University of Minnesota Athletics
Derek Gearman, Aaron Buzard Capture NCAA Midwest Region Titles
5/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Gearman did not perform as well as he had hoped in the preliminary round. He landed a jump of 50 feet (15.24m) on his first jump, but then fouled both his other attempts. After the first of two flights, Gearman was in third place. He basically thought his day was over since a talented second flight, which included leapers all with better qualifying marks coming into the regional, was yet to come.
The wait was difficult but Gearman’s second chance was granted as he made the field of nine jumpers, albeit in eighth place, who advanced to the final, and earned three additional jumps. Gearman fouled his first attempt of the final, then soared over a foot further than he ever had in the event, landing a jump of 52 -5 1/4 to leap over his competitors and into first place. The mark held and Gearman is off the NCAA Championships as the Midwest Region champion.
Buzard was the top seed in the 400 meters entering the Midwest Region meet and defended that honor in wining the event in a time of 45.87 seconds. An indoor All-American, Buzard took the crown from a difficult starting position in lane seven. Buzard maintained the stagger down the backstretch, but Baylor’s Reggie Witherspoon charged from lane five to take the lead with 100 meters remaining. Buzard turned on the speed to pull ahead of Witherspoon (46.00) in the final 10 meters.
Erickson added the shot put to his event he will compete in at the national meet. Erickson threw a personal best in his very first attempt, landing a throw of 64 -9 1/4, a best of 9 inches over his Big Ten winning throw two weeks ago and the second-longest throw in school history.
The Gopher All-American strung together a great series of throws, with three over 63 feet, but his first throw remained his furthest and finished in second place. The top five placewinners advanced to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif., June 7-10.
Senior high jumper Kevin Netzer earned his third trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships by placing fourth clearing a season-best height of 7-2 1/4. Netzer advanced to that height without a miss at lower height, including 7-1. John Albert tied for eighth place with a height of 6-11.
Minnesota’s 4x400-meter relay provided the Gophers with one of its biggest surprises of the meet, placing third and advancing to the NCAA Championships. The Gophers headed into the race with the seeded 10th and running in the first, and considered slower, heat. Buzard ran an amazing anchor leg of 44.9 seconds took over the lead in the final 50 meters. Minnesota then sat and watched as their time of 3:07.96, matching the eighth-fastest time in school history, solidifying their ticket to Sacramento. Joining Buzard on the relay was Adewole Adebayo, Jason Erickson and Walter Langkau.
Trent Riter ran to a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter run, posting a time of 1:49.59. Riter broke quickly from blocks but found himself at the back of the pack as the stagger broke at the 200-meter mark. Riter is still in the running for an at-large berth into the NCAA field.
Ryan Malmin concluded his Gopher career competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Malmin finished 16th in a time of 9:34.05.
Peter Miller competed in his first NCAA regional competition in the shot put, placing 19th with a throw of 50-1 1/4.
Minnesota compiled 51.33 points to finish fourth in the NCAA Midwest Region team standings. Texas captured the title with 91.83 points, followed by Texas-El Paso (72.50) and Texas A&M (64).
Players Mentioned
