University of Minnesota Athletics
Karl Erickson Earns Sixth Career All-America Honor
6/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Erickson landed his best effort of 187 feet on his fifth attempt. The throw moved him temporarily into third but Washington State freshman Matt Lamb bettered Erickson’s throw on his final attempt. North Carolina’s Vikes Gowda won the event with a throw of 198-8.
“Everyone had the same conditions and the wind wasn’t good today for the discus,” said Erickson, regarding how the distance that won the national championship was within his reach. “It feels good though to finish as high as I did.” The fourth-place showing is the highest of his career at the NCAA Championships.
Erickson will have the opportunity to capture one more All-America award when he competes in the shot put on Saturday, culminating a sensational Golden Gopher career.
Aaron Buzard has the chance to add his name to a storied list of Minnesota 400-meter runners. Buzard advanced to the 400 final but needed some last-second heroics and a slower second heat to make it there.
Buzard started in lane three of the first heat. Compensating for Wednesday’s first round where he went out too fast and faded late, Buzard went out too slow in the semifinal and nearly surrendered too much ground. With fifty meters remaining, Buzard was in sixth place. With one last push, Buzard passed Southeast Missouri State’s Miles Smith to finish fifth in the heat in a time of 45.79 seconds.
“Running in lane three was nice so I could keep my eye on the field but I got out way too slow,” said Buzard. “I was feeling really good. I just got myself too far behind in the beginning.
“I know that every guy at the national meet is big so I just focused on catching him,” said Buzard of passing Smith at the tape.
The second heat would contain three automatic qualifiers, so Buzard then had to sit and watch, hoping his time would be faster than the fourth place time of second semifinal. That ended up being Reggie Witherspoon of Baylor, who was clocked in 46.12. Buzard was in. He will start in lane one in Saturday’s final.
“I need to find a happy medium for tomorrow. I am excited.”
Derek Gearman continues to make his first season as a Golden Gopher a memorable one. First he placed in three events at the Big Ten Championships, winning the long jump. Then, he captured the NCAA Midwest Region title in the triple jump. Now, he’s advanced to his first NCAA Division I Championships final. Gearman, who transferred to Minnesota from South Dakota, qualified for the final of the triple jump with a leap of 51 feet, 4 1/4 inches in the qualifying round this afternoon.
Gearman exploded off the board to land his top jump in his first attempt. The mark stands as the ninth-best qualifying jump heading into Saturday’s final. The jump is also Gearman’s second best of his career. Florida State senior Rafeeq Curry marked the top qualifying jump, a leap of 52-3 3/4.
“I knew I need to be hot and land a long jump early,” said Gearman. “I’m excited about tomorrow. There should some longer jumps and great competition. I’ll be ready.”
A year ago, Gearman earned NCAA Division II All-America honors in the event, placing fourth.
Completing the Golden Gopher contingent competing on Friday was senior Kevin Netzer in the high jump final. Netzer placed 12th clearing a height of 6-10 3/4.
Players Mentioned
