Jorgensen wins Big Ten title in 3,000 meters
February 28, 2009 | Women's Track & Field
Her career has been relatively short, but Gwen Jorgensen continues to make the most of her time on the track.
The senior, in just her second indoor season, became a Big Ten Conference champion Saturday with a dramatic pass on the final lap of the 3,000 meters.
Jorgensen clocked a winning time of 9 minutes, 20.42 seconds to hold off Illinois ' Angela Bizzarri and give the Badgers their 17th indoor conference title in the event.
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In the process, she helped the Badgers finish the opening day of the Big Ten Indoor Championships in a tie for fifth place with the Illini, as both teams scored 23 points. Michigan and Minnesota, with 42 points each, sit in a tie atop the standings after 17 events.
The Badgers also benefitted from three scorers in the pentathlon, led by freshman Dorcas Akinniyi's third-place finish.
'We're pretty much right on target as far as our projections for the first day,' UW head coach Jim Stintzi said. 'We had some good things happen and had several of our athletes really step up.'
Chief among those was Jorgensen, who sat comfortably in fourth place for most of her race before moving into third at the 2-kilometer mark and into second with 500 meters left. After Bizzarri passed her for the second spot on the bell lap, and with the leaders battling through plenty of traffic, Jorgensen turned to her finishing kick with 100 meters to go.
She stormed past Bizzarri and Penn State's Bridget Franek around the outside and won the drag race down the home straight.
'The race went like I hoped it would and I'm just really happy to score some points for the team,' Jorgensen said. 'Dorcas was great in the pentathlon this morning and got us started off well, so I just wanted to keep that momentum going for the team.
'I think the race puts me in good position for running the 5,000 tomorrow, too. '
Jorgensen's crown is the fifth for UW in the 3,000 since 2000, and the first since Hilary Edmondson took the title in 2004.
'I was proud of the way Gwen ran her race and put herself in position to win down the stretch,' Stintzi said. 'The traffic had me concerned, but she proved her ability to finish races yet again.'
The title provided the final note of a day that saw Akinniyi set the tone for the Badgers with an outstanding performance in the pentathlon.
The freshman racked up a score of 3,998 points, the second-highest in UW history, to earn a spot on the podium in her first conference meet and improve her positioning for a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Fellow freshman Jessica Flax also improved her provisional NCAA qualifying mark with a personal-best score of 3,821 points to take sixth place, while junior Kayla McClendon took eighth with a career-high total of 3,567.
The performances added up to 10 team points for the Badgers.
The high jump was a catalyst for Akinniyi, who moved into a tie for sixth on the Badgers ' all-time list in the event by clearing the bar at 5 feet, 8 3/4 inches for a solid score of 916 points.
That bar matched the championship-winning mark for UW's Megan Seidl in the high jump at last year's Big Ten meet.
Before the big jump, Akinniyi opened the competition with a collegiate-best run of 9.05 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, while Flax ran a 8.74 to open up with 965 points and McClendon clocked in at 8.88 for 935 points.
Sophomore Egle Staisiunaite did not finish the race and dropped out of the competition.
With her high jump performance and a mark of 35-8 1/2 in the shot put, Akinniyi was just five points out of second place through three events with a total of 2,403 points.
Flax posted a personal-best throw of 38-2 3/4 in the shot put to add 638 points to her total, while McClendon had a career-best mark of 35-11 1/4 for 592 points.
Akinniyi came up big again in the long jump, leaping 19-4 1/4 to add another 819 points to her total heading into the final event. She then ran a personal-best time of 2:23.51 in the 800 meters to close things out and help solidify her spot in the NCAA championships.
Flax ran a career-best 2:20.46 in the 800, while McClendon clocked in at 2:32.49 to secure a team point for the Badgers with her eighth-place finish.
Akinniyi's score ranks behind only the 4,225 points Melissa Talbot scored in 2007.
Amy Dahlin just missed scoring for the Badgers in the pole vault, as she cleared a season-best 12 feet, 4 1/2 inches to take ninth place. In the shot put, Samantha Dehn finished 11th with a season-best throw of 43-5 3/4.
The Badgers scored a sixth-place finish in the day's other final, the distance medley relay, with the team of Maggie Collison, Alexis Beecham, Megan Beers and Sarah Hurley clocking in at 11:37.28.
Badgers qualify three for finals
Senior Nicole Slaby ran a personal-best time of 1:31.82 to win the final preliminary heat of the 600 meters and advance to Sunday's final with the No. 4 overall time. Freshman Jenna Severson also laid down a qualifying time, as she clocked in at a personal-best 1:32.10 that cut nearly 2 1/2 seconds off her previous best mark and ranked eighth-fastest in the prelims.
Despite not advancing out of the prelims, senior Caitlin Dodge also ran a personal-best time of 1:34.55 to cut more than 3 1/2 seconds off her previous best.
In the 800 meters, senior Carly Ducharme is into the final after running a time of 2:11.08 that had her seventh-fastest in the prelims. Beers did not advance out of the 800 prelims but ran a personal-best time of 2:12.17 that had her 12th-fastest.
The championships conclude Sunday, with the high jump kicking things off at 10 a.m.
