by their conferences ...

Albany native Rachel Stangler (pictured) of Augustana College and Jim Dilling of Minnesota State - Mankato were the Minnesotans named North Central Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week.

Stangler won the mile at the Ted Nelson Classic at MSU - Mankato with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 5:02.33. She broke the Augustana school-record of 5:04.99 set by Fairmont High School alum Leah DeVries in 1995.

Dilling, a senior from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who was honored by the NCC for the fifth straight week, finished third in the high jump at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas with a jump of 7-4 1/4. Dilling defeated nine NCAA Division I athletes in the meet and is currently the #3 ranked high jumper in the USA this indoor season.

In the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Bethel distance runner Nikki Umhoefer, and Hamline distance runner Brandon Gleason were named track Athletes of the Week. Macalester jumper Susan Brown and Hamline thrower Drew Jones were honored for field event prowess.

Umhoefer ran 17:48.39 for 5000 meters at Iowa State last weekend; she leads the MIAC in the mile, 3000, and 5000. Gleason notched a strong NCAA provisional qualifying 14:35.66 5000m at the same meet.

Brown jumped to two NCAA provisional marks in Stevens Point -- high jumping 5-5 3/4 and triple jumping 37-5. Jones threw the 35-pound weight 55-8 1/2 at Iowa State last Friday and then won both throws at Carleton's Meet of Hearts on Saturday.

Update: In the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, three Minnesota athletes earned recognition: MSU-Moorhead’s Ashley Roemer for winning the NSIC pentathlon with 3,162 points, Bemidji State’s Zac Preble for setting a new NSIC heptathlon record with 4780 points, and teammate Todd Zeidler who won the 1,000 meters at the Husky Open clocking 2:37.89.

Photo courtesy of Augustana College.

Alabi, Dorniden named Big Ten Athletes of the Week

For the second time this season, Gopher women claimed both Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors. Senior thrower Liz Alabi collected her second "Field Athlete" honor of the season, while sophomore middle distance runner Heather Dorniden (pictured) shared the "Track Athlete" honor with Michigan's Tiffany Ofili.

Alabi, a Brooklyn Park native, recorded a pair of NCAA provisional qualifying marks at Notre Dame's Meyo Invitational. She won the weight throw with a toss of 62-6, then finished third in the shot put throwing 50-0 1/2.

The defending NCAA indoor champ at 800 meters, Dorniden made a stunning season debut, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships. The Inver Grove Heights native won the 800 at Meyo in 2:04.33, the second-fastest time in school history and the fastest clocking in the nation this season.

Alabi and multi-eventer Liz Roehrig were Big Ten Athletes of the Week for the Gophers earlier in the season.

Photo courtesy of the the Big Ten.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

Minnesota State - Mankato's Jim Dilling (pictured) and Katelin Rains tightened their grips on North Central Conference's Athlete of the Week honors. Dilling, who high jumped 7-4 1/2 this weekend at Mankato's home meet and is currently the second highest jumper in the country with a 7-6 1/2 leap, has been an NCC honoree four straight weeks. Rains earned her third such award this season with a 12-8 3/4 winning pole vault and a 38-0 3/4 second place triple jump, both NCAA qualifying marks, at the same meet.

In the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Macalester's Kaela Schramm earned her second Athlete of the Week honor for lowering her NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time in the 55-meter hurdles with a 8.51 clocking at the Bethel Invitational. Also honored were St. Ben's jumper Mary Schletty, St. Thomas middle distance runner Brian Sames, and Gustavus Adolphus pole vaulter Josh Sorenson.

Update: In the one-day-later NSIC, MSU - Moorhead vaulter Derik Brugger and Bemidji State thrower Sheena Divine were the Minnesota athletes earning Athlete of the Week honors. Brugger vaulted 16-7 at the Concordia Invitational over the weekend, Divine put the shot 49- 3/4 at Northern State, best throw in NCAA Division II this season.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

I'm guessing the MIAC would love to name someone other than Amanda Weinmann (pictured) as their women's field eventer of the week. Amanda, however, just won't let them!

The St. Mary's senior earned the honor again this week for a third straight time because she keeps throwing heavy things farther and farther. She broke her school shot put and weight throw records by more than a foot each at the Blizzard Open at UW - Superior on Saturday. She put the shot 44-2 and tossed the 20-pound weight 52-4 3/4. She's currently ranked #5 in both events for NCAA Division III.

Also honored by the MIAC, Macalester hurdler Kaela Schramm and Carleton middle distance runner (whom I have the pleasure of coaching) Ryan Martinez.

In the NCC, Mankato high jumper Jim Dilling earned his third straight AOW honor as well. He was joined by teammates Jesse Merkel, a distance runner, and pole vaulter Katelin Rains among Minnesotans honored by the conference this week. Dilling jumped 7-6 1/2 at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational, the top mark in the U.S. this season, according to the NCC.

The NSIC announces their AOWs a bit later than the others. Until they're released, here are their top-10 performers this season for men and women.

Update: Winona State's Emily King and Bemidji State's Joe Remitz are the Minnesotan's named Athlete of the Week in the NSIC. King leads NCAA Division II in the 20-poiund wieght throw with a 61-7 toss. Remitz is 5th on the DII shot list with a 55-11 put.

Photos courtesy of St. Mary's University.

Gopher Lizzes Named Big Ten Athletes of the Week

A pair of Gopher women -- both named Liz -- swept Athlete of the Week honors in the Big Ten.

Liz Roehrig, the winner the pentathlon at the Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic last weekend with an NCAA automatic qualifying score of 4,120, was the conference's track athlete of the week. Liz Alabi (pictured), who had two NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the shot put and 20-pound weight throw at the meet, was named the week's top field eventer.

Roehrig won all five events of the pentathlon and her high jump of 5-10 was, itself, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. The junior's score set a new school, meet and field house record. Alabi, a senior, took first in the weight throw with a meet record distance of 63-5 1/2 and placed second in the shot put at 50-1 3/4.

Read more on the Gopher Women's Track web-site.

Photo courtesy of the Big Ten.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

It's Tuesday, and the college conference media mills have stamped out another shining set of Athletes of the Week.

The MIAC recognized Hamline distance runner Brandon Gleason (pictured) and St. Thomas long jumper James Ewer on the men's side along with St. Thomas quarter-miler Christina Chapman and Saint Mary's thrower Amanda Weinmann for the women. Weinmann is a repeat AOW from last week.

Two Minnesota State Mankato athletes were recognized this week by the NCC. High jumper Jim Dilling repeats from last week and is joined by pole vaulter and fellow Maverick Katelin Rains.

Addition: In the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, sprinter Kawaskii Bacon of Concordia (St. Paul) and pole vaulter/jumper/sprinter Jennifer Hensel of Minnesota State Moorhead were the honored atheltes from Minnesota schools.

Photo courtesy of Hamline University