Tori Neubauer Invitational Saturday, Oct. 16 — West Salem, Wis.
Golden Gopher Watch List — Oct. 14, 2010 • Minnesota Competes in Pre-NCAA Meet - The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Terre Haute, Ind., and the course that will host the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Oct. 16, to compete in the Pre-NCAA Meet. The Gophers will compete in the White Race for both the women and men. The Gopher women’s team races at 10:35 a.m. (CT), while the men race at 11:50 a.m. (CT). • Watch the Races Live - FloTrack.org will provide live coverage of the Pre-NCAA Meet including a video stream of each race and pre- and post-race interviews. • Gophers Among Large Nationally Ranked Field at Pre-NCAA Meet - The Minnesota men’s and women’s teams are ranked No. 25 and No. 26, respectively, in this week’s USTFCCCA national poll. In both the Pre-NCAA men’s and women’s fields, a total of 18 of the 30 nationally ranked teams are set to compete. • Minnesota Competes in Second Meet as Well - Both the Gopher men and women will compete squads at meets hosted by UW-LaCrosse on Saturday, the Jim Drews (men) and Tori Neubauer (women) Invitationals.
Gopher Women Run Against Nation’s Best The Minnesota women’s cross country team, currently ranked No. 26 in the nation,faces their biggest test of the season so far competing the Pre-NCAA Meet, on Saturday, Oct. 16, in Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s race schedule is split into three events all 6-kilometers in distance, the Blue Race, the White Race and the Open Race. Minnesota will compete in the White Race at 10:35 a.m. (CT), then have a number of individuals run in the Open Race at 12:30 p.m. (CT).
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. Both Races Loaded with Talent Like the men’s field, a total of 18 nationally ranked women’s teams are scheduled to compete in the Pre-NCAA Meet. The top two ranked teams in the country, No. 1 Villanova and No. 2 are not in the field. Third-ranked Florida State and No. 6 Arizona top the Blue Race field. The White Race has nine ranked teams in the field, including top-10 teams No. 5 Georgetown and No. 9 Colorado. Big Ten Gather in Big Numbers at Pre-NCAA The Gophers will be joined by eight other Big Ten Conference teams at the Pre-NCAA Meet. Joining Minnesota in the White Race is Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern and Wisconsin. Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State are entered in the Blue Race. The only Big Ten schools not competing in the Pre-NCAAs are Indiana and Penn State.
A Case of Extremes Last year, Minnesota featured four seniors in the top seven. In 2010, the Gophers will travel six runners who are freshmen. Expected to compete in the White Team Race are true freshman Ashlie Decker and redshirt freshman Missa Varpness.
The Golden Gopher Lineup A dozen (12) Golden Gophers will compete on race day at the Pre-NCAA Meet. Seven will compete as a team in the White Race, while five will run in the Open Race. Traveling to the meet are: Ashlie Decker (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) Laura Docherty (RFr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) Rachel Drake (RFr., White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake) Katie Dyson (Sr., Roseville, Minn./Roseville) 2009 - 10th, 22:35.4 - Open Katie Moraczewski (RFr., White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake) Cassy Opitz (RFr., Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) Stephanie Price (Jr., Mankato, Minn./Loyola) 2009 - 43rd, 21:32.3 Claire Rindo (So., Berlin, Wis./Berlin) 2009 - 7th, 22:27.6 - Open Nikki Swenson (Sr., Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) 2007 - 4th, 21:29.9 - Open 2008 - 7th, 21:42.6 - Open 2009 - 58th, 21:42.2 Missa Varpness (RFr., Montevideo, Minn./Montevideo) Kayla Wagner (So., Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville) 2009 - 57th, 21:41.7 Kelly Wilson (Sr., Ortonville, Mich./Brandon) 2009 - 13th, 22:44.7 - Open
Track and Field Videos on Flotrack
Stephanie Price a Two-Time Big Ten Runner of the Week Minnesota junior Stephanie Price has been recognized as the Big Ten Runner of the Week twice in 2010. Her first career honor came after she won medalist honors at the Oz Memorial. She added her second Conference weekly honor with a runner-up finish at the Griak Invitational. Price Second in Griak, Gophers Seventh as a Team Golden Gopher junior Stephanie Price finished second in the Griak Jack Johnson Women’s Gold Race, pacing Minnesota to a seventh-place finish in an extremely deep and talented Division I field. Price ran a career-best time of 20 minutes, 40.75 seconds, the 19th-best time in Gopher history, over the 6-kilometer Les Bolstad Course in Falcon Heights, Minn. Price was the only Gopher to finish in the top 25 as Minnesota scored 185 team points. Arizona won the race with 76 points, topping the 29-team field which included nine teams that competed in the 2009 NCAA Championships. Redshirt freshman Missa Varpness was the second finisher for the Gophers, finishing 28th overall in her first career Griak and clocking a time of 21:46.40, also a career best. True freshman Ashlie Decker, who ran to Griak runner-up honors twice in high school, was 39th in a time of 21:56.90. Golden Gopher Coaching Staff Gary Wilson, the dean of the Big Ten women’s cross country coaches, is in his 26th season heading the Minnesota program. He is assisted by volunteer assistant head coach, Sarah Hesser, who is in her sixth season on the coaching staff after competing for the Golden Gophers.
