University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Men Set For Big Ten Championships
10/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Golden Gopher Cross Country This Week:
2008 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships
Sunday, Nov. 2
Women 9:45 a.m. (CT)
Men 10:30 a.m. (CT)
U-M Golf Course
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Golden Gopher Watch List Nov. 2, 2008
Big Ten Championships Up Next - The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to compete in the 2008 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships on Sunday, Nov. 2. The 6-kilometer women’s race begins at 9:45 a.m. (CT), followed immediately by the 8-kilometer men’s race at 10:30 a.m. (CT). Michigan is hosting the Championships at the U-M Golf Course.
Golden Gopher Women Look to Defend Title - The Minnesota women’s cross country team is the defending team champion, having won their first BIg Ten cross country crown a year ago. The Gophers graduated only one runner from that squad. Junior Megan Duwell has been the Gophers’ number-one runner all season.
Mead and Rombough Pace Golden Gopher Men - The Minnesota men’s cross country team have two runners, All-Americans Hassan Mead and Chris Rombough, who are expected to contend for the individual Big Ten title. As a true freshman last season, Mead ran to runner-up honors and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Rombough was fourth in 2007 after winning it all in 2006.
BTN Coverage - The Big Ten Network will provide some coverage of the Big Ten Championships on the Big Ten Tonight Show on Sunday evening (9 p.m. CT) and on Monday’s Big Ten Women’s Show (6:30 p.m. CT).
Gophers Set For Big Ten Championships
The No. 20 Minnesota men’s cross country team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to compete in the 2008 Big Ten Cross Country Championships, hosted by Michigan on Sunday, Nov. 2. The 94th running of the Big Ten men’s race begins at 10:30 a.m. (CT, following the completion of the women’s race. The race is the final 8-kilometer event of the season, as the distance lengthens to 10-kilometers for NCAA Championships competition.
Big Ten Honors
The top seven finishers will be awarded All-Big Ten First-Team honors. Runners placing eighth through 14th will receive second-team All-Big Ten accord.
Minnesota at the Big Ten Meet
Minnesota has won four Big Ten men’s cross country titles: 1909, 1914, 1964 and 1969. During head coach Steve Plasencia’s tenure, the Golden Gophers’ top finishes were a second-place finish last season and third-place showings in 1999, 2005 and 2006.
The Gophers have had four runners win Big Ten individual crowns a total of eight times. Fred Watson (1913-15) and Gary Bjorklund (1969-71) each captured three titles. Leonard Edeleen won the 1957 title, while Chris Rombough captured the title as a sophomore in 2006.
Defending Big Ten Champions
Wisconsin is the nine-time defending champion. In fact, only Michigan’s titles in 1993, 1997 and 1998 interrupted the Badgers’ title dominance since 1985.
Big Ten Championships History
Nine of the 10 schools, excluding only Penn State, that currently sponsor a men’s cross country program have won at least one Big Ten team title. Wisconsin owns the most with 41, followed by Michigan State with 14 and Indiana with 13. Following is a listing of team champions:
Wisconsin: 1910, 12, 13, 15, 24, 25, 26, 27, 39, 44, 45, 46c, 48, 49,
50, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92,
94, 95, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07
Michigan State: 1951, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 68, 70, 71
Indiana: 1928, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39, 40, 42, 46x, 67, 72, 73, 80c
Michigan: 1922, 54, 74, 75, 76, 80c, 93, 97, 98
Minnesota: 1909, 14, 64, 69
Illinois: 1921, 47, 84
Purdue: 1916, 41, 43
Iowa: 1961, 66
Northwestern: 1965
Ohio State: 1923
Rombough Has Big Ten Title on His Resume
Minnesota senior Chris Rombough pulled what was considered a big upset when he captured the 2006 Big Ten individual title, covering the Indiana University course in a time of 24:05. Rombough went on to earn All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the NCAA Championships.
Mead Among Many Set to Contend as Well
Sophomore Hassan Mead ran to Big Ten runner-up honors last season, and after running to All-America honors in both his freshman cross country and track seasons, is certainly among the favorites to contend for Big Ten medalist honors.
The Golden Gopher Lineup
Nine Golden Gophers will compete at the Big Ten Championships. Following their name is a listing of any previous experience at the Big Ten Championships.
Matt Barrett (Jr., Monroe, Wis./Monroe)
2007 - 45th, 25:03.90
Ben Blankenship (So., Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater/Mississippi State)
Ben Kampf (Jr., Farmington, Minn./Farmington)
2006 - 43rd, 25:41
2007 - 38th, 24:56.86
Mike McFarland (So., Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead)
2007 - 33rd, 24:48.40
Hassan Mead (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South)
2007 - 2nd, 23:47.70
Sean Olson (R-Fr., Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie)
Ben Puhl (Sr., Rochester, Minn./Century)
2005 - 53rd, 26:02.58
2006 - 26th, 25:18
2007 - 32nd, 24:45.44
Chris Rombough (Sr., Fremont, Wis./New London)
2005 - 18th, 25:01.58
2006 - 1st, 24:05
2007 - 4th, 23:54.48
Mike Torchia (So., Rochester, Minn./Lourdes)
2006 - Did not finish
Golden Gophers Ranked No. 20
The Gopher men are ranked No. 20 in this week’s USTFCCCA National Poll. Minnesota is one of four Big Ten Conference teams listed in the rankings with Wisconsin at No. 6, Michigan at No. 9 and Indiana at No. 19.
Minnesota Coaching Staff
Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia is in his 13th season leading the Minnesota program. Plasencia as guided the Gophers to NCAA Championships berths in 10 of his 12 years with his alma mater with last fall’s eighth-place NCAA finish the best since 1969. In July of 2008, Plasencia was named the Golden Gophers’ head men’s track & field coach. Volunteer assistant coach Jason Havey is in his first year with the Gophers.
Players Mentioned
