University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Men Repeat as Big Ten Indoor Champions
3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
"This means a lot to the program," head coach Steve Plasencia said. "The way we've been able to keep things going it seems like it's been coming for the last 10 or 12 years. Right now, it feels like this team is a very strong team."
The Gophers totaled 160.50 team points, the second most in Big Ten Men's Indoor Championship history, to easily outdistance the rest of the field. Ohio State was second with 112.50 points and Wisconsin was third with 81.00 points. The point total also bettered the margin of last year's title, when Minnesota outscored second-place Michigan by 42 points. This marks the first back-to-back indoor titles for Minnesota, and the third overall in program history.
"I scored it out last night and I scored it conservatively," Plasencia said. "And actually had Ohio State having us by a few points. Our guys came out today and seized it, and there is nothing you can say but congratulations to them on that effort. It meant so much for our guys to be able to do it at home. We don't get the opportunity to do things that often where people recognize what we do, you could feel it build within them. It seems like it's been building in them all indoor season."
R.J. McGinnis successfully defended his heptathlon title and Aaron Studt captured the weight throw title after taking the shot put crown on Saturday. Ben Blankenship claimed the title in the mile and Harun Abda took the 600-meter championship. Ben Peterson was the champion in the pole vault on Saturday.
McGinnis was in second place entering final event of the heptathlon, the 1000-meter run, and placed second in the event in 2:43.17 to move past teammate Jack Szmanda for the overall win. McGinnis totaled 5,708 points, while Szmanda was second with 5,643 points and Brock Spandl was third with 5,629 points. Spandl won the heptathlon pole vault title on Sunday and was second in the 60-meter hurdles event to move into third place overall. McGinnis' point total was the second best in the Big Ten this season.
For the second straight day, Studt entered the finals of his event in second place and won on the final throw. He took the weight throw title with a heave of 66-9.25 to win by nearly five inches after placing fourth last season. Micah Hegerle was fifth for the Gophers in 64-2.50.
Blankenship captured the Big Ten title in the mile with a winning time of 4:05.64. Blankenship, who placed fourth in the event last year, took the lead in the final two laps of the race and held off Indiana's Andrew Bayer by 0.27 seconds for the victory. Andy Richardson was sixth and Paul Hilsen was seventh in the event for the Gophers.
Abda won pulled away from the field to take the 600-meter title with a winning time of 1:17.76. Logan Stroman finished second for the Gophers by winning his section of the finals with a time of 1:18.19. David Pachuta was sixth overall.
Defending Big Ten high jump champion Matt Fisher placed second with a jump of 7-2.50. Last year's runner-up, Derek Drouin of Indiana, had an NCAA automatic qualifying performance to win the event in 7-5.0.
Travis Burkstrand added a third place finish in the 800-meter run in 1:51.56. In the 5000 meters, Chris Rombough was fourth in 14:17.23 and Mike Torchia was one-tenth of a second behind to place fifth. The 4x400-meter relay team of John Holton, Abda, Pachuta and Stroman placed fourth with a time of 3:13.57.
In the 4x400 Ohio State won in a time of 3:11.18 to set a new University Fieldhouse record. In all four University Fieldhouse records were set as Andrew Riley of Illinois won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.81 seconds, Thomas Murdagh of Ohio State claimed the 400-meter dash in 46.67 seconds and Ryan Foster of Penn State took the 800-meter run in 1:50.43.
The entire 2010 Big Ten Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships will be aired by the Big Ten Network on Mar. 9 at 9:00 p.m.
The NCAA Championships are in two weeks, March 12-13, hosted by the University of Arkansas.
Final Team Scores
1) Minnesota, 160.50
2) Ohio State, 112.50
3) Wisconsin, 81
4) Purdue, 67
5) Iowa, 56
6) Indiana, 51
6) Penn State, 51
8) Michigan, 42
9) Michigan State, 41
10) Illinois, 40
Players Mentioned
