Wisconsin Badgers
Minnesota
Wisconsin falls to border rival Minnesota in thrilling dual
January 24, 2015 | Women's Track & Field
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Jan. 24, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin fell short Saturday in its first dual meet with rival Minnesota since 1978, but it wasn't for a lack of effort on the parts of Kelsey Card, Molly Hanson and Deanna Latham.
The Golden Gophers left The Shell holding the trophy that went to the winner of the teams' rekindled rivalry series by scoring an 85-77 win over the 22nd-ranked Badgers in front of 1,491 fans. Wisconsin won 7 of 15 events on the day -- each of which came from the efforts of Card, Hanson and Latham.
"It's about pure competition. It's not about times or distances or heights," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "We have to teach our kids that. It's about beating your competitor. I think we achieved that.
"We had a great number of fans out here today. It was an exciting dual meet so we can walk away with our heads held high," Byrne added. "We look forward to going up next year to Minneapolis."
Latham won three events, sweeping the long jump and triple jump titles while also racing to a win in the 60 hurdles.
Card swept both throws events, claiming the top spot in the weight throw and breaking her own school record en route to winning the shot put.
Hanson was dominant on the track, pulling off an impressive double by winning the mile and the 800 meters.
She claimed the mile in a time of 4 minutes, 48.35 seconds, with teammate Gabi Anzalone following in third place in a personal-best 4:56.61 and Megan O'Neil taking sixth with a personal record run of 5:14.76. Â
Hanson returned to the track for the 800 and proceeded to run away with that race, as well. She clocked in at 2:11.46 to win, while teammate Emma Reifel took second in 2:13.12. Lauren Holtz finished out the event in sixth place with a time of 2:28.98.
"I'm really happy. It's very nerve-wracking the first time opening up... `How am I going to feel, how's my training been going?'" Hanson said. "But I was happy to be able to come back and win the 800 and feel good in it.
"I would say that it was a win today."
Card could say the same thing after she swept the throwing events with two personal-best marks. She threw 68 feet, 1/2 inch to top her own school record and win the weight throw, while Angela Boushea came in second with a heave of 65-9 3/4, also a personal best. Card followed her first performance with a throw of 56-2 1/2 in the shot put to complete the sweep, while Boushea threw 48-0 to take fourth.
Latham won the long jump with a mark of 19-6 1/4 and then returned to the same runway and leaped 38-11 to take the triple jump title. Teammate Georgia Ellenwood recorded a personal-best leap of 19-0 to finish second in the long jump, while Taylor Johnson's mark of 35-7 3/4 was good for fourth in the triple jump.
In the 60 meter hurdles, Latham won with a time of 8.56, while Ellenwood took sixth in 9.11 and Casie Pawlik took seventh in a personal-best 9.14.
To open the meet, Ellenwood tied her personal best clearance of 5-8 3/4 in the high jump to take second place overall. Latham and Johnson tied for fifth with a clearance of 5-4 1/4, a personal-best mark for Johnson.
Senior Courtney Walden tied her best mark in the pole vault with a clearance of 12-9 1/2 to take third place overall, while Taylor Amann cleared 12-5 1/2 to come in fourth. Jessie Vardas took fifth with a clearance of 12-5 1/2 as well, while Jane McCurry tied for sixth with a clearance of 11-5 3/4.
On the track, Anzalone followed up her third-place showing in the mile by taking second in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:50.92, while Jamie Shannon recorded a personal-best time of 9:56.08 to take fourth. Colette Richter finished out the event in sixth place with a time of 10:06.59.
Another two personal records came in the 600 meters, where Brenna Detra took second with a time of 1:33.85 and Grace Heglund-Lohman finished fifth in 1:38.92.
Ebony McClendon placed second in the 60 meters with a personal-best time of 7:51, while Casie Pawlik took fifth in a personal record time of 8.17.
In the end, Byrne was pleased with his Badgers.
"They bought into this concept," he said. "In a dual meet like this, there is a winning team and a losing team. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of it this year, but we look forward to next year.
"The women had a great meet today."
The Badgers compete next at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York next Friday through Sunday.
Players Mentioned
