Golden Gopher Cross Country This Week:

Women
Pre-NCAA Meet
Saturday, Oct. 13 Terre Haute, Ind.

Tori Neubauer Invitational
Saturday, Oct. 13 West Salem, Wis.

Golden Gopher Watch List Oct. 13, 2007
Minnesota Travels to Pre-NCAA Meet- The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete in Saturday’s (Oct. 13) Pre-NCAA Meet. Both the Gopher squads will be running in the White Race, with the men starting at 10:40 a.m. followed by the women at 11:20 a.m.
Gophers to Send Athletes to Drews/Neubauer as Well - The Golden Gophers will also send athletes to compete on Saturday in a pair of meets hosted by Wisconsin-LaCrosse - the Jim Drews Invitational for the men and the Tori Neubauer Invitational for the women.
Gopher Women Spend Second Week at No. 4 - The Minnesota women jumped up to a school-record No. 4 national ranking on Oct. 4 and maintained its lofty national ranking this week.
Gopher Men Ranked No. 24 - The Gopher men are ranked No. 24 in this week’s USTFCCCA National Poll. Minnesota is one of three Big Ten teams in the poll this week.
Women Win Griak, Rombough and Mead Star For the Men - The Minnesota women captured their third Griak Invitational team title with 97 points. Chris Rombough and Hassan Mead led the men to a fourth-place finish with individual placing of third and sixth, respectively, in the individual race.

Gopher Women Prepare For a Huge Challenge
The Minnesota women’s cross country team will have its first chance to stand up to its best-ever No. 4 national ranking as the Golden Gophers travel to Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday (Oct. 13) to compete in the Pre-NCAA Meet. The meet, hosted by Indiana State, is contested on the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course, the site of the NCAA Championships in November.

Minnesota Also to Compete at Neubauer Invite
The Gophers will send a second squad of competitors to West Salem, Wis., to compete in the Tori Neubauer Invitational on Saturday.

Minnesota Paired With Top-Ranked Stanford
The Golden Gophers will face No. 1 Stanford in the White Race, which also includes top-10 teams No. 7 Rice and No. 9 Michigan State. Overall the White Race field includes 12 nationally ranked teams. The Blue Race features 11 ranked teams led by No. 2 Colorado, No. 6 Arizona State, No. 8 Princeton and No. 10 Illinois.

Seven Big Ten Teams to Run at Pre-NCAA Meet
The Gophers will be joined by six other Big Ten Conference teams. Joining Minnesota in the White Race are Indiana, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Competing the Blue Race is Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Purdue.

Golden Gophers Enjoy Highest Rank in Their History
Minnesota jumped up four spots to a best-ever No. 4 national ranking in last week’s poll in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I poll. and remained at that spot this week The Golden Gophers sprinted up the polls on the merit of their Roy Griak Invitational victory, on Sept. 29.

Previously, the highest national ranking in program history was No. 6 during the 2006 season. The Gophers went on to finish 11th at the NCAA Championships.
Six Big Ten to Run at Pre-NCAA Meet

Golden Gophers Capture Roy Griak Invitational Title
The then-ranked No. 8 Minnesota women’s cross country team packed its five scoring runners into the top 30 to score 97 points and capture the team title in the Roy Griak Invitational Women’s Gold Race on Sept. 29, at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn. The Golden Gophers added the 2007 crown to victories in 1988 and 2000.

“Our team just ran tenaciously today from the start through the finish,” said Golden Gopher head coach Gary Wilson. “It’s a great win for us. It’s not how you start a race but how you finish and we have a great group of closers.”

Sophomore Jamie Cheever was the top Gopher finisher, placing eighth in a time of 21 minutes, 35.2 seconds. Cheever and teammate Gabriele Anderson ran together throughout the race, working as a solid 1-2 punch. Anderson finished 10th in a time of 21:37.0.

“The conditions were tough but it was actually fun to run in the rain,” said Cheever. “It was a good race. Gabe and I worked together well near the front of the pack.”

Completing the scoring for the Gophers was sophomore Elizabeth Yetzer in 21st place with a time of 21:59.8, Ladia Albertson-Junkans in 29th in 22:07.2 and Heather Dorniden in 30th in 22:08.1.

Virginia junior Emily Harrison ran to medalist honors with a time of 20:51.4, over 17 faster than her nearest competitor. Two Iowa State Cyclones finished second and third with Lisa Koll at 21:09.0 and Grace Kemmey at 21:17.5.

Arizona State, ranked No. 6 nationally, placed second in the team standings with 100 points, Michigan State was third with 109.

Home-Grown Talent Leads Gophers
All seven of Minnesota’s top finishers in the Griak Invitational were native Minnesotans, several within a 20-mile radius from the Twin Cities campus. Jamie Cheever (Minneapolis) led the charge, followed by Gabriele Anderson (Perham), Elizabeth Yetzer (Lakeville), Ladia Albertson-Junkans (Stillwater), Heather Dorniden (Inver Grove Heights), Sally Paulson Inver Grove Heights) and Mallory Van Ness (Shoreview).

Gophers, Cheever Kick Off 2007 With a Pair of Firsts
Not only did Minnesota kick off is 2007 campaign by winning its first two meets, but the Golden Gophers set school history by tallying perfect team scores of 15 points in back-to-back meets for the first time in school history. Individually, sophomore Jamie Cheever grabbed a piece of history herself by capturing medalist honors in back-to-back meets for the first time in Gopher history.

Golden Gopher Coaching Staff
Gary Wilson, the dean of the Big Ten women’s cross country coaches, is in his 23rd season heading the Minnesota program. He is assisted by volunteer assistant, Sarah Hesser, who is in her third season on the coaching staff after competing for the Golden Gophers.