With the top track and field athletes resting up for the Big Ten Indoor Championships, the Gophers still came away with seven titles on the men’s side and six on the women’s side at home over the weekend.
The men’s squad competed Friday at the Snowshoe Open, and Jon Lehman broke his program record in the weight throw with a toss of 22.98 meters.
As a senior competing in his last indoor home meet, Lehman had plenty of support from his teammates and fans in attendance.
“I was on the runway when he threw, and I just heard the crowd erupt,” pole vaulter Zach Siegmeier said. “I talked to him a little bit about it, and he said he finally felt really good about it.”
Siegmeier felt pretty good about his performance, too. He shattered a personal record, posting a career-best 5.45-meter vault to take home first place.
Siegmeier said the personal record was arguably more important than winning the meet because it reaffirms that he is peaking at the right time.
“This is exactly where we want to be hitting our best, so I feel good about that,” Siegmeier said.
That was evident watching him clear the bar.
“There was a lot of screaming … on my part after I made that bar,” he said. “I knew I had to jump higher to get into a national [meet].”
The women’s team was also led by strong field event performances at the Parents Day Invite on Saturday.
“Most of our field event kids competed, and most of our runners were resting,” women’s head coach Matt Bingle said. “A lot of them worked out on Friday and then rested Saturday [and] Sunday.”
Bingle said field event athletes competed to keep momentum going into one of the season’s biggest meets.
They stole the show.
Cami Gilson and Katie Murgic tied for second place in the pole vault with 3.96-meter vaults.
“Cami Gilson and Katie Murgic did a good job,” Bingle said. “Those girls and the throwers kind of led the way.”
Becci Osterdyk finished first in the shot put at 14.82 meters. Lyndsey Thorpe, who finished second in the shot put, took home first in the weight throw at 17.40 meters.
Stacey Swatek won the 1,000-meter run at 2:57.09. She accounted for one of the three titles Minnesota earned on the track.
It was the redshirt sophomore’s second time running in the 1,000-meter run, and she greatly improved from her previous time.
“It was different because I wasn’t racing the same girls on our team,” Swatek said, “and I was in different events than normal.”
