Golden Gopher Cross Country This Week:

Women
Jack’s Run
Saturday, Oct. 20 10 a.m.
Les Bolstad Golf Course
Falcon Heights, Minn.

Golden Gopher Watch List Oct. 20, 2007
Minnesota Women Host Jack’s Run- The Minnesota women’s cross country team will host the Jack’s Run on Saturday Oct. 20, at Les Bolstad Golf Course at 10 a.m. The 5-kilometer race is open to the public. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Jack Johnson Endowed Scholarship and the Angel Foundation. The run honors the late Jack Johnson, a longtime Gopher equipment manager who passed away in February of 2006 after a battle with cancer.
Gopher Men Idle This Week - The Golden Gopher men’s cross country team is idle this weekend as they prepare for the upcoming Big Ten Championships, Oct. 28, at Ohio State.
Rombough Breaks 23-Year Old School Record - Junior Chris Rombough bettered a Minnesota record that had stood for 23 years when he posted a time of 23:39.7 at the Pre-NCAA Meet.
Cheever Jumps Up the Charts as Well - Sophomore Jamie Cheever made her move up the Minnesota all-time list as well, clocking a time of 20:44.5 at the Pre-NCAA Meet for the fourth-best performance in Gopher history. On a fast course, all seven Gopher runners ran sub-21-minute times as Minnesota placed fourth overall.

Gopher Women Host Annual Jack’s Run
The Minnesota women’s cross country team will play host to an event - Jack’s Run - that pays tribute to the late Jack Johnson, the Gophers’ longtime equipment manager who passed away in February of 2006 after a battle with cancer. Jack’s Run is an annual event with the proceeds benefiting the Jack Johnson Endowed Scholarship and the Angel Foundation. This year’s Jack’s Run is Saturday, Oct. 20, at 10 a.m. at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.

The 5-kilometer race is open to the public. While there is not an entry fee, donations will be accepted at the course. A Jack’s Run stocking cap will be given for donations of $20 or more.

To register, visit the cross country section on www.raceberryjam.com. Runners may also register at the course on Saturday morning.

Top Gophers Take Weekend Off
The Gophers will rest their top runners as the Big Ten Championships approach on Oct. 28 at Ohio State.

Golden Gophers Ranked No. 8
After spending two weeks at No. 4 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I poll. the highest ranking in school history, Minnesota slipped to No. 8 this week.

Minnesota Place Fourth in Pre-NCAA Blue Race
The Golden Gophers placed fourth in the Pre-NCAA Meet, Saturday, in Terre Haute, Ind. The meet was contested on the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course, the site of the NCAA Championships in November.

The Golden Gophers tallied 192 team points, to finish behind No. 1 Stanford (102), No. 11 Florida State (123), and No. 9 Michigan State (178).

Sophomore Jamie Cheever covered a fast 6-kilometer course in a personal-best time of 20 minutes, 44.5 seconds to pace the Gophers with a 15th-place finish. Cheever’s time moves her to fourth on the all-time list with her time marking the eighth-fastest time in Gopher history.

Elizabeth Yetzer ran a nice race to finish as Minnesota’s number-two runner. Yetzer clocked her career-best time of 20:52.1 to place 24th. Gabriele Anderson crossed the finish line in 27th in 20:54.2, while Ladia Albertson-Junkans was 34th in 20:59.7.

The Gophers’ fifth, sixth and seventh finishers fell back after a slow start, costing Minnesota a better team showing. Megan Duwell concluded the Minnesota scoring in 92nd place as the Gophers’ number-five finisher running a time of 21:38.0, edging Heather Dorniden, who was 94th in 21:39.0. Sally Paulson was 120th in 21:58.3.

“Elizabeth Yetzer ran very well for us, but overall it was just an okay performance for us,” said Golden Gopher head coach Gary Wilson. “Unfortunately, with this kind of a field, okay isn’t good enough. But, we’d much rather have this kind of performance at this time of the year.

“Megan, Heather and Sally lost a bit of focus early, between the 1K (kilometer) and the 2K, and lost too much ground,” Wilson added. “They couldn’t make it up with this large and talented field. We learned from it though. That should benefit us later on.”

Florida State’s Susan Kuijken won the individual title with a time of 19:55.5. Leading Stanford to the team title was runner-up Teresa McWalters (20:00.1) and third-place finisher Arianna Lambie (20:01.1). Griak champion, Emily Harrison of Virginia, was fourth in 20:04.8. No. 8 Princeton was an upset winner of the Pre-NCAA White Race gathering 149 points.

Wilson also saluted the performance of freshman Nikki Swenson, who placed fourth in the open race. Swenson clocked a time of 21:29.9. Mallory Van Ness finished 14th in 21:54.7, while Amy Laskowske was 26th in 22:10.9.

Gophers’ Second Squad Wins Tori Neubauer Invitational
With a roster numbering nearly 50, the Gophers took the opportunity to split their squad and compete at a second location on Oct. 13. The second group of Golden Gophers captured the team title in the Tori Neubauer Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin-LaCrosse in West Salem, Wis. Minnesota tallied a team total of 120 points.

Senior Katie Howery led the charge with an 11th-place finish, covering the 6-kilometer in a time of 22:38.80. Freshman Laura Koch added a top-10 showing, finishing 17th in 22:56.56. Completing the scoring the Gophers was Claire Bootsma in 23rd in 23:05.76, Abbey O’Connell in 33rd in 23:18.18 and Jaclyn Edmonds in 36th in 23:22.93.

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.