University of Minnesota Athletics
Antonio Vega Looks to Defend His Midwest Region Title
11/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
2006 NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championships
Saturday, Nov. 11
U. of Minn. Les Bolstad Golf Course
Falcon Heights, Minn.
Meet Schedule (Central Time)
11 a.m. Women’s Race 6K
12:15 p.m. Men’s Race 10K
Golden Gopher Watch List — Nov. 11, 2006
• Minnesota Hosts NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championships - The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams will play host to the 2006 NCAA Midwest Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course. The women’s 6-kilometer race begins at 11 a.m. and will be followed by the men’s 10-kilometer event at 12:15 p.m.
• Gopher Men Chase 10th Consecutive NCAA Championships Berth - The Golden Gopher men hope to capture their 10th consecutive NCAA Championships invitation. Minnesota’s streak is the fifth-longest active streak of NCAA Championships appearances in the nation.
• Defending Champ, New Champ - The Minnesota men feature a talented 1-2 punch at the top of their lineup. Senior Antonio Vega is the defending Midwest Region champion. Sophomore Chris Rombough is the newly crowned Big Ten Conference champion.
NCAA Midwest Region Championships
The Minnesota men’s cross country team hosts the NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course. The men’s 10-kilometer race begins at 12:15 p.m.
Chasing a Perfect 10
Minnesota is chasing its 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships, aiming to extend the longest streak in school history. The Golden Gophers are among an elite group of schools with at least nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championships. Schools and consecutive appearance streaks are: Arkansas (32), Colorado (14), Minnesota (9), Stanford (12), William & Mary (9) and Wisconsin (34).
Region Meet Determines NCAA Field
Thirty-one (31) teams will earn berths to the NCAA Championships, which will be run in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 20. The top two teams from each of the nine regions automatically qualify for the Championships. Another 13 at-large teams will be added to the field and announced on Monday, Nov. 13. In addition, four individual competitors from each region, who are not part of qualifying teams, will also earn their way into the Championships field. These individuals must finish in the top 25 at the regional championship to qualify. Additionally two individuals will be chosen at large by the NCAA committee.
More For Your Money
For NCAA competition, both at the regional and national championships, the race distance is lengthened from 8 kilometers to 10 kilometers. That extra two kilometers makes the races 20 percent longer than the ones run during the regular season.
Minnesota at the Midwest Region Meet
Minnesota is a perennial force at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships. The Golden Gophers have won team titles in 1999, 2001 and 2004, while placing no lower than fourth in head coach Steve Plasencia’s 11-year tenure at Minnesota. In 2005, Minnesota placed fourth, but still received an at-large berth to the NCAA meet.
Gophers’ Antonio Vega Looks to Defend Region Crown
Minnesota senior Antonio Vega is the defending individual champion. Overall, the Gophers have boasted three of the last four medalists with Vega in 2005 joining two-time champion Andrew Carlson (2002 and 2004).
Midwest Region Championship Preview
Though the majority of the Big Ten, including No. 1-ranked Wisconsin, compete in the Great Lakes Region, the Golden Gophers will face several of the best teams from the Big 12 Conference instead. Minnesota is he top-ranked team in the region at No. 15. The only other Big Ten schools in the region are Iowa, ranked No. 28 nationally, and Illinois. The top contenders from the Big 12 are No. 20 Kansas and No. 23 Oklahoma State. Though it seems Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Oklahoma State are in decent standing to receive an at-large NCAA berth if necessary, the battle for the top two team finishes and the automatic NCAA bids will be a fierce one.
The Golden Gophers bested Kansas at the Griak Invitational earlier this season and Minnesota finished above Iowa at the recent Big Ten Championships. Both these races, however, were 8-kilometer courses, so in the long run of the 10-kilometer championship courses, experience is important.
The Golden Gophers
Minnesota enters the NCAA Midwest Region Championships with a talented 1-2 punch to lead the way. Senior Antonio Vega has the chance to defend his individual title on his home course. Vega went on to earn All-America honors a year ago. Sophomore Chris Rombough is coming off the best performance of his young Gopher career winning the Big Ten individual title.
The Golden Gopher Lineup
Seven Golden Gophers will compete at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships. A team’s final lineup does not have to be declared until the day of the competition. Following is a list of possible participants and a listing of any previous experience at the regional meet. The Gophers also have senior David VanOrsdel and Justin Grunewald who have Midwest Region experience but after that, Minnesota will rely on a number of underclassmen running in their first NCAA event.
Rick Furseth (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater/South Dakota State)
Justin Grunewald (Jr., Merrifield,Minn./Brainerd)
2005 - 30th: 32:01
2004 - 45th: 31:45.46
Yahya Iman (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech)
Ben Kampf (R-Fr., Farmington, Minn./Farmington)
Ben Puhl (So., Rochester/Century)
Chris Rombough (So., Fremont, Wis./New London)
2005 - 13th: 31:22
Mike Torchia (Fr., Rochester, Minn./Lourdes)
David VanOrsdel (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins/Villanova)
2005 - 39th: 32:28
2004 - 37th, 32:03 ** (East Region/Villanova)
Antonio Vega (Sr., Oakdale, Minn./Tartan)
2005 - 1st, 30:52
2004 - 11th, 30:55.60
2003 - 9th, 31:24
Minnesota Ranked No. 15 in National Poll
The Gophers enter the NCAA Midwest Region Championships ranked No. 15 in the Oct. 31 USTFCCCA Men’s Cross Country Coaches Poll. Minnesota was ranked No. 12 for three weeks earlier this season, with the. No. 12 ranking marking the highest of Steve Plasencia’s 11-year Minnesota coaching tenure.
Minnesota is the third of four Big Ten schools ranked with Wisconsin at No. 1, Michigan at No. 11 and Iowa at No. 28.
The Gopher Coaching Staff
Golden Gopher head men’s cross country coach Steve Plasencia is in his 11th season directing the program at his alma mater. The Gophers have advanced to the NCAA Championships nine times in Plasencia’s tenure, finishing with eight top-25 finishes. Brad Wick is in his second season as the Gophers’ volunteer assistant coach.
Chris Rombough Wins Big Ten Title, Gophers Third
Minnesota sophomore Chris Rombough captured the individual title at the Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Championships in Bloomington, Ind., on Oct. 29, becoming the first Golden Gophers since 1971 to win conference medalist honors. Antonio Vega also earned second-team All-Big Ten honors as No. 14 Minnesota finished third in the team standings with 98 points.
Rombough, a Fremont, Wis., native covered the 8-kilometer IU Cross Country Course in a time of 24 minutes, 5 seconds, to inscribe his name on an elite list of Big Ten champions. Rombough worked his way to the head of the pack after positioning himself in the top 10 runners midway through the race. Over the last kilometer, Rombough strode past Wisconsin All-Americans Chris Solinsky and Stuart Eagon to take his first collegiate victory on a grand stage.
“I’m totally surprised,” said Rombough of his victory run. “I was comfortable out there though. The weather was nice and the gradual hills on the course weren’t a problem for me.”
Solinsky took the lead early in the race and was 20 meters ahead of Rombough heading into the final kilometer. Rombough passed Solinsky with about 800 meters remaining but needed to fight off Eagon down the stretch.
“I sensed he (Eagon) was there by the crowd’s reaction,” Rombough said. “Then I caught sight of his shadow so I knew where he was. I knew I was in good shape because I still had an extra gear if I needed it. Two weeks ago (at the Jim Drews Invitational), I was out-kicked in the final stretch. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.”
Rombough is the fourth Gopher to win the Big Ten title. Gary Bjorklund won his third straight crown in 1971. Other Minnesota champions were Fred Watson (1913-15) and Leonard Edelen in 1957
“Winning a Big Ten title is a very special accomplishment,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “Chris just kept working away and ran a great race under some difficult conditions and against some very good competition. He has come into his own this season.”
Vega, a senior, matched his 13th-place finish from a year ago to collect his second All-Big Ten Second Team honor. Vega clocked a time of 24:50.
An uncharacteristically warm October day affected the race’s competitors with a number of athletes unable to finish the race. Gopher freshman Mike Torchia, Minnesota’s third runner for much of the season, was forced out midway through the race.
Ben Puhl, Rick Furseth and Yahya Iman completed the scoring for the Gophers. Puhl placed 26th in a time of 25:19, followed by Furseth in 27th in 25:20. Iman finished 37th in a time of 25:38. Also competing for the Gophers were Justin Grunewald, who placed 38th and David VanOrsdel, who finished 41st. Both posted a time of 25:40.
The nation’s top-ranked team, Wisconsin, cruised to their eighth consecutive Big Ten team title with 27 points. The Badgers landed all five of their scoring runners in the top 10. Eagon’s runner-up time was 24:06. Michigan finished second with 85 points.
Players Mentioned
