University of Minnesota Athletics
Aaron Studt Earns All-America Honors in Shot Put
6/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Golden Gopher junior Aaron Studt placed fifth in the shot put to capture All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. Studt is now a two-time All-American in the event.
Studt, this season’s Big Ten indoor and outdoor champion, landed a career-best throw of 63 feet, 2 3/4 on his second attempt. He enjoyed a solid series bettering the 60-foot mark on every one of his legal throws. His distance betters his own No. 3 mark in school history. Studt is the first indoor and outdoor Gopher All-American in a throwing event since Karl Erickson accomplished the feat in the shot put in 2006.
R. J. McGinnis was hoping an elbow injury from the Big Ten Championships wouldn’t flare up. He didn’t warm up by throwing the javelin but by stretching. He took one attempt, a painful one, and that was all the elbow would take. The throw sailed just 133-7, a far cry from his career-best throw of 195-0 from last year’s NCAA Championships in the event. The throw scored just 453 points and dropped the Gopher junior out of All-America contention.
After over nine hours of competition, McGinnis courageously decided to finish the decathlon and compete in the grueling 10th and final event, the 1,500 meters. McGinnis ran a time of 4:52.84 to finish the decathlon in 17th place with a score of 7,294 points.
McGinnis opened the second day of competition in 11th place and made a move to eighth place (the top eight earn All-America honors) by running a time of 14.77 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles to add 878 points to his total. He moved to as high as seventh in the standings by scoring 687 points with a throw of 134-9 in the discus. McGinnis cleared 14-1 3/4 in the pole vault before the injury bug bit in the javelin.
Ben Blankenship ran in his first NCAA Track Championships and clocked a career-best 1,500-meter run time of 3:42.47, the fifth-best time in school history. Blankenship tried to push the pace in his heat, the third of three, taking the lead early and holding it until 200 meters to go. He went on to finish fifth in the heat and 14th in the qualifying round overall.
CBS College Sports Network will televise the NCAA Championships on Friday from 6-9 p.m. CBS will televise live from the meet from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday
Studt, this season’s Big Ten indoor and outdoor champion, landed a career-best throw of 63 feet, 2 3/4 on his second attempt. He enjoyed a solid series bettering the 60-foot mark on every one of his legal throws. His distance betters his own No. 3 mark in school history. Studt is the first indoor and outdoor Gopher All-American in a throwing event since Karl Erickson accomplished the feat in the shot put in 2006.
R. J. McGinnis was hoping an elbow injury from the Big Ten Championships wouldn’t flare up. He didn’t warm up by throwing the javelin but by stretching. He took one attempt, a painful one, and that was all the elbow would take. The throw sailed just 133-7, a far cry from his career-best throw of 195-0 from last year’s NCAA Championships in the event. The throw scored just 453 points and dropped the Gopher junior out of All-America contention.
After over nine hours of competition, McGinnis courageously decided to finish the decathlon and compete in the grueling 10th and final event, the 1,500 meters. McGinnis ran a time of 4:52.84 to finish the decathlon in 17th place with a score of 7,294 points.
McGinnis opened the second day of competition in 11th place and made a move to eighth place (the top eight earn All-America honors) by running a time of 14.77 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles to add 878 points to his total. He moved to as high as seventh in the standings by scoring 687 points with a throw of 134-9 in the discus. McGinnis cleared 14-1 3/4 in the pole vault before the injury bug bit in the javelin.
Ben Blankenship ran in his first NCAA Track Championships and clocked a career-best 1,500-meter run time of 3:42.47, the fifth-best time in school history. Blankenship tried to push the pace in his heat, the third of three, taking the lead early and holding it until 200 meters to go. He went on to finish fifth in the heat and 14th in the qualifying round overall.
CBS College Sports Network will televise the NCAA Championships on Friday from 6-9 p.m. CBS will televise live from the meet from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Track & Field
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/ Men's Track & FieldCHS Home Grown Gophers: Emmett Gerres
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