University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gopher Men's Track Announces 2004 Team Captains
10/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Steele heads into the 2004 season as the defending national champion in the outdoor 400-meter dash. The Eden Prairie, Minn. native ran to the gold in a time of 44.57 seconds, which at the time was the fastest time in the world in 2003. Steele is the defending 600-meter dash Big Ten champion and was part of three conference champion and All-America relays in 2003. Steele and Potter were also members of the USA's gold-medal winning 4x400-meter relay at the World Championships last summer.
Potter earned four All-America honors in 2003, two in the 400 meters and two in the 4x400 relay. A native of St. Michael, Minn., Potter was part of the photo-finish ending of the 400 at the outdoor NCAA meet and placed third with a career-best time of 44:58. He also ran the anchor leg of the Gophers' 4x400 relay that placed second. Potter owned the Big Ten in the 400, winning both the indoor and outdoor titles. He was honored with NCAA Midwest Region Runner of the Year and Big Ten Athlete of the Outdoor Championships honors. In addition to his USA relay gold, Potter captured the gold medal in the 400 at the 2003 Pan American Games.
McComb, a Port Elgin, Ontario native, captured the 5,000-meter run title at last year's indoor Big Ten Championships. He also contributed points to the Gophers' winning effort outdoors with a seventh-place finish in the 10,000-meter run.
Reder, from Luverne, Minn., owns the school record in both the hammer and weight. He placed third in the weight at the 2003 Big Ten Indoor Championships and added a fifth-place showing in the hammer at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
Minnesota opens its 2004 season on Jan. 10, when the Gophers play host to the Northwest Open.