Gopher Women Win Big 10 Title

Indoor Track: Gopher Women Win Big 10 Title
Big 10 Results HERE
Photos HERE
Women's Recap HERE
Men finish 9th
Men's Recap HERE

Big 10 XC Champs Results

Big 10 XC Champs Results: Men HERE. Women HERE
Purdue's Jaret Carpenter 7th in men's race, Emma Benner 14th in women's race.

Gopher men 12th at Nuttycombe Invite

Obsa Ali in Madison

 Gopher men 12th at Nuttycombe Invite.   Results HERE.
Summary HERE

Gopher Women 10th

Gopher Women 10th   at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.  Results HERE.
Summary HERE 

Maddie Strandemo, top Gopher finisher, closely followed by the Hasz twins

Jaret Carpenter and Emma Benner Win Individual Titles at Indiana Intercollegiate Championships

Men's race results HERE.  Women HERE
Jaret Carpenter  and Emma Benner Win Individual Titles at Indiana Intercollegiate Championships

Carpenter and Benner

Recap and Interviews click HERE

KARE-11 Feature on Gopher Big 10 Indoor Mile Champ DerekWiebke

Check out @kare11's story on #Gopher Big Ten mile champion @derekwiebke. https://t.co/iUXHIuAfNS pic.twitter.com/jsM1kGzRji

— Minnesota M CC/TF (@GopherMCCTF) April 10, 2017

Mason Ferlic Double Winner at Big 10

Another U-M distance sweep!!! @masonferlic with 20 points on the weekend and his 5th career B1G Title! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/0I3I8uUaFe

— Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) May 15, 2016

Watch @masonferlic take his second crown of the weekend, this time in the 5,000-meter run. Heck of a race! #GoBlue https://t.co/NVgew1ZMkP

— Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) May 15, 2016

Mason Ferlic Big 10 AOW

Mason Ferlic Big 10 Athlete of the week HERE

News Bits

Minnesota Daily story on the Big 10 Champs is HERE.

Marshall Independent story on the State HS Championships is HERE, story on the Lac Qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd Class A girls team silver medallists is HERE.

Worthington Daily Globe story on Luverne's girls seventh place finish at the State Championships is HERE, and the results for the area's individual race runners is HERE.

Rochester Post Bulletin articles on Emi Trost is HERE, on Ian Torchia is HERE.

Star News story on Elk River's Lucas Trapp and Rogers' Reed Parent is HERE.

MIAC Championships men's race wrap up, photos are HERE. 

UMAC Championships wrap up is HERE.

Results from the USATF-MN XC Shampionships are HERE

Results from the USATF Half Marathon Trail Championships(Justin Grunewald finished fourth) are HERE.

USTFCCCA NCAA DI regional rankings are HERE.

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon 2013 men's champ Nick Arciniaga writes about Meb Keflezighi  HERE.

Gopher Women Third, Men Fourth at Big 10 Champs

The University of Minnesota women's team finished third and the men fourth at the Big 10 Championships at Purdue on Sunday.  Michigan State won the women's title with 43 points, Michigan was second with 55 and the Gophers had 68.  For the men, Indiana won with 51 points, followed by Michigan(66), Wisconsin(71) and Minnesota(136).

Women's results are HERE.  Men are HERE.

News Bits

Cavalier Daily story on the impact of a trio of freshman, including Shakopee's Maria Hauger, on tenth ranked Virginia's women's cross country team is HERE.

Milesplit's boys HS team rankings is HERE, girls is HERE.

Minnesota Daily Big Ten Championships preview is HERE.

UMAC XC coaches will participate in an online chat at noon HERE.

NSIC weekly XC summary for women is HERE, men HERE.

MIAC student athlete spotlight on Gustavus's Kailee Carlson is HERE.

St Paul chosen to host 2014 US  TriathlonDduathlon National Championships announcement is HERE.

News Bits

Meghan Peyton blogs on her race at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon HERE.

Minnesota Daily report on Wisconsin Adidas Invitational is HERE.(Note: according to "official" results from Wisconsin meet Gopher men finished 25th.  Confusion seems to be over Gopher Bob Nicolls, who was the second finisher for the team in 97th, while Andrew Larson was the third Minnesota finisher.  Both Nicolls and Larson had the same time of 24:21.  Appears there was a set of "official" results that are linked on the University of Minnesota SID site and the TFRRS.org site put the Gophers in 29th without Nicolls in the event and has a list of finishers in the B race that does include Nicolls and other Gopher men HERE..  However, the current set of "official" meet results on the University of Wisconsin XC site have the Gophers in 25th HERE.  What the conflicting results do agree upon is that a second team of Gopher women won the B race at Wisconsin.  Results are HERE.)

Sun Sailor story on Lake Conference boy's race is HERE.

I guess you could call this: Keeping up with Thom Weddle.  Now in the 75-79 age group category, Weddle has been busy.  He won his age group in the First Avenue Mile in the Big Apple in 6:31 on September 29. He was second in his age group in the US Masters 5K road championship in Syracuse, NY on October 6 in 23:43.  Last weekend he was scheduled to run in the US Masters 5K Cross Country Championships in New Jersey.  We're still waiting for those results.Update:  Weddle won his age group in 25:03.  USATF summary article HERE. Full results are HERE.

Chelsea Johnson Wins UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invite Title; Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer and Wisconsin Adidas Invite Results

Photo courtesy of St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica's Chelsea Johnson won the UW Oshkosh Brooks 6K Invitational title on Saturday in 21:04.1. Johnson broke her own school record and won by twelve seconds.Lucy Cheadle of Washington University-St. Louis was second with a time of 21:16.

Johnson has now won three straight races (Griak, Pre-Nats, Brooks) and has five wins this season. CSS Hall of Famer Desiree Budd is the only other Saint in program history to win three straight races and that took place in both the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Budd won a program-best six races in 2002.

As a team, all five Saints that scored had personal-best times. However, that is not unusual for the fast track at Lake Breeze. The Saints placed thirteenth out of 36 teams with 341 points.

Taylor Gibson (La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent HS) was 77th in 23:14. Andrea Mogren (Forest Lake/Forest Lake HS) was a spot back in 78th with a time of 23:15. Liz Braml (Turtle Lake/Turtle Lake HS) was 89th, finishing in 23:21. The final Saint to score was Jordan Johnson (Poplar/Northwestern HS) in 128th in 23:41.

The meet featured nine teams nationally ranked. Three teams ranked behind the No. 24 Saints, finished ahead of CSS: No. 26 Washington-St. Louis-3rd, No. 25 Willamette (Ore.)-8th and No. 29 DePauw (Ind.)-12th. CSS did finish ahead of Aurora (Ill.), who was ranked 23rd this week.

Defending NCAA Division III champion No. 8 Calvin College (Mich.) won the meet with 71 points. Sixth-ranked University of Chicago was second with 120 points.

The Saints will be at the 2013 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championships on Saturday, November 2nd in New Brighton at the Brightwood Hills Golf Course.

Full results are HERE.

St. Olaf's Grant Wintheiser ran 24:53.2  finishing third in the Jim Drews 8K to lead St. Olaf to the team title. Individual results are HERE.  Team results are HERE and HERE.  St Olaf's Noelle Olson(21:36/third) was the top Minnesota finisher in the Tori Neubauer 6K Invitational.  The Gopher women finished second in the team competition.  Individual results are HERE. Team results are HERE and HERE.

St. Olaf placed four in the top ten and all five scorers in the top eleven.  After Wintheiser finished Brian Saksa was fifth (24:59). Sophomore Calvin Lehn was seventh (25:20), junior Jake Brown eighth (25:23) and sophomore Jake Campbell (25:28) 11th as the Oles posted a team score of 41, 55 points ahead of runner up UW-La Crosse. 

Central College was third, Iowa Central Community College fourth and Luther fifth. St. Thomas was eighth (251 points), and was next best of nine MIAC schools in the race. 

Gopher junior Chelsea Pettit (Savage) took ninth overall to lead the Gopher women. 

"Chelsea Pettit had the best race of her career, bar none, between cross country and track," head coach Sarah Hopkins said. "She's finally getting some confidence in herself and figuring out what she can do. It's just awesome to see."

Minnesota's top five runners finished among the top 25 at the meet. Behind Pettit, redshirt sophomore Hannah Trasser (Brookfield) and junior Jillian Johnson(Green Bay) rounded out the Gophers' top three finishers as Trasser took 17th in 22:35.4 and Johnson was 18th in 22:36.5.

Redshirt freshman Melissa Cabak (Plymouth) finished 22nd in 22:47.6, and redshirt sophomore Lauren Domski (Woodbury) was 24th in 22:51.2.

"All around, I think it was a really solid weekend," Hopkins said. "We decided to bring 17 runners to the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, so we took five runners who would normally run with this group out there, and they still got second in this meet. To do that is pretty impressive."

In total, 12 Gophers raced as Minnesota came in second in the team standings with 90 points. Wartburg won the meet with 81 points. Luther sophomore Tricia Serres claimed the individual crown in 21:19.3. Over 470 runners from 32 universities competed in the 6K 

The Gopher women finished eighth and the men finished 25th at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational 8K. Results are HERE.

Minnesota Coach Goes Blue

University of Michigan men's track and field head coach Jerry Clayton announced the hiring of Steven Rajewsky (pronounced rah-jes-kee) as an assistant coach for the Wolverines. Rajewsky will oversee Michigan's sprinters and hurdlers.

"We are excited about the addition of Steve to our track and field program," said Clayton. "He will coordinate our recruiting and coach the sprints-hurdle and assist with the field events. Steve understands the team concept of track and field and has aided in seven conference championships during his career. He has experience in the Big Ten Conference and has had great success with the development of student-athletes under his tutelage."

Rajewsky is no stranger to Big Ten track and field, earning his start in Division I coaching as a volunteer assistant coach with the women's track and field program at the University of Minnesota from 2004-06. He concentrated on the Gophers' sprints, jumps, hurdles and multi-event groups. In 2006, he helped lead Minnesota to the Big Ten Outdoor championship, guiding six student-athletes to individual conference titles. He also directed three Big Ten Freshmen of the Year, five school record-holders, seven NCAA Championship qualifiers, six NCAA All-Americans and one NCAA champion (800-meter run).

The Blue Earth, MN native was a six-time All-MIAC performer and 2004 team captain of the University of St. Thomas men's track and field program. Rajewsky was a 2003 Provisional NCAA Championship qualifier and helped lead St. Thomas to eight MIAC team titles (indoor and outdoor championships from 2000-04). He graduated from St. Thomas in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a teaching licensure in social studies.

Rajewsky joins the Wolverine staff after spending the past six seasons (2008-13) as an assistant coach at Kent State University, working with their men's and women's sprint and hurdles groups. During his time at KSU, he helped lead the Golden Flashes to eight Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships, including four straight women's outdoor titles (2010-13), three women's indoor crowns (2010, 2012-13) and the 2009 men's indoor championship.

Under Rajewsky's guidance, his student-athletes garnered three MAC Athlete of the Year citations and three MAC Indoor Track Performer of the Meet awards. In addition, he coached 28 MAC champions, 64 All-MAC performers, 11 school-record holders, 12 NCAA East Preliminary qualifiers, one NCAA Championship qualifier and three USA Junior Championship participants.

Prior to his stint at Kent State, Rajewsky served as the interim head coach at Ball State University from 2006-08, working with the Cardinals' jumps, hurdles and multi-event student-athletes. At Ball State Rajewsky's student-athletes recorded nine MAC individual titles, five school records, 19 All-MAC performances, seven NCAA Mid-East Regional qualifying performances and four NCAA Championship qualifying performances. Rajewsky guided two-time MAC record-holder Amber Williams to All-America honors in the 100-meter hurdles, a fourth-place finish at the USA Indoor Championships and participation at the 2007 USA Championships. During his time at Ball State, Rajewsky also earned his Master of Arts in sports administration for higher education in 2008.

Rajwesky has spoken at, and helped direct, several camps and clinics across the country in both track and field and basketball.

Gopher Thrower Quentin Mege Given 2013 Big Ten Male Medal of Honor Award

Minnesota senior Quentin Mege is the male winner of this year's Big Ten Medal of Honor award, given annually to the top male and female student-athlete at each of the 12 conference schools.   The Big Ten Conference has over 8,200 student-athletes, more than any other conference, and only 24 of those individuals are recognized each year with the Big Ten Medal of Honor for their school. In the 99 years of the Medal of Honor, over 1,300 student-athletes have earned this distinction. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work."

Mege will be competing in the NCAA DI finals starting today in Eugene, OR.  Meet schedule, results, and list of Gopher male participants is HERE.  Laura Docherty is the only female Gopher competing.  She'll run the 5K on Friday. Docherty, who ran a personal best 16:10.63 at the NCAA Prelims, will have a shot at breaking the school record in the 5K, which is held by Megan Duwell with a time of 16:04.55 (2010). Docherty is only the fourth Gopher to advance to the NCAA Championships in the 5Kand only the second to do so for the outdoor season (Lori Townsend, 1995). Townsend was also a two-time indoor qualifier (1994 and 1995) and is joined by Megan Duwell (2010) and Corinne Nimitz (2000).

FOLLOW DOCHERTY IN EUGENEFollow Laura and her trip to Track Town USA via Twitter (@LowDock) and Instagram (lowdock). 

Eight More Gophers--Seven Men and Laura Docherty for the Women--Qualify for NCAA Championships in Eugene

The Big Ten’s top two hammer throwers – Gophers Micah Hegerle and Quentin Mege– 1,500 meter runner John Simons, triple jumper Oladipo Fagbemi, and the 4 by 400 relay team qualified for the NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, OR on Saturday at the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field West Region Championships.They joined Wally Ellenson(high jump), OladipoHarun Abda (800 meters) and Travis Burkstrand (800 meters), who qualified earlier. Laura Docherty is the only Gopher woman to qualify for nationals as she made it in the 5K.

After the hammer throw was rained out on Friday, the Gophers duo had to wait through another brief rain delay on Saturday morning before competition got underway. Despite the inclement weather as well as the lingering effects of a broken hand that has sidelined Mege for much of the outdoor season, the senior hit 217'7" (66.33 meters) for the second longest throw of the event behind only Oklahoma State’s Nick Miller (234'11"/71.60 meters).  Hegerle followed up his Big Ten title performance two weeks ago with a mark of 211'11"(64.60 meters) on Saturday to claim the eighth longest throw of the day.

The Gophers duo has pushed each other throughout the outdoor season with Mege and Hegerle sharing some impressive career accomplishments including the last four Big Ten outdoor hammer throw championships, six combined All-America honors including four in the outdoor hammer throw, and Mege’s school record of 221-\'5"(67.49 meters) set earlier this season.  Fagbemi hop, skip, and jumped 51' 5.5"(15.68m) to finish tenth in the triple jump.  Simons ran 3:45.54 to finish sixth in his heat of the 1,500 and 11th fastest on the day.  The 4 by 400 relay of Jacob Capek, Goaner Deng, Cameron Boy, and Abda ran 3:06.1 to place eighth.

Those who did not advance to NCAAs: Logan Connors threw177'5"(54.09 meters) to finish 44th in the javelin and  Boy finished 20th in the 200 in 21:43.  Big Ten pole vault champion Zach Siegmeier cleared 17'4.5"(5.30 meters) for 19th in the prelims while Jack Szmanda vaulted  16'6.75"(5.05 meters) to finish 33rd. 

Minnesota Men’s NCAA Qualifiers

Harun Abda (800 meters – 3rd, 1:48.18)

Travis Burkstrand (800 meters – 6th, 1:48.46)

Wally Ellenson (high jump – T-7th, 7-01 ft., 2.16 meters)

Oladipo Fagbemi (triple jump – 10th, 51-05.50 ft., 15.68 meters)

Micah Hegerle (hammer throw – 8th, 211-11 ft., 64.60 meters)

Quentin Mege (hammer throw – 2nd, 217-07 ft., 66.33 meters)

John Simons (1,500 meters – 11th, 3:45.54)

Jacob Capek, Harun Abda, Goaner Deng, Cameron Boy (4x400 meter relay – 8th, 3:06.12)

For the women, Laura Docherty ran a personal-record time of 16:10 to finish fifth in her section and ninth overall in the 5K. Emily Betz finished 36th in the women's javelin(136'5"/41.57m), but did not advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene.    Full results by event are HERE. 

On a lighter note, former Gopher and current Olympic champion in the javelin, Barbora Špotáková, 
 now has a new title, mom.  The story is HERE. 

Wilson, LaMois to be Inducted into M Club Hall of Fame

Two tracksters are members of the 2013 class that will be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame.  Retiring women's coach Gary Wilson and Lloyd LaMois, the 1948 NCAA triple jump champion, are among the ten to be inducted on October 24.

The official induction of the 2013 class will take place during a ceremony to be held in the DQ Club Room at TCF Bank Stadium. Social hour begins at 6 PM  with the main program starting at 7. Tickets are available  through the Gopher Athletics Ticket Office online at mygophersports.com or by calling 1-800-U-Gopher beginning August 15.  A brief listing of some of the accomplishments of both men is belwo: 

Gary Wilson (Women’s Cross Country and Women’s Track & Field 1985-2013)Gary Wilson is retiring this spring following 28 years as head women’s cross country coach. The 2007 and 2008 Midwest Region and Big Ten Coach of the Year led Minnesota cross country to its first two conference titles (2007 and 2008) and three consecutive Midwest Region crowns (2007-09).

Wilson guided the Gophers to 15 consecutive NCAA Championships appearances. Minnesota is one of only five schools to earn NCAA berths in all of the past eight seasons. Wilson coached six different runners to nine All-America certificates.

He also served as head track and field coach for 21 seasons before taking on an assistant role starting in 2007. Wilson has been part of four Big Ten titles on the track (2006-09). He was named Coach of the Year for the Big Ten, Midwest Region and Midwest District in 2006 when Minnesota won the outdoor conference title and Heather (Dorniden) Kampf became the Gophers’ first-ever national champion.

Wilson is an inductee of the Drake Relays and UW-La Crosse Halls of Fame, as well as a recipient of the U of M President’s Award for Service. In retirement, he will remain involved in the Roy Griak Invitational, a meet he helped establish.

Lloyd LaMois (Men's Track & Field)
Lloyd LaMois was a member of Minnesota’s 1948 national championship outdoor track & field team, which is the only one in school history. It was also Minnesota’s first national championship outside of football or men’s basketball.  LaMois was the 1948 NCAA Triple Jump champion (outdoor) with a jump of 45 feet, 10 inches and to this day, he remains Minnesota's only outdoor All-American in the triple jump.LaMois is being inducted into the Pioneer Division of the Hall of Fame, a special designation for athletes from the era prior to 1950.

The University of Minnesota "M" Club is a nonprofit organization representing all letterwinners from University of Minnesota athletics teams. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor achievements and to preserve the tradition of those athletes, coaches and athletic staff members who have contributed in an outstanding and positive way to the University of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Department.

The criteria for induction to the University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame include four different categories: significant accomplishments by a former student-athlete; significant achievements by a former coach or administrator; significant contributions of time, talent or resources to the athletics department by someone other than an athlete, coach or administrator, and significant professional achievement by a former Minnesota student-athlete.

Former student-athletes inducted for significant accomplishments become eligible for selection five years after the expiration of their eligibility, while former coaches and staff members must have served the department for five years to be eligible.

Gopher Men Second at Big Ten Outdoor Champs, Women Finish Eighth

Harun Abda and Zach Siegmeier added individual Big Ten titles in the 800 and pole vault, respectively, on Sunday as the Minnesota men finished second at the 2013 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Gophers scored 93 points while Nebraska racked up 131.5.

Approaching the tail end of a career that includes 11 All-America honors and five Big Ten indoor titles, Abda can now claim an outdoor title after capturing Minnesota’s first Big Ten outdoor 800 title since Hans Storvick in 2008. The First Team All-Big Ten honoree – his fifth career conference accolade -- ran 1:48.64 on Sunday to edge Penn State’s Casimir Loxsom by .03 seconds while Travis Burkstrand finished third in 1:49.74.

Meanwhile, Siegmeier picked up his first-ever Big Ten title and First Team All-Big Ten honor with a win in the pole vault, clearing 5.21 meters (17'1"). The junior’s win  marks the Gophers’ first conference title in the pole vault since Ben Peterson in 2010.

Senior Oladipo Fagbemi also earned his first career conference with a runner-up finish in the triple jump. The Second Team All-Big Ten selection cleared 15.51 meters (50-10.75 ft.) behind Ohio State’s Mike Hartfield (15.62 meters, 51'3").

Other notable performances for the Gophers included a third-place finish by the 4x400 relay team of Abda, Jacob Capek,Goaner Deng and Cameron Boy (3:09.15), two top-ten finishes in the javelin throw as Logan Connors finished fourth (63.47 meters, 208'3") and Sam Kettenhofen finished eighth (59.73 meters, 195'11"), a sixth-place finish in the 200 by Boy (21.42) and a ninth-place finish by the senior in the 100 (10.60), a seventh-place finish in the 400 by Capek (47.12) and a fifth-place finish in the 1,500 by John Simons (3:49.27) and a tenth-place finish in the 5K by Simons (14:28.08). The 4x100 relay team of Capek, Boy, Fagbemi and Kettenhofen finished seventh in 41.37 while Mark Jennings (17.71 meters, 58'1.25") and Logan Hussung (17.60 meters, 57'9") finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the shot put.

The Golden Gopher women's team had three top-three finishes on the final day of the Big Ten Championships to finish eighth with 66.5 points. Penn State won the conference title with 133 points. 

Juniors Megan Geyen and Laura Docherty earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors. Geyen finished second in the 400 in 53.91 seconds, behind Illinois's Ashley Spencer. Sophomore Jessica Waldvogel finished seventh in the 400.

Sophomore Devin Stanford took third place in the discus. She launched it 170'4"(51.93m) on her first throw, a personal record that ranks seventh in Gopher history. Senior Katie Loberg, who joined the team after a four-year college basketball career, tied for third in the high jump. Loberg cleared 5'8.5"(1.74m), to tie for sixth on Minnesota's all-time list.

Docherty, who finished second in the 10K on Friday, finished fourth in the 5K Sunday with a PR of 16:16.1 that ranks third in school history. Minnesota had a pair of scorers in the 800. Senior Alena Brooks took fourth and junior Te'Shon Adderley was sixth.

The Minnesota 4x400m relay team of Geyen, Adderley, Waldvogel and Brooks won the first heat to place  fourth overall with a time of 3:40.76. The 4x100 team of Waldvogel, senior Todea-Kay Willis, Geyen and senior Kylie Peterson finished seventh. Junior Maggie Bollig (1,500) and Willis (100) finished eighth in their respective events. Katie Hill finished just outside of the scoring in the 1,500.

"We had a great day today," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Matt Bingle said. "It was a little disappointing not to finish higher, being only 10 points out of fifth place. But overall, today was a good day for us. Even people who didn't score had PRs or season-bests. I was impressed with our young people, and there is a lot to be encouraged about with so many scorers returning next season."

Recap of Gopher Women's Scorers

2. Laura Docherty, 10K
2. Megan Geyen, 400
3. Devin Stanford, discus
T3. Katie Loberg, high jump
4. Laura Docherty, 5K
4. Katie Moraczewski, 3,000m steeplechase
4. Emily Betz, javelin
4. Alena Brooks, 800
4. 4x400 relay (Megan Geyen, Te'Shon Adderley, Jessica Waldvogel, Alena Brooks)
6. Te'Shon Adderley, 800
7. Liz Berkholtz, 10K 
7. Jessica Waldvogel, 400m
7. Todea-Kay Willis, long jump
7. 4x100 relay (Jessica Waldvogel, Todea-Kay Willis, Megan Geyen, Kylie Peterson)
8. Jeri Johnson-Chambers, hammer
8. Alex Beckman, heptathlon
8. Maggie Bollig, 1,500
8. Todea-Kay Willis, 100

Full Meet results are HERE.  All Big Ten Team women are HERE. Men All Big Ten Teams are HERE.

Gopher Men Third, Women Sixth Heading into Final Day of Big Ten Outdoor Champs

At the conclusion of day two of the 2013 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Gopher men are in third place and the women are in sixth.  With 35 team points, the Gophers trail Nebraska(46.5) and Wisconsin(44.5). The women's team has 24 points, Wisconsin leads with 51.

For the Gopher men,  Wally Ellenson finished third in the high jump. The freshman cleared 2.12 meters (6'11.5 ") behind Indiana’s Derek Drouin (2.24 meters, 7-04.25 ft.) and Purdue’s Geoff Davis (2.12 meters, 6-11.5 ft.). Point scorers were: Dominique Howard (fifth, 56.78 meters, 186-03 ft.) and Mark Jennings (10th, 52.31 meters, 171-07 ft.) in the discus. Bob Nicolls (seventh, 9:00.95) and Derek Storkel (eighth, 9:02.78) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Micah Hegerle, who picked up Minnesota’s fourth-straight Big Ten title in the hammer throw on Friday, finished 13th in the discus. In the prelims, the 800 duo of Travis Burkstrand(1:47.56) and Harun Abda(1:49.07) both won their preliminary heats to advance to Sunday’s finals. Cameron Boy advanced in a pair of events, finishing second in his 200(20.97) heat and sixth(10.61) in the 100 prelims. Jacob Capek advanced in the 400 prelims in 47.21.  John Simons posted a time of 3:47.92 in the 1,500 to qualify for the finals. Minnesota’s 4x100 relay team also moved on after posting a time of 41.07 in the preliminaries.

For the women, senior Emily Betz took fourth in the javelin with a new personal record of 151 feet, two inches (46.08m). She now ranks ninth on Minnesota’s all-time list in the event. Junior Katie Moraczewski closed out the night with a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Moraczewski also set a PR, her time of 10:14.07 ranking third all-time.

Also scoring for Minnesota on Saturday were senior Todea-Kay Willis in the long jump (seventh) and Alex Beckman in the heptathlon (eighth). Both Alex (4,916) and Amanda Beckman (4,825) turned in top-10 heptathlon point totals for Minnesota.

The Gopher 4x100-meter relay and seven individual runners qualified for Sunday finals. The 4x100 team of sophomore Jessica Waldvogel, Willis, junior Megan Geyen and senior Kylie Peterson finished in 45.64 seconds, the relay’s fastest time of the season and the eighth-fastest in school history. Minnesota will have two representatives in each of the 400m, 800m and 1,500m finals. Geyen ran the second-fastest time in school history (53.72) to finish third in the preliminary heats of the 400m. Waldvogel (55.57) finished eighth and now ranks ninth all-time.

Both junior Te’Shon Adderley (fourth) and senior Alena Brooks qualified in the 800m. Adderley’s new PR of 2:07.55 ranks seventh in Minnesota history. In the 1,500m, Katie Hill posted the best time by a Gopher this season, finishing in 4:27.43. Juniors Hill and Maggie Bolligwill both run in Sunday’s final.

Willis qualified for the 100m final with a PR of 11.73. She now ranks sixth all-time.

Through two days of competition, eight events have been scored. Thirteen events remain, and the triple jump will kick off the action on the third and final day Sunday. Results of Saturday's prelims and finals are HERE. Men's Photo gallery is HERE. Women's HERE. 

Micah Hegerle Wins Hammer Throw, Laura Docherty Second in 10K at Big Tens, Weather Postpones Some Events Until Saturday

The Gopher's Micah Hegerle won the men's hammer throw and Laura Docherty was second in the 10K at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday. Hegerle, a senior, won his second career Big Ten title with a throw of 65.34 meters (214'4") . His win marked the fourth consecutive year a Minnesota athlete has won the event. 

Docherty, a junior, ran 34:13.21  to finish behind Wisconsin’s Caitlin Comfort (33:22.34), while redshirt freshman Liz Berkholtz (35:11.12) was seventh. Andrew Larson was 13th in the men's 10K in 30:19.11.  The three Gopher women's hammer throwers finished eighth(Jeri Johnson-Chambers, 56.51m/185'4"), 11th(Devin Stanford, 55.27m/181'4")and 14th(Lyndsey Thorpe, 53.49m/175'6").

Despite rainy weather that ultimately suspended competition following the hammer throw, the Gopher men finished first and second at the Big Ten championships for the second year in a row with Quentin Mege competing with a broken hand was runner-up at 62.54 meters (205-02 ft.).

“This is a terrific performance for Micah, individually, and for our throwers as a whole,” Minnesota assistant coach Lynden Reder said. “We had less than ideal conditions with the weather, but our guys pushed each other to be successful like they have all season long.”  Minnesota's Jon Lehman was seventh(61.40 meters/201'5 ") and Justin Barber 11th(58.42 meters/191'8").

A junior, Docherty, finished second in the 10,000 meters on a rainy Friday night at the Big Ten Championships. “I’m happy for Laura, and pleased with Liz’s first 10K,” Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Matt Bingle said. “It was raining the whole time and they did a great job working through difficult conditions. Jeri did a good job fighting for eighth place.” 

Alex Beckman (3,148 points) and Amanda Beckman (2,898 points) sit in seventh and 10th, respectively, through four heptathlon events. Alex set three PRs, highlighted by a shot put of 38'4.25" (11.69m) to finish third. Amanda also set two PRs on the day despite weather delays.

The women’s pole vault, originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed until Saturday afternoon. Weather permitting, the competiton will resume Saturday starting with the heptathlon long jump.The Gopher men lead the team race with 20 points.  The Minnesota women have 11 points in third place. Wisconsin leads with 18. Results are HERE. Story on the women's 10K is HERE.