University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Fairgrounds Invitational
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Minnesota Prepped for Fairgrounds Invitational and Gopher Classic
2/5/2026 2:56:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
The Golden Gophers will compete on Friday and Saturday.
MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota women's track and field team will be featured in two different meets this weekend, highlighted by the Gopher Classic at the University Fieldhosue in Minneapolis, Minn. on February 7. The Maroon and Gold also are sending student-athletes to the Fairgrounds Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind. from February 6-7.
ABOUT THE FAIRGROUNDS INVITATIONAL
The 2026 Fairgrounds Invitational is a two-day competition in Indianapolis, Ind., with action beginning on February 6, at 1 p.m. Day two of the Fairgrounds Invitational will start at 10:30 a.m., and will conclude around 2 p.m. local time. Fans can follow along live via PrimeTimeTiming.com.
ABOUT THE GOPHER CLASSIC
The 2026 Gopher Classic begins at 10:30 a.m. on February 6, with the women's shot put while the track events begin with the men's Mile at 10:30 a.m. The meet, being held at the University Fieldhouse in Minneapolis, Minn., is set to wrap up by 5 p.m. on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public to attend. There will be no live stream of the Gopher Classic, but fans can follow live results via WayzataTiming.com.
LAST TIME OUT
For the first time the University of Minnesota women's track and field team saw a sub 4:35 indoor mile with Isabelle Schmitz putting forth a school-record performance at the Meyo Invite on January 31. Schmitz led a group of Gophers that set five different program top 10 performances across four events over the two-day meet in South Bend, Ind. The Maroon and Gold also picked up 17 event victories at the Jack Johnson Classic in Minneapolis, Minn., on Friday at the University Fieldhouse.
At the Meyo Invite on Saturday Schmitz came across the finish line in 4:34.67 to become the fastest Gopher ever in the event. The sophomore broke the indoor record that had stood since Abby Kohut-Jackson's 4:35.36 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Schmitz's time goes down as the third-fastest in the Big Ten this season and the 16th-fastest in the NCAA this season.
In the confines of the University Fieldhouse in Minneapolis, Anthonett Nabwe once again stood out as one of the nation's elite throwers in both the weight throw and the shot put. The redshirt junior launched a lifetime best weight throw of 24.28m (79-8) to improve on her NCAA No. 1 standing and followed that up with a season's best in the shot put at 17.18m (56-4 1/2) to capture two event victories on Friday. Nabwe's 24.28m throw makes her the eighth best in women's NCAA Division I history (as of January 31) and only trails 2018 NCAA Champion Kaitlyn Long's school record by just nine centimeters.
MINNESOTA IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The University of Minnesota women's track and field team moved up to No. 18 in the second 2026 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national rankings, the organization announced on February 3. Minnesota's No. 18 ranking is the best indoors for the women since 2021, when the squad was also No. 18. That season Minnesota went on to finish 24th as a team at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Maroon and Gold also had four different events that were ranked in the latest Event Squad rankings, which measures the cumulative depth of a team's top athletes in specific disciplines. The women's team had four different event groups that were ranked inside the top 16 nationally, highlighted by the No. 2 weight throw contingent of Anthonett Nabwe, Hadley Streit, Rejoice Agbewodie and Ella Pavlovich (21.32m average) with Nabwe leading the way with the No. 1 NCAA mark at 24.28m (79-8). Ali Weimer and Zoie Dundon led the way for Minnesota's 5000m (16:21.52 average) and 800m (2:08.81 average) groups that come in at No. 11 and No. 13 nationally. Lastly the quartet of Nabwe, Rejoice Agbewodie, Isabelle Schmidt and Kennedy Martinson are ranked No. 16 nationally in the shot put.
UP NEXT
Next week the women's track and field program will travel to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., for a two-day meet from February 13-14. The next home meet for the Maroon and Gold will be the final indoor home meet on February 20, the Snowshoe Open.
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 X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.