University of Minnesota Athletics
MTF: Gophers Take Third at Big Ten Championships
5/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
“I’m extremely happy with the result,” head coach Phil Lundin said of his team’s third-place finish. “Our athletes competed very well throughout the weekend with many turning in personal-best efforts despite some poor weather conditions. A number of our young guys proved they can contend at an elite level.”
Wisconsin claimed its fifth conference crown in six years in dominant fashion, completing the Big Ten “Triple Crown” by capturing league titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track all in the same academic year. The Badgers totaled 174 points, outdistancing runner-up Indiana by 63 points.
Leading the contingent of Minnesota scorers was senior co-captain Andrew Carlson (Fargo, N.D.). The 5,000 meter school-record holder earned second team All-Big Ten honors with a runner-up finish in the 5K race, clocking a time of 14 minutes, 25.23 seconds. Ryan Malmin (junior/Minnetonka, Minn.) scored a seventh-place finish in the event, crossing the finish line in a time of 14:40.23.
A trio of Gopher athletes tallied ten team points in the javelin. Jason Swenson (senior/Billings, Mont.) took fourth, marking 202 feet, 1 inch. Jesse Kovash (freshman/Dickinson, N.D.) launched a personal-best throw of 191-4 on his final approach, placing fifth. Travis Brandstatter (senior/Ladysmith, Wis.) cracked the top-eight, scoring with a mark of 184-8.
One of the biggest surprises during the entire weekend was Elliot Esch’s (sophomore/Rothschild, Wis.) third-place finish in the pole vault. Esch, whose best effort this season was a clearance of 15-3 3/4, soared to the bronze medal, clearing a personal-best height of 16-2 3/4. Matt Merkey (sophomore/Wausau, Wis.) tied for the eighth spot, clearing 15-1 1/2.
Adam Schnaible (sophomore/Burnsville, Minn.) became a double conference scorer with sixth-place finish in the shot put, marking a personal-best 57-5 1/2 on his fourth of six throws. Schnaible, who also finished sixth in Friday’s hammer throw competition, improved his regional qualifying distance by over seven inches.
Jason Erickson emerged as another in the line of quality “homegrown” quarter-milers with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash. Erickson, a freshman from Alexandria, Minn., recorded a time of 48.30 seconds in the event final.
Trent Riter (junior/Shoreview, Minn.) scored with a sixth-place result in the 800-meter run, finishing in a time of 1:49.88. Ryan Ford (senior/St. Cloud, Minn.) placed seventh in the 1,500-meter race, clocking a time of 3:48.04.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Erickson, Steve Williamson (junior/Amery, Wis.) Joronne Williamson (senior/Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Andy Newman (junior/Apple Valley, Minn.) rounded out the team scoring by adding an eighth-place finish in a time of 41.70 seconds.
The Gophers have a week off before competing in the NCAA Midwest Regional meet in Norman, Okla. on May 27-28. Minnesota boasts 15 athletes that have met the regional standard in 20 events.
