University of Minnesota Athletics
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TRAVELS TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
11/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
This marks the fifth consecutive season Minnesota has competed at Nationals under Head Coach Steve Plasencia. Prior to Plasencia's helm, which started in 1996, the Golden Gophers had not ran at the NCAA's since 1981 when they placed 12th.
Minnesota validated its No. 1 Midwest Regional preseason ranking by claiming the regional crown with 78 points in Carbondale, Ill. The victory automatically qualified the Golden Gophers for the NCAA Championships.
Junior Will McComb (Port Elgin, Ontario/Owen Sound CVI), who earned second place, running a 30:40.5 10K, paced five Golden Gophers in the top 26. Shadrack Kimeli of Kansas State won the race in 30:37.3.
McComb's time was the eighth-fastest in school history and the best 10K Golden Gopher clocking since John Dromer ran a 29:45.4 at the 1984 District 4 Championships. Head Coach Steve Plasencia holds the school record of 29:26.6, set at the 1976 NCAA Championships.
Andrew Carlson (Fargo, N.D./Arizona/Fargo North) also had an impressive performance for the Golden Gophers, coming in 13th (31:11.1), followed by freshman Erik Grumstrup (Black Hawk, S.D./Stevens) who placed 18th (31:23.5). Neil Hanson</ a> (Granada, Minn./Fairmont) (25th) and Toby Henkels (Worthington, Minn./Worthington) (26th) rounded out the scoring for Minnesota.
Minnesota Individual Results Regional Championships Will McComb 30:40.5 (2) Toby Henkels 31:32.2 (26) Andrew Carlson 31:11.1 (13) Josh Dobell 31:54.7 (45) Erik Grumstrup 31:23.5 (18) Martin Robeck 32:19.1 (64) Neil Hanson 31:31.4 (25) Midwest Regional Championships Team Results 1. Minnesota 78 13. UMKC 373 2. Okla. State 88 14. Oklahoma 385 3. Nebraska 94 15. Southern Illinois 398 4. Iowa 122 16. Kansas State 416 5. Loyola-Chic. 151 17. De Paul 421 6. Illinois St. 170 18. Missouri 426 7. Illinois 185 19. Tulsa 439 8. E. Illinois 199 20. Illinois at Chicago 526 9. Kansas 226 21. Western Illinois 588 10. Iowa State 346 22. Saint Louis 629 11. Drake 361 23. Creighton 661 12. SW Mo. St. 366 24. Bradley 744 NCAA History: The Minnesota Golden Gophers will be making their 12th trip to the NCAA Championships including five consecutive. Juniors Will McComb and Neil Hanson both ran on last season's team that placed 24th. McComb was the Gophers top runner, placing 56th in 31:21.7. Hanson ran a 33:28.3 10K to place 236th. Sophomore Andrew Carlson ran on the Arizona Wildcat team that placed 12th last season.
Two seasons ago, Head Coach Steve Plasencia led the Gopher to a 15th place showing, the highest placing since the 1981 squad finished 12th. Legendary cross country coach Roy Griak led Minnesota to a program-best fourth place finish in 1968. The following season the Gophers placed seventh, paced by Hall of Fame runner Garry Bjorklund who placed fourth. Bjorklund is the highest finisher at the NCAA Championships for Minnesota, when he was the runner-up to Oregon's Steve Prefontaine in 1971.
Year Coach Captain(s) Duals Con. Dist. 4 NCAA 1964 Roy Griak Norris Peterson 5-1 1st -- 15th 1968 Roy Griak Steve Hoag 5-1 2nd -- 4th 1969 Roy Griak Pat Kelly 8-0 1st -- 7th 1970 Roy Griak Tom Page 5-0 2nd -- 12th Don Timm 1973 Roy Griak Brian Berkner 5-0 7th 5th(T) 19th 1974 Roy Griak Tim Oliver 13-2 5th 5th 20th 1978 Roy Griak Gerald Metzler 10-1 3rd 3rd 11th 1981 Roy Griak Don Hurley 2-1 3rd 2nd 12th John Idstrom 1997 Steve Plasencia Tony Riter -- 4th 2nd* 18th 1998 Steve Plasencia Charles McClure -- 4th 3rd 24th 1999 Steve Plasencia Eric Pierce 0-1 3rd 1st* 15th 2000 Steve Plasencia Jason Owen -- 5th 3rd 24th Joe Corr 2001 Steve Plasencia Andrew McKessock-- 7th 1st# Will McComb *NCAA District V # Midwest Region Results of the NCAA Championships will be available on faxback, on the Furman athletics website (www.furmanpaladins.com) and the University of Minnesota website (www.gophersports.com). To receive results from Faxback, dial (201) 461-5726 from the handset of your fax machine. Follow the voice promts. Men's results will be listed under document 2465.
