University of Minnesota Athletics
Defending Champ Mead Leads Gophers into Big Tens
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Golden Gopher Cross Country This Week:
Big Ten Conference Cross County Championships
Sunday, Nov. 1
Men - 9:45 a.m. CT
Women - 10:45 a.m. CT
University Park, Pa.
Penn State Cross Country Course
TV Coverage: Big Ten Network
Tape-Delayed Broadcast
Sunday, Nov. 15 – 12 noon CT
Golden Gopher Watch List — Oct. 28, 2009
• Big Ten Championships Up Next - The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to University Park, Pa., to compete in the 2009 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships on Sunday, Nov. 1. The 5.2-mile men’s race begins at 9:45 a.m. (CT), followed immediately by the 6-kilometer men’s race at 10:45 a.m. (CT). Penn State is hosting the Championships at the Penn State Cross Country Course.
• Mead Seeks Defense of Individual Crown - Junior All-American Hassan Mead is the defending Big Ten men’s individual champion. Mead has been named the Big Ten Runner of the Week twice in 2009. Fred Watson (1913-15) and Garry Bjorklund (1969-71) are the multiple Big Ten champs in Minnesota history.
• Golden Gopher Women Look For Three-Peat - The Minnesota women’s cross country team is the two-time defending team champion, having won their first BIg Ten cross country crown in 2007 and defending the title in 2008. Senior All-American Megan Duwell, fourth at the Big Ten meet in 2008, has been the Gophers’ number-one runner all season.
• BTN Coverage - The Big Ten Network will televise the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 12 noon (CT).
Big Ten Championships
The Minnesota men’s cross country team travels to University Park, Pa., to compete in the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships, hosted by Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 1. The 95th running of the Big Ten men’s race begins at 9:45 a.m. (CT, and will be immediately followed by the women’s race. The men’s race is the final 8-kilometer event (or in this case approximate 8K distance) 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.
Added Twist in Men’s Race - Distance of 5.2 Miles
The world of collegiate men’s cross country is typically run in kilometers, 8 kilometers to be exact, during the regular season. The Gophers will face the challenge of running not only on an unfamiliar course (the last time Minnesota ran at Penn State was at the 1999 Big Ten Championships), but also a race approximately 500 meters longer than a normal 8-kilometer course.
This was a detail that Minnesota Steve Plasencia only was made aware of a few weeks ago.
“I was caught by surprise when I saw the race distance was 5.2 instead of 8K,” said Plasencia. “Later, I recalled that 10 years ago we did the same thing at Penn State due to a longstanding configuration of their course. Race-wise the longer distance (just over .2 miles) is minor, yet significant, as places could be altered over the last meters. I would think in the future we would want to standardize this.”
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, 2006 and 2008.
The Gophers have had five runners win Big Ten individual crowns a total of nine times. Fred Watson (1913-15) and Gary Bjorklund (1969-71) each captured three titles. Leonard Edeleen won the 1957 title, while Chris Rombough in 2006 and Hassan Mead in 2008 captured Conference titles during their sophomore seasons.
Defending Big Ten Champions
Wisconsin is the 10-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, 08
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
The Golden Gopher Lineup
Nine of the 10 Golden Gophers below will compete at the Big Ten Championships. Following their name is a listing of any previous experience at the Big Ten Championships.
Matt Barrett (Sr., Monroe, Wis./Monroe HS)
2007 - 45th, 25:03.90
2008 - 15th, 25:01.4
Ben Blankenship (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS/Mississippi State)
2008 - 25th, 25:16.3
Travis Burkstrand (R-Fr., Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS)
Pieter Gagnon (R-Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS)
Paul Hilsen (R-Fr., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS)
Kevin Lachowitzer (R-Fr., Perham, Minn./Perham HS)
Mike McFarland (Jr., Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead HS)
2007 - 33rd, 24:48.40
2008 - 42nd, 25:33.0
Hassan Mead (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South HS)
2007 - 2nd, 23:47.70
2008 - 1st, 24:26.4
Sean Olson (So., Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie HS)
2008 - 31st, 25:26.3
Derek Storkel (Fr., Tomah, Wis./Tomah HS)
Mead Continues to Build on Impressive Minnesota Resume
Junior Hassan Mead continues to build on a Minnesota running resume that already has him ranked among the very best to ever compete for the Maroon and Gold. Mead captured All-America cross country honors in both 2007 and 2008 after placing second (freshman season) and first (sophomore season) at the Big Ten Championships. Mead is also a three-time track All-American. He has already won five individual Big Ten track titles, winning the outdoor 5,000 meters in both his first two season with the Golden Gophers.
Mead Claims Second Big Ten Weekly Honor of 2009 Season
For the second time in the 2009 season, Minnesota junior All-American Hassan Mead was honored as the Big Ten Conference Runner of the Week. Mead tallied a third-place finish in the White Race at the Pre-NCAA Meet in Terre Haute, Ind. He clocked a time of 23 minutes, 49.2 seconds over the 8-kilometer LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
The award is the fourth of Mead’s Golden Gopher career. The Big Ten defending champion, Mead was honored twice with Runner of the Week accolades during the 2008 campaign, and earlier this season after winning the Griak Invitational title.
Mead Fifth in Pre-NCAA White Race
Hassan Mead placed fifth in the White Race at the Pre-NCAA Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 17. Minnesota placed 11th as a team. The meet is held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the same facility that plays host to the NCAA Championships in November. An 8-kilometer course was traversed in the Pre-NCAA Meet. The race distance will jump to 10 kilometers for the national meet.
Mead clocked a time of 23 minutes, 49.2 seconds over a soft, somewhat muddy course. A year ago, Mead set the Minnesota 8-kilometer record at the Gibson Course with a time of 23:33.1.
Ben Blankenship tallied a 24th-place showing as the Gophers’ number-two runner. Blankenship crossed the finish line in 24:11.2. Matt Barrett was 60th in a time of 24:39.1, while Pieter Gagnon placed 90th in 25:00.8. Paul Hilsen was the final Gopher scorer, placing 162nd in 25:51.3.
“We had a good, not great outing, today,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “Our top four ran solid but we just need to move our fifth guy up. That gap between 90 and 162 is too big. It’s the different. We have another runner up there in the mix and we would have a much better finish as a team.”
Other Gophers competing were Sean Olson, who placed 173rd in 25:59.6, and Travis Burkstrand, who finished 200th in 26:24.7.
The Gophers compiled 341 points in the team standings. Stanford captured the team win in the White Race with 47 behind individual titlist Chris Derrick (23:27.1). Oregon won the Blue Race team title with 79 points.
Mead Wins Griak Title, Gophers Fourth as a Team
Golden Gopher All-American Hassan Mead set Minnesota history on Saturday (Sept. 26), becoming the first Minnesota men’s cross country runner to capture medalist honors at the Roy Griak Invitational. Mead, running his first meet of the 2009 season, covered the 8-kilometer course in a time of 24 minutes, 37.5 seconds.
Despite placing three runners in the top six, Minnesota finished fourth in the team standings with 101 points. Ben Blankenship posted an impressive fourth-place finish running a time of 24:56.9, while Matt Barrett tallied a sixth-place showing in 25:01.0.
Mead pushed the pace of the race early on then ran comfortably from the front and extending his lead. The defending Big Ten champion, Mead won the Griak crown by over 12 seconds over runner-up Iowa State’s Guor Majak.
Minnesota Coaching Staff
Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia is in his 14th season leading the Minnesota program. Plasencia has guided the Gophers to NCAA Championships berths in 11 of his 13 years with his alma mater with the 2007 eighth-place NCAA finish the Gophers’ best since 1969. Volunteer assistant coach Jason Rengo is in his first year with the Gophers.
Big Ten Conference Cross County Championships
Sunday, Nov. 1
Men - 9:45 a.m. CT
Women - 10:45 a.m. CT
University Park, Pa.
Penn State Cross Country Course
TV Coverage: Big Ten Network
Tape-Delayed Broadcast
Sunday, Nov. 15 – 12 noon CT
Golden Gopher Watch List — Oct. 28, 2009
• Big Ten Championships Up Next - The Minnesota men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to University Park, Pa., to compete in the 2009 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships on Sunday, Nov. 1. The 5.2-mile men’s race begins at 9:45 a.m. (CT), followed immediately by the 6-kilometer men’s race at 10:45 a.m. (CT). Penn State is hosting the Championships at the Penn State Cross Country Course.
• Mead Seeks Defense of Individual Crown - Junior All-American Hassan Mead is the defending Big Ten men’s individual champion. Mead has been named the Big Ten Runner of the Week twice in 2009. Fred Watson (1913-15) and Garry Bjorklund (1969-71) are the multiple Big Ten champs in Minnesota history.
• Golden Gopher Women Look For Three-Peat - The Minnesota women’s cross country team is the two-time defending team champion, having won their first BIg Ten cross country crown in 2007 and defending the title in 2008. Senior All-American Megan Duwell, fourth at the Big Ten meet in 2008, has been the Gophers’ number-one runner all season.
• BTN Coverage - The Big Ten Network will televise the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 12 noon (CT).
Big Ten Championships
The Minnesota men’s cross country team travels to University Park, Pa., to compete in the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships, hosted by Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 1. The 95th running of the Big Ten men’s race begins at 9:45 a.m. (CT, and will be immediately followed by the women’s race. The men’s race is the final 8-kilometer event (or in this case approximate 8K distance) 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.
Added Twist in Men’s Race - Distance of 5.2 Miles
The world of collegiate men’s cross country is typically run in kilometers, 8 kilometers to be exact, during the regular season. The Gophers will face the challenge of running not only on an unfamiliar course (the last time Minnesota ran at Penn State was at the 1999 Big Ten Championships), but also a race approximately 500 meters longer than a normal 8-kilometer course.
This was a detail that Minnesota Steve Plasencia only was made aware of a few weeks ago.
“I was caught by surprise when I saw the race distance was 5.2 instead of 8K,” said Plasencia. “Later, I recalled that 10 years ago we did the same thing at Penn State due to a longstanding configuration of their course. Race-wise the longer distance (just over .2 miles) is minor, yet significant, as places could be altered over the last meters. I would think in the future we would want to standardize this.”
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, 2006 and 2008.
The Gophers have had five runners win Big Ten individual crowns a total of nine times. Fred Watson (1913-15) and Gary Bjorklund (1969-71) each captured three titles. Leonard Edeleen won the 1957 title, while Chris Rombough in 2006 and Hassan Mead in 2008 captured Conference titles during their sophomore seasons.
Defending Big Ten Champions
Wisconsin is the 10-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, 08
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
The Golden Gopher Lineup
Nine of the 10 Golden Gophers below will compete at the Big Ten Championships. Following their name is a listing of any previous experience at the Big Ten Championships.
Matt Barrett (Sr., Monroe, Wis./Monroe HS)
2007 - 45th, 25:03.90
2008 - 15th, 25:01.4
Ben Blankenship (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS/Mississippi State)
2008 - 25th, 25:16.3
Travis Burkstrand (R-Fr., Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS)
Pieter Gagnon (R-Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS)
Paul Hilsen (R-Fr., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS)
Kevin Lachowitzer (R-Fr., Perham, Minn./Perham HS)
Mike McFarland (Jr., Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead HS)
2007 - 33rd, 24:48.40
2008 - 42nd, 25:33.0
Hassan Mead (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South HS)
2007 - 2nd, 23:47.70
2008 - 1st, 24:26.4
Sean Olson (So., Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie HS)
2008 - 31st, 25:26.3
Derek Storkel (Fr., Tomah, Wis./Tomah HS)
Mead Continues to Build on Impressive Minnesota Resume
Junior Hassan Mead continues to build on a Minnesota running resume that already has him ranked among the very best to ever compete for the Maroon and Gold. Mead captured All-America cross country honors in both 2007 and 2008 after placing second (freshman season) and first (sophomore season) at the Big Ten Championships. Mead is also a three-time track All-American. He has already won five individual Big Ten track titles, winning the outdoor 5,000 meters in both his first two season with the Golden Gophers.
Mead Claims Second Big Ten Weekly Honor of 2009 Season
For the second time in the 2009 season, Minnesota junior All-American Hassan Mead was honored as the Big Ten Conference Runner of the Week. Mead tallied a third-place finish in the White Race at the Pre-NCAA Meet in Terre Haute, Ind. He clocked a time of 23 minutes, 49.2 seconds over the 8-kilometer LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
The award is the fourth of Mead’s Golden Gopher career. The Big Ten defending champion, Mead was honored twice with Runner of the Week accolades during the 2008 campaign, and earlier this season after winning the Griak Invitational title.
Mead Fifth in Pre-NCAA White Race
Hassan Mead placed fifth in the White Race at the Pre-NCAA Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 17. Minnesota placed 11th as a team. The meet is held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the same facility that plays host to the NCAA Championships in November. An 8-kilometer course was traversed in the Pre-NCAA Meet. The race distance will jump to 10 kilometers for the national meet.
Mead clocked a time of 23 minutes, 49.2 seconds over a soft, somewhat muddy course. A year ago, Mead set the Minnesota 8-kilometer record at the Gibson Course with a time of 23:33.1.
Ben Blankenship tallied a 24th-place showing as the Gophers’ number-two runner. Blankenship crossed the finish line in 24:11.2. Matt Barrett was 60th in a time of 24:39.1, while Pieter Gagnon placed 90th in 25:00.8. Paul Hilsen was the final Gopher scorer, placing 162nd in 25:51.3.
“We had a good, not great outing, today,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “Our top four ran solid but we just need to move our fifth guy up. That gap between 90 and 162 is too big. It’s the different. We have another runner up there in the mix and we would have a much better finish as a team.”
Other Gophers competing were Sean Olson, who placed 173rd in 25:59.6, and Travis Burkstrand, who finished 200th in 26:24.7.
The Gophers compiled 341 points in the team standings. Stanford captured the team win in the White Race with 47 behind individual titlist Chris Derrick (23:27.1). Oregon won the Blue Race team title with 79 points.
Mead Wins Griak Title, Gophers Fourth as a Team
Golden Gopher All-American Hassan Mead set Minnesota history on Saturday (Sept. 26), becoming the first Minnesota men’s cross country runner to capture medalist honors at the Roy Griak Invitational. Mead, running his first meet of the 2009 season, covered the 8-kilometer course in a time of 24 minutes, 37.5 seconds.
Despite placing three runners in the top six, Minnesota finished fourth in the team standings with 101 points. Ben Blankenship posted an impressive fourth-place finish running a time of 24:56.9, while Matt Barrett tallied a sixth-place showing in 25:01.0.
Mead pushed the pace of the race early on then ran comfortably from the front and extending his lead. The defending Big Ten champion, Mead won the Griak crown by over 12 seconds over runner-up Iowa State’s Guor Majak.
Minnesota Coaching Staff
Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia is in his 14th season leading the Minnesota program. Plasencia has guided the Gophers to NCAA Championships berths in 11 of his 13 years with his alma mater with the 2007 eighth-place NCAA finish the Gophers’ best since 1969. Volunteer assistant coach Jason Rengo is in his first year with the Gophers.
Players Mentioned
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