University of Minnesota Athletics
Derek Gearman, Adam Schnaible Earn NCAA Championships Berths
5/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Gopher senior Derek Gearman captured an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in the triple jump, placing fourth with a season-best leap of 51 feet, 8 1/4 inches at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The top five placewinners from the region earn their way in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. on June 6-9.
Morning rains subsided as the event began. Still, the runway was wet for Gearman and his fellow jumpers in the first flight. After fouling his first attempt, Gearman landed his best leap of the day on his second attempt. The second flight included six of the nation’s top 15 ranked jumpers. Gearman was the only leaper from the first flight to capture a top-five finish. Oklahoma junior Shardae Boutte won the event with a Midwest Region record of 52-8.
Gearman will make his second appearance in the triple jump at the NCAA Championships.
The Gophers’ Superman of the jumping events has a chance to earn at-large bids for the NCAA Championships in the high jump and long jump as well. Those at-large berths will be announced early next week.
Gearman finished sixth in the high jump clearing a career-best height of 7-2 1/4, the seventh-best leap in school history. The jump was a best by 1 3/4 inches. He placed sixth in the long jump on Friday.
“Derek’s performance this weekend, placing in three jumping events at the regional meet, was astounding,” said Golden Gopher head coach Phil Lundin. “He is such a fierce competitor.”
Senior Adam Schnaible earned his first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships by placing third in the shot put with a throw of 57-8 1/2. He marked the throw in his first attempt of the finals. True freshman Aaron Studt finished ninth with a throw of 54-8.
Gopher All-American Aaron Buzard will have to wait and hope to receive an at-large berth Buzard, running in the eighth lane for the second straight 400-meter race, finished seventh with a time of 46.70 seconds. Buzard’s top time this season was 45.80 seconds at the Big Ten Championships.
Sophomore Ben Puhl ran his regional debut in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Puhl matched his seeding coming into the meet, finishing ninth with a time of 9:05.60.
The Gophers’ 4x400-meter relay of Jason Erickson, Sayfe Jassim, Walter Langkau and Buzard finished 14th with a time of 3:11.83.
Oklahoma captured the men’s Midwest Region team title with 75.33 points. Minnesota tied with Iowa for 16th place with 19 points.
Players Mentioned
