University of Minnesota Athletics
2002 Gopher Men's Cross Country Season Outlook
9/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
| Head Coach Steve Plasencia with Sophomore Martin Robeck |
Last season, consistency was the biggest problem for the team, something that head coach Steve Plasencia hopes to see turned around this season. Having such a young and inexperienced squad was a big reason why the team was not able perform consistently throughout the season. Now armed with the big-meet experience this year's team knows what it takes to perform with the elite teams each and every meet. "The potential is there for this team to be the best team that the school has had since I have been here," Plasencia said. "We were young last year, but this year we have four guys entering their final year of eliligibilty that will provide the necessary leadership. It doesn't hurt that they are all good runners as well."
Leading the way will be seniors Will McComb, Andrew McKessock, Neil Hanson and Toby Henkels. Junior Andrew Carlson and sophomores Josh DoBell and Erik Grumstrup will also be counted on to make key contributions.
| Senior Will McComb |
McComb's junior season was highlighted by a second-place finish at the Midwest regional and a personal-best time at the NCAA meet where he clocked a 10K time of 30:39, to place eighth on the Minnesota all-time performance list. At the Griak Invitational earlier in the year, he ran a personal-best 8K time of 24:35 which placed him third on the Minnesota course all-time performance list.
Coming off a redshirt season, McKessock will look to regain the form he showed in his previous three seasons. In 1999 he placed 17th at the Big Ten meet and 64th at the NCAA meet.
Hanson, a former state high school cross country champion, will look to give the Gophers a consistent performance and provide leadership to the 10 underclassmen.
Henkels, an 800-meter runner on the track team, will look to build off of his great season a year ago in which competed in every meet and was the second-highest finisher on the team in both the Pre-NCAA and the NCAA meets.
During the off season, coaches like to see dedication and the effort being put forth to not only improve individually, but to improve the team as well. Four runners on the squad went the extra mile to do so. Carlson, DoBell, Grumstrup and Luke Mullranin all spent a month training at 9,000 feet in Colorado and their hard work is being seen in their workout times turned into Coach Plasencia.
Carlson, in his first season with the Gophers, was a consistent top-four finisher on the team in 2001. He was Minnesota's top finisher at the Big Ten meet in which he placed 18th and was second on the team and 13th overall at the Midwest Regional.
Grumstrup, the prize recruit last year, had a superb year as a true freshman. He finished in the top three on the team in all but one meet and was one of only two Gopher runners to place in the top 25 at the Big Ten meet.
| Senior Andrew McKessock |
"He has a little more of a middle distance tilt right now and he will have to make the adjustment from 5K in high school to 8K and 10K now that he is at the collegiate level," said Plasencia. "But I think in the long run, he will be really good. He just needs one season to adjust to the longer distances."
Also new to the team are Will Enns out of Long Prairie High School and Antonio Vega from Oakdale High School. Enns is the 2001 state cross country champion in Class A and Vega is an all-state runner in track and field.
As in most other sports, the Big Ten will be one of the toughest conferences from top to bottom in cross country. Four teams qualified for the NCAA meet last year and all placed in the top 25. The odds on favorite to win the conference will be Wisconsin, who placed fifth at the NCAA meet a season ago and may have one of their most talented teams in the past twenty years.
"Wisconsin is head and shoulders above the other teams in the Big Ten right now," Plasencia said. "They have a tradition that they have just continued to build and they are the team everyone will be gunning for. Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan have also been building good teams and will be right up in the upper division of the conference. Our squad will be right there with those four schools."
After a Big Ten in which they placed seventh last year-their worst finish since Plasencia's first season, and had no runners finish in the top 10, the team will look to rebound this year and return to the upper division.
"Last year was very disappointing at the Big Ten meet. We were not happy with it at all," Plasencia said. "We will definitely improve on that showing this season."
| Senior Toby Henkels |
"Last year, I think we really 'hit on' only one of the three big meets," Plasencia said. "We ran really well at the regional meet, really poorly at the Big Ten meet and so-so at the national meet. This season, I would like to see us run well at all three of those meets."
Some of the nation's best teams outside of the Big Ten will meet at the Roy Griak Invitational on September 28th at Les Bolstad Golf Course. The Invitational, which is Minnesota's only hosted race during the season, has quickly become one of the country's premier invitationals. Many top teams are now annually participating in the event.
"The Griak Invitational is the best yearly invitational in college cross country," Plasencia said. "We get a lot of good teams to come, and with the interest in it continuing to rise, we hope to get even more schools this year."
Top teams that will be competing in the meet this year include defending champion Wisconsin, Brigham Young, Arizona State and Oregon. A handful of other Big Ten teams will be there as well.
| Senior Neil Hanson |
Written by Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Danny Olsen
| Head Coach Steve Plasencia with Sophomore Martin Robeck |
Last season, consistency was the biggest problem for the team, something that head coach Steve Plasencia hopes to see turned around this season. Having such a young and inexperienced squad was a big reason why the team was not able perform consistently throughout the season. Now armed with the big-meet experience this year's team knows what it takes to perform with the elite teams each and every meet. "The potential is there for this team to be the best team that the school has had since I have been here," Plasencia said. "We were young last year, but this year we have four guys entering their final year of eliligibilty that will provide the necessary leadership. It doesn't hurt that they are all good runners as well."
Leading the way will be seniors Will McComb, Andrew McKessock, Neil Hanson and Toby Henkels. Junior Andrew Carlson and sophomores Josh DoBell and Erik Grumstrup will also be counted on to make key contributions.
| Senior Will McComb |
McComb's junior season was highlighted by a second-place finish at the Midwest regional and a personal-best time at the NCAA meet where he clocked a 10K time of 30:39, to place eighth on the Minnesota all-time performance list. At the Griak Invitational earlier in the year, he ran a personal-best 8K time of 24:35 which placed him third on the Minnesota course all-time performance list.
Coming off a redshirt season, McKessock will look to regain the form he showed in his previous three seasons. In 1999 he placed 17th at the Big Ten meet and 64th at the NCAA meet.
Hanson, a former state high school cross country champion, will look to give the Gophers a consistent performance and provide leadership to the 10 underclassmen.
Henkels, an 800-meter runner on the track team, will look to build off of his great season a year ago in which competed in every meet and was the second-highest finisher on the team in both the Pre-NCAA and the NCAA meets.
During the off season, coaches like to see dedication and the effort being put forth to not only improve individually, but to improve the team as well. Four runners on the squad went the extra mile to do so. Carlson, DoBell, Grumstrup and Luke Mullranin all spent a month training at 9,000 feet in Colorado and their hard work is being seen in their workout times turned into Coach Plasencia.
Carlson, in his first season with the Gophers, was a consistent top-four finisher on the team in 2001. He was Minnesota's top finisher at the Big Ten meet in which he placed 18th and was second on the team and 13th overall at the Midwest Regional.
Grumstrup, the prize recruit last year, had a superb year as a true freshman. He finished in the top three on the team in all but one meet and was one of only two Gopher runners to place in the top 25 at the Big Ten meet.
| Senior Andrew McKessock |
"He has a little more of a middle distance tilt right now and he will have to make the adjustment from 5K in high school to 8K and 10K now that he is at the collegiate level," said Plasencia. "But I think in the long run, he will be really good. He just needs one season to adjust to the longer distances."
Also new to the team are Will Enns out of Long Prairie High School and Antonio Vega from Oakdale High School. Enns is the 2001 state cross country champion in Class A and Vega is an all-state runner in track and field.
As in most other sports, the Big Ten will be one of the toughest conferences from top to bottom in cross country. Four teams qualified for the NCAA meet last year and all placed in the top 25. The odds on favorite to win the conference will be Wisconsin, who placed fifth at the NCAA meet a season ago and may have one of their most talented teams in the past twenty years.
"Wisconsin is head and shoulders above the other teams in the Big Ten right now," Plasencia said. "They have a tradition that they have just continued to build and they are the team everyone will be gunning for. Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan have also been building good teams and will be right up in the upper division of the conference. Our squad will be right there with those four schools."
After a Big Ten in which they placed seventh last year-their worst finish since Plasencia's first season, and had no runners finish in the top 10, the team will look to rebound this year and return to the upper division.
"Last year was very disappointing at the Big Ten meet. We were not happy with it at all," Plasencia said. "We will definitely improve on that showing this season."
| Senior Toby Henkels |
"Last year, I think we really 'hit on' only one of the three big meets," Plasencia said. "We ran really well at the regional meet, really poorly at the Big Ten meet and so-so at the national meet. This season, I would like to see us run well at all three of those meets."
Some of the nation's best teams outside of the Big Ten will meet at the Roy Griak Invitational on September 28th at Les Bolstad Golf Course. The Invitational, which is Minnesota's only hosted race during the season, has quickly become one of the country's premier invitationals. Many top teams are now annually participating in the event.
"The Griak Invitational is the best yearly invitational in college cross country," Plasencia said. "We get a lot of good teams to come, and with the interest in it continuing to rise, we hope to get even more schools this year."
Top teams that will be competing in the meet this year include defending champion Wisconsin, Brigham Young, Arizona State and Oregon. A handful of other Big Ten teams will be there as well.
| Senior Neil Hanson |
Written by Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Danny Olsen
Players Mentioned
