GOPHERS HOST ROY GRIAK INVITE!

On Saturday September 26th the University of Minnesota will host the 24th Annual Roy Griak Invitational! The meet begins at 9:00am with the DIII Maroon Women's Race and will continue throughout the day! In total there will be 11 races, including the NEW Goldies Kids fun run at 1:25!

The Gopher Men take to the course at 12:05 and look to win their first Roy Griak Invitational. The women will follow at 12:55 and look to make it 3 in a row for the team title!

Come and join the action and watch over 4,000 runners compete at all levels. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students.

MEGAN DUWELL BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE WEEK!

Congratulations to senior co-captain and 2008 cross country All-American Megan Duwell who was names Big Ten Runner of the week for her win at the Oz Memorial! AWESOME job Megs :)

TCF BANK STADIUM!

After running the Oz on Friday night, many of us got the wonderful opportunity to attend the first football game at TCF Bank Stadium! It was an AMAZING day for Gopher Athletics as fans came in droves to spend all day on campus tailgating, hanging out with friends, walking around campus and soaking in the Gopher spirit! We had a blast at the sell out game where the Gophers won 20-13!

Enjoy a few clips from the stadium during game time!

2009 OZ Memorial!

What a fun weekend for Gopher Athletics! We started off the weekend in style at the 10th Annual Oz Memorial Invitational on Friday September 11th. The Gopher Women won the meet with a near perfect 17 points! 5 of the gopher's top 6 performers were over 20 seconds faster than they were last year at this time with top honors going to Soph. Stephanie Price who was 62 seconds faster than her freshman Oz effort!

Here are the Gopher Individual Results:

Results - Women
1 Duwell, Megan Minnesota 21:13.24
2 Yetzer, Elizabeth Minnesota 22:06.38
3 Cheever, Jamie Minnesota 22:10.27
5 Swenson, Nikki Minnesota 22:18.49
6 Laskowske, Amy Minnesota 22:21.47
7 Price, Stephanie Unattached, 22:27.29
8 Wagner, Kayla Minnesota 22:40.38
10 Dorniden, Heather Minnesota 23:01.18
11 Van Ness, Mallory Minnesota 23:06.41
12 Wilson, Kelly Minnesota 23:11.94
13 Mason, Meghan Unattached, 23:13.54
14 Rindo, Claire Minnesota 23:23.84
15 Dyson, Katie Unattached, 23:27.28
17 Drake, Rachel Unattached, 23:34.54
18 Moraczewski, Katie Unattached, 23:42.37
20 Talajkowski, Annie Unattached, 23:56.95
23 Edmonds, Jaclyn Unattached, 24:05.34
24 Dittmar, Jamie Minnesota 24:08.46
27 Orcutt, Paige Unattached, 24:21.49
28 Docherty, Laura Unattached, 24:23.80
30 Koch, Laura Minnesota 24:34.53
33 Miller, Emma Minnesota 24:40.54
34 Light, Taylor Unattached, 24:47.07
35 Ritter, Kathryn Minnesota 24:49.56
36 Smith, Megan Minnesota 24:55.43
38 Meagher, Amanda Unattached, 24:57.39
44 Budd, Kelli Unattached, 25:11.52
45 Volz, Michelle Unattached, 25:15.08
50 Lewein, Jenna Minnesota 25:29.35
51 Gusmer, Becca Minnesota 25:31.48
54 Larson, Mikaya Minnesota 25:35.33
56 Helmers, Tari Minnesota 25:39.17
58 Brunn, Heather Minnesota 25:45.92
63 Cederstrom, Kendall Minnesota 26:12.68
64 Fowler, Emily Unattached, 26:14.28
65 Hemmerich, Celia Minnesota 26:21.12
68 LeBreck, Danielle Unattached, 26:37.55
74 Muscala, Marie Unattached, 27:27.85

Reults from the Intrasquad!

This past weekend we ran the Intrasquad on our home course. We split our team into three teams and have a 5k time trial! It is a fun race to see where people are coming out of summer training and they have fun competing against one another for some exciting prizes! Coach Hesser's maroon team won the meet and we had some GREAT early season performances!

Minnesota Maroon 3-4-5-8-14-(15)-(22) 34
Minnesota Gold 1-7-10-12-13-(17)-(19) 43
Minnesota Black 2-6-9-11-16-(18)-(20) 45

1. Megan Duwell (Gold) 17:41.63
2. Jamie Cheever (Black) 18:33.22
3. Heather Dorniden (Maroon) 18:41.35
4. Amy Laskowske (Maroon) 18:42.91
5. Stephanie Price (Maroon) 18:46.66
6. Elizabeth Yetzer (Black) 18:48.83
7. Mallory Van Ness (Gold) 18:52.78
8. Nikki Swenson (Maroon) 18:53.88
9. Kayla Wagner (Black) 18:54.37
10. Kelly Wilson (Gold) 19:09.83
11. Katie Dyson (Black) 19:27.36
12. Claire Rindo (Gold) 19:40.74
13. Rachel Drake (Gold) 20:00.30
14. Jamie Dittmar (Maroon) 20:05.82
15. Katie Moraczewski (Maroon) 20:09.27
16. Jaci Edmonds (Black) 20:10.98
17. Taylor Light (Gold) 20:12.70
18. Emma Miller (Black) 20:17.43
19. Kelli Budd (Gold) 20:40.12
20. Megan Smith (Black) 20:41.21
21. Annie Talajkowski (Black) 20:41.69
22. Paige Orcutt (Maroon) 20:44.14
23. Michelle Volz (Gold) 20:45.31
24. Kathryn Ritter (Maroon) 20:53.08
25. Laura Docherty (Black) 20:59.51
26. Jenna Lewein (Maroon) 21:02.98
27. Laura Koch (Black) 21:06.43
28. Becca Gusmer (Gold) 21:12.53
29. Amanda Meagher (Black) 21:18.17
30. Heather Brunn (Maroon) 21:20.61
31. Mikaya Larson (Black) 21:31.18
32. Danielle LeBreck (Gold) 21:31.44
33. Tari Helmers (Gold) 21:48.51
34. Kendall Cederstrom (Maroon) 21:52.20
35. Celia Hemmerich (Black) 22:10.74
36. Emily Fowler (Gold) 22:27.18
37. Marie Muscala (Gold) 23:34.04

Videos on Gophersports!

Hey guys! Our Sports Information Director just edited a lot of video footage from Ely and has posted it on the Women's Cross Country page of Gopher Sports. Click the following link and then look for the video camera icons to watch the videos!!

www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=3297&DB_OEM_ID=8400

ENJOY :)

Back from the North Woods!

Hey everyone!

We just returned from a WONDERFUL training trip in Ely, MN! The team really came together and bonded over the week and we came back with a great mix of new enthusiasm and senior leadership. The team has big goals for another awesome season on and off the course. Enjoy a few video clips from the week that will give you an idea of the team, coaches and captains "in their element".






Ely, the upperclassmen, coaches and team according to the freshmen:

On their freshmen classmates:
"I LOVE THEM!! I really feel like we all get along great. Nobody seems to compare themselves to anyone and everyone seems so comfortable being themselves. I really think we are going to grow stronger together through our four years."
-Laura Docherty, St. Paul, MN

"I LOVE THEM! It is so nice to finally have other people who have the same goals, hopes and habits as me."
-Missa Varpness, Montevideo, MN

"It's freaky how everyone is so similar but so unique. We instantly clicked and I couldn't have asked for better teammates to share these next four years with."
-Michelle Volz, Lakeville, MN


On the overall Ely experience:
"We do so much more than run here! I thought it would be a lot more running and training, but it's very balanced. It's so much fun here!!"
-Kayla Wagner, Baldwin, WI

"The food was soooooo good! I was not expecting delicious food!"
-Rachel Drake, White Bear Lake, MN

"I really didn't know what to expect but I thought everyone would be so competitive and it turned out that everyone works hard together and is so supportive and they really want you to succeed!"
-Michelle Volz, Lakeville, MN

On the upperclassmen:
"They were all very welcoming and made camp a great experience. I learned that even though the seem so experienced now, they were once in the same boat as us. Also, they put XC into perspective with the rest of life-IT'S FUN!"
-Kelli Budd, Omaha, NE

"They are real people and not too good to talk to you!"
-Rachel Drake, White Bear Lake, MN

"They are all incredibly nice and extremely willing to help out!"
-Annie Talajkowski, White Fish Bay, WI

On the coaches:
"I think both of them are great coaches and I really trust both of them! Both are very nice and easy to talk to. I'm really looking forward to having them as my coaches for the next four years."
-Maggie Bollig, Middleton, WI

"Coach Wilson and Coach Hesser are such loving and caring people who genuinely care about all of us. They are super great people as well as great coaches :)"
-Kayla Wagner, Baldwin, WI

"Very uplifting and positive. Unlike some other coaches, they understand that we are just freshmen and have a lot of things to work on before we can jump to the next step!"
-Kelli Budd, Omaha, NE

"They are the most perfect coaches in the world. I feel like Wilson knows what I am thinking more than I do, and they truly care about each athlete as an individual. I can't imagine running for anyone else!"
-Michelle Volz, Lakeville, MN


Thanks for checking in on the University of Minnesota Women's Cross Country team! Check back in on Monday for news and results from this weekends Intrasquad meet :)