Gopher Track and Field 2022-23

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Shelby Frank of the Gophers won the weight throw on Friday in the Leonard Hilton Invitational in Houston. Her throw was 72 feet, 5¼ inches or 22.08 meters.




Gophers (women) Bring Home 11 Victories from Houston​

After picking up a USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honor in December, and a Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week, Shelby Frank picked up right where she left off in the weight throw. Frank, who leads the nation in the event as of Jan. 12, won the event with a mark of 22.08m (72-5 1/4), marking the second time she has gone beyond 22-meters in the event. Frank is the only athlete in the country that has gone beyond 22-meters twice.

The Gophers saw two top-10 program performances go down in Houston with Alliyah McNeil being the first with a high jump mark of 1.75m (5-8 3/4). McNeil, who is a first year Gopher, shared the event victory with teammate Nyalaam Jok.

Minnesota's second top 10 performance was Dyandra Gray in the 60m hurdles. Gray, who joined the Gophers after two seasons at Iowa Western CC, reached the final in a time of 8.68 and dropped that time to 8.58 in the final which is the No. 7 time in program history. The top 10 time from Gray now gives three current Minnesota student-athletes that are currently in the all-time top 10 in the 60m hurdles with Gray joining Maja Maunsbach and Zariyah Black. Gray was the event's runner-up in Houston with Maunsbach (8.64) finishing third.

Amira Young was a winner in two events for the Maroon and Gold, the first coming in the 60m and the second in the 400m. Young's 7.34 is just 0.01 behind her season-best time that she posted back in December. Her 200m time was the first of the season for the senior, with her 24.27 claiming the title in H-Town.

A pair of Gophers not only picked up wins, but also lifetime bests in their events. Erin Reidy won the mile in 4:50.92 and Emma Atkinson won the 3000m, clocking a 9:46.64. Minnesota dominated the middle-distance events with Libby Halbmaier picking up the victory in the 800m in 2:18.68 as well.

Minnesota's last two individual victories came in the form of Lexy Berger in the pole vault (3.85m | 12-7 1/2) and Abigail Schaaffe in the 400m (55.57). For Schaaffe, the 55.57 is an early season top 10 time nationally in the event as of Jan. 12.

Lastly the Gophers 4x400m relay team of Jayla Campbell, Janielle Josephs, Gray and Dalayni Etienne won the 4x400m relay in a time of 3:42.08, besting Houston's team by over 11 seconds.

Up Next
The Gophers next test is the Cyclone Open on Jan. 21, in Ames, Iowa. The team returns home on Jan. 27-28 at the Jack Johnson Classic to end the month of January.

For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.


 

Just last month Shelby Frank was honored by the USTFCCCA as the National Division I Athlete of the Week.


NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Shelby Frank, Minnesota​

Sophomore | Throws
Grand Forks, North Dakota


One meet; one PR.

Shelby Frank is off to a great start.

Frank, competing at the Ice Breaker Open & Multi, launched the weight 22.21m (72-10½) to destroy her old PR by nearly three feet. She also won the event title by more than 12 feet.

If Frank continues her rise through the ranks indoors, she might be able to pair an All-America honor she earned in the discus this past outdoor season with a similar version in the weight.

This is the second time in the past three years that a female athlete from Minnesota has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Frank joins Bethany Hasz, who brought national honors back to the Twin Cities on January 12, 2021.


 
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The #Gophers have SWEPT the women's indoor Big Ten weekly honors!

Shelby Frank and Amira Young both won Big Ten Athlete of the Week!

 

The #Gophers have SWEPT the women's indoor Big Ten weekly honors!

Shelby Frank and Amira Young both won Big Ten Athlete of the Week!


Amira Young has earned that honor multiple times and other distinguished honors including First Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten.

Biography:



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I was looking online at the official results for the meet this last weekend and also results over the past year. It seems like Minnesota is very strong in some places with several All-Americans. Schools like Stanford are at the top for track and field while the Gophers I assume is more like a top-40 team. Great performances, All-Americans, just not one of the very best. A school of excellence regionally.

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MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota track and field program stood out at the Meyo Invite with six different event victories and five program top 10 marks and times. Additionally the Gophers had a few outstanding performances at the Gopher Classic back in the Twin Cities.

In Notre Dame, the Maroon and Gold got a NCAA top-10 performance from Amira Young in the 60m final, posting a lifetime best 7.24 to capture the victory. Young's time improves her Big Ten leading time and also propelled her into a tie for 10th in the NCAA. Just behind her was Akilah Lewis, who also dropped a lifetime best 7.27 and is now tied for 14th in the event and is still No. 2 in the Big Ten.

Minnesota's triple jumpers had the team's first split victory with Diarra Sow and Tiera Robinson-Jones both leaping 12.83m (42-1 1/4). For both the 12.83m goes down as indoor collegiate bests and puts them both at No. 4 in the indoor top 10 list in program history. The mark also ties the two for 28th in the nation and No. 4 in the Big Ten this season.

The fifth program top 10 mark on Saturday was the Gophers winning 4x400m relay team. The squad of Jayla Campbell, Janielle Josephs, Dyandra Gray and Abigail Schaaffe clocked a 3:37.23 to edge Iowa, Notre Dame and Purdue who finished second, third and fourth. The time is the seventh fastest time in school history and is the third-fastest in the Big Ten so far this season.

Minnesota's Shelby Frank was the meet's top weight throw among the collegiate competitors with a mark of 22.82m (74-10 1/2). The Grand Forks, N.D., native has not lost to another college athlete this season, with the Meyo Invite being the fifth-straight meet she's topped the college competition.

Additional victories at the Meyo Invite for the Maroon and Gold included Amira Young in the 200m (23.79) and Alliyah McNeil in the long jump (5.94m | 19-6).

Back in the Twin Cities the Gophers had a number of unattached student-athletes competing on both the men's and women's side. On the men's side Jak Urlacher stole the show with a lifetime best performance in the pole vault, clearing 5.41m (17-9) to win the event by nearly a meter. First year Gopher Michael Buchanan added a win in the 60m hurdles, posting a time of 7.90 to edge teammate Finn Schrimer's 8.18.

In total the Gophers won 15 events at the Gopher Classic with the following being some of the most notable performances: Carlon Hosten (60m, 6.84/6.88), Devin Augustine (200m, 22.52), Ramy Ayoub (400m, 49.95), Zoie Dundon (600m, 1:36.37), John Quigley (Mile, 4:13.06), Jake Kubiatowicz (Weight Throw, 21.31m | 69-11) and Annie Nabwe (Weight Throw, 17.66m | 57-11 1/4).

Up Next
Minnesota will compete once again at the Windy City Invite in Chicago, Ill., from Feb. 10-11. The meet will be contested at Gately Stadium and will include teams such as Stanford, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, UCLA, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State and more.

For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
 

Amira Young has again been named the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week!


"Last weekend at the Meyo Invitational the Chicago, Ill.,native won both the 60m and the 200m clocking a Big Ten-best 7.24 in the 60m. Her 60m time was a lifetime best time and improved on her NO. 2 time in program history and was just 0.02 off the school record set back in 2002. Young's No. 1 Big Ten 60m time is tied for the 12th fastest time in the NCAA this season. Her 200m victory came in a time of 23.79, just 0.07 off of her season-best time which is currently ranked No. 6 in the Big Ten this season. Young is the leader of the Gophers' 60m group that is ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten on the USTFCCCA 60m 'Event Squad' Rankings and is No. 5 in the nation as of Feb. 6." See more at:

 



Wow! Amira Young set a Big 10 Conference 60m record 7.19 at the Windy City Invite in Chicago!








 

These women are rockin' Chicago! Tiera Robinson-Jones wins by nearly a foot!

 

Wow! Amira Young set a Big 10 Conference 60m record 7.19 at the Windy City Invite in Chicago!




In the same race, Akilah Lewis broke the previous school record! Terrific performance! Young just happened to break that record a little more in the same race. Standout performances!

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And Amira Young does it again!

She sets a new Big Ten record for 200m!

Incredible athletic performance!

 



I am just starting to follow this sport more and know the athletes a little better.

Impressive world-class athletes!


 





"Minnesota's track and field program wraps up the indoor regular season on Friday with the Snowshoe Open hosted at the U of MN Field House. The meet begins at 2 p.m. in the field with running events on the track starting at 3 p.m."


 

Shelby Frank yesterday threw the #4 mark in the NCAA this season.

 

See more at the Minnesota Cross Country, Track & Field website.

 

See more at the Minnesota Cross Country, Track & Field website.


 


Thanks for posting on the news on track and field. Still seems really strange to me that we have a men's outdoor track program, but we canceled the men's indoor program. Don't you really need both to have a successful team?
 





Thanks for posting on the news on track and field. Still seems really strange to me that we have a men's outdoor track program, but we canceled the men's indoor program. Don't you really need both to have a successful team?

I think your comment makes some sense. The axe seemed to cut it down the middle.


"Athletic director Mark Coyle announced Sept. 10 that the department would drop the sports for budgetary reasons, and to address Title IX compliance concerns. That budget deficit was projected Friday to be between $45 to $65 million.

Cutting all four programs would have saved $2.7 million per year, but Coyle said retaining outdoor track will reduce that amount to $1.6 million.

Coyle said eliminating the three men’s programs would impact 34 male athletes. He anticipated the university also will have 31 fewer female athletes next season. Coyle wants the student-athlete population to reflect the student body, which was 54% female and 46% male during the last academic year."





Minnesota is not the only school to impose cuts to sports. University of North Dakota six years ago axed swimming & diving and women's hockey. The women's hockey team cut was slightly surprising since North Dakota is a hockey state with strong youth hockey.


This is what remains for sports at NDSU:

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The University of Minnesota has these sports. This is fair debate for U of M students, alumni, and community:

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I will add that Football is unique in that it generates a profit and will soon generate a large profit from the Big Ten media rights deal. That's a multi-million dollar enterprise.

So it's a fair debate about the sports programs. Especially when one of the programs seems to be half-axed.

I will add that, in the Gymnastics thread, I said I wasn't sympathetic to the loss of the men's gymnastic program. I posted an article that showed the sport nationally has sharply contracted since the peak in the late 1960s. That's just my one opinion.

I think the next conversation then has lots of voices for several different sports including the emerging lacrosse. That is a fair debate too. And this one about a half-axed track program.
 
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Frank earned the silver medal in her indoor championships debut in New Mexico.

University of Minnesota junior Shelby Frank earned an NCAA indoor runner-up finish in the women's weight throw on Friday night in Albuquerque, N.M. in her debut at the NCAA Indoor Championships.


On the track the Maroon and Gold saw their two qualifiers in the 60m finish with Second Team All-America honors. Amira Young was the top finisher for Minnesota in 11th place in a time of 7.21 while Akilah Lewis' 7.26 was good enough for 14th. Young's 11th-place finish is a career best in the event, besting her 13th-place finish in 2021.


Results by Individual

Shelby Frank, women's weight throw, 2nd Place, First Team All-American, 23.42m (76-10), 8 team points

Akilah Lewis, women's 60m, 14th Place, Second Team All-American, 7.26

Amira Young, women's 60m, 11th Place, Second Team All-American, 7.21




 




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