University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Ready for NCAA Indoor Track Championships
3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Saturday-Sunday
March 12-13, 2010
Hosted by U. of Arkansas
Randal Tyson Track Center
Fayetteville, Ark.
2010 Minnesota Men’s Track & Field Watch List
• Golden Gophers Take Impressive Number to NCAAs - The Minnesota men’s track & field team will be represented by eight individuals and the distance medley relay at this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, March 12-13, in Fayetteville, Ark. Minnesota tied for 14th place a year ago.
• NCAA Coverage - ESPN360 and NCAA.com will provide live streaming coverage of the NCAA Championships. ESPN2 will televise a highlight show from the meet on March 17 at 12:30 p.m. CT.
• Gophers’ Contingent Lead by Studt - Two-time shot put All-American Aaron Studt leads the way for the Gophers. Studt was the national runner-up in the event last year. He will also compete in the weight throw.
• Rombough Back in 3K - Chris Rombough earned All-America honors in the 3,000-meter run last season and returns to the NCAA field in 2010. Rombough also earned three NCAA cross country All-America citations.
• Blankenship Smashes School Mile Record - Ben Blankenship smashed the Gopher mile record and recorded the first sub-4 minute mile in Minnesota history (3:57.87) in earning his NCAA berth.
Gophers Travel to NCAA Indoor Championships
Eight Minnesota men’s track & field athletes and the Golden Gophers’ distance medley relay will compete this weekend in the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The University of Arkansas will host the national meet, Saturday-Sunday, March 12-13 at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Coverage of the Championships
ESPN360.com will stream portions of the championships live both days. Remaining coverage will be available on www.NCAA.com. Additionally, ESPN2 will air a 90-minute show on Wednesday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m. CT.
Gophers Ranked No. 7
Minnesota was tabbed No. 7 in the March 9 U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association poll. Florida owns the No. 1 ranking followed by Oregon and Texas A&M. Other Big Ten teams ranked are Indiana at No. 12 and Penn State at No. 14.
Minnesota Wins Big Ten Team Title
The Golden Gophers won six individual titles to win the Big Ten Indoor team title amassing an impressive tally of 160.5 points, the second-highest winning total in Big Ten history. Minnesota’s 48-point margin of victory (over runner-up Ohio State’s 112.5) is also the second-best in the 99th running of the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The Gophers celebrated back-to-back Big Ten team indoor track titles (2009, 2010) for the first time in their history.
Betting on a Top-20 NCAA Finish
Minnesota entered the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships after winning a Big Ten indoor title in 1998 and 2009. Both seasons, Minnesota finished 14th (tie in 2009) at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Minnesota at the NCAAs
The Golden Gophers’ highest finish at an NCAA Indoor Championships was seventh in 2003. Over the last 10 years, Minnesota has posted four top-20 finishes including a tie for 14th in 2009.
All-American Studt Adds Weight Throw
Senior Aaron Studt is a two-time All-American in the shot put, including a national runner-up finish a year ago. Studt will make his second career NCAA Indoor appearance in the shot put and his first in the weight throw. He is seeded third in the shot put coming into the NCAAs after landing a career-best throw of 63-6 3/4 in winning the 2010 Big Ten title. Studt was a double Big Ten titlist this season winning his first crown in the weight. His best in the weight throw in 2010 is 69-7 1/2, nearly 3 feet better than his previous personal best in the event. Studt is seeded seventh in the weight throw.
Rombough Looks to Add to Impressive Gopher Resume
Chris Rombough already owns the distinction of being the first three-time NCAA cross country All-American in Minnesota history. As a fifth-year senior, Rombough looks to add to his track resume. He captured his first track national accolade last season placing seventh in the 3,000-meter run in 2009.
Fisher Hoping for a Happy Ending This Time
Senior Matt Fisher advanced to both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships a year ago, both competitions ending in ways he’d rather forget. Fisher no-heighted in his NCAA debut at last year’s indoor national meet. Even worse, Fisher suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the NCAA outdoor meet last spring. Fisher has cleared a season-best of 7-2 1/2 this season.
Multiple Gophers in Multiple-Event Heptathlon Field
The NCAA field of 16 heptathletes includes an impressive trio of Golden Gophers in senior R.J. McGinnis, junior Brock Spandl and redshirt freshman Jack Szmanda. All three are making their NCAA Indoor Championships’ debut, though McGinnis is a veteran of two outdoor national meets in the decathlon. McGinnis captured his second Big Ten title in the event is seeded fourth in the NCAA field. Szmanda, the Big Ten runner-up, is seeded 11th and is the top freshman in the field. Spandl finished third in the Big Ten and enters the NCAA meet seeded 12th.
Blankenship Takes Performance to Another Level
Sophomore Ben Blankenship will compete in the mile run at his first appearance at an NCAA Indoor Championships. The Big Ten champion is seeded third in the field with a time of 3:57.87. Blankenship can draw on his experience of competing at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor meet in the 1,500 meters.
Distance Medley Relay Jumps into NCAA Field at Qualifier Meet
The Golden Gopher distance medley relay headed to Notre Dame and the Alex Wilson Invitational with one goal in mind – to run a time fast enough to earn an NCAA berth. Mission accomplished as the foursome of Andy Richardson, Logan Stroman, Harun Abda and Chris Rombough teamed to clock a time of 9:33.86, the second-fastest DMR in Minnesota history. Coaches do have the option of running Ben Blankenship for a leg of the relay. The Gophers are seeded 10th.
Blankenship Smashes Record with First Sub-4 Minute Mile in Gopher History
Ben Blankenship smashed the Golden Gopher school record in the mile run winning the title at the Washington Qualifier on March 6, running a time of 3 minutes, 57.87 seconds. The time broke a 10 year-old record (Andrew McKessock, 4:02.56, 2000) and marked the first sub-4 minute mile in school history. Blankenship, who captured the Big Ten title in the event, edged a pair of Oregon Ducks: one current – All-American A.J. Acousta – and one former All-American – Galen Rupp now running for Nike. Acousta ran a time of 3:58.08, while Rupp was clocked at 3:58.79.
Rombough Breaks School Record in 3,000 Meters
Chris Rombough set a new Minnesota school record in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 7:54.57 at the Husky Classic in Seattle on Feb. 13. Rombough placed 10th in the talented field, clocking an NCAA provisional qualifier and just seven-hundreds (0.07) of a second off an automatic qualifying time. Rombough broke the record of teammate Hassan Mead (7:56.15 – 2009).
Gophers Collect Top Big Ten Honors
The Big Ten Conference indoor men’s track champion Golden Gophers added two honors to their resume as Aaron Studt was named the Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Championships and Steve Plasencia was selected by his peers as the Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year.
Studt, a senior thrower from Ripon, Wis., captured Big Ten individual titles in both the shot put and weight throw in leading Minnesota to the team titles. Studt has qualified for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in both events.
Plasencia was awarded his third consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year award, adding the 2010 accolade to those from the 2009 indoor and 2009 outdoor seasons.
Ohio State sprinter Thomas Murdaugh earned both the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year and Track Athlete of the Championships awards. Indiana high jumper Derek Drouin was named the Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Year, while Indiana distance runner Andy Bayer was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Big Ten champions are also accorded All-Big Ten First Team status. First-teamers for the Gophers were Ben Blankenship (mile), Harun Abda (600 meters), R.J. McGinnis (heptathlon), Ben Peterson (pole vault) and Studt (shot put and weight). Big Ten Championships runners-up are awarded All-Big Ten Second Team. Gopher second team honorees are Matt Fisher (high jump), Jack Szmanda (heptathlon) and Logan Stroman (600 meters).
Minnesota Defends Big Ten Indoor Title
A sweep of the top three places in the heptathlon and five other individual champions propelled the Golden Gophers to their second straight Big Ten men's indoor track and field championship on Feb. 27-28, at the Minnesota’s University Fieldhouse.
"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 the meet’s opening day.
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.
Studt repeated as shot put champion in dramatic fashion capturing the title with his final throw of the day. In prelims, the senior had fouled twice and moved to the finals trailing Joe Kovacs of Penn State. Studt's first two throws of finals left him at the second spot, and it wasn’t until the pressure was on that he heaved the best toss of his career – 63-6 3/4 – to be crowned Big Ten champ. Just missing the podium but grabbing points in the shot put was Trey Davis who took fourth with a personal best toss of 57-5 1/2.
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 1/4 to win by nearly five inches after placing fourth last season. Micah Hegerle was fifth for the Gophers in 64-2 1/2.
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 1/2. Last year's runner-up, Derek Drouin of Indiana, had an NCAA automatic qualifying performance to win the event in 7-5.
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.
Peterson captured his first Big Ten title in the pole vault on his very last attempt at the winning height of 17-6 1/2. Peterson was trailing Purdue's Eric Sparks in misses as he lined up his third and final attempt, but had the crowd behind him as he cleared the bar. The mark was a personal best for his career. He was joined on the podium with teammate Brock Spandl who placed third.
Head Coach Steve Plasencia
Minnesota’s Steve Plasencia is in his second season as the Golden Gopher head coach after leading the Gophers to a pair of Big Ten titles in his first season as the head coach. Plasencia has served the Gophers’ head men’s cross country coach for 14 season and added the title of head track coach in June of 2008. Plasencia is just the fourth Minnesota head track coach since 1937.
Smart Guys in a Good Way
Four Minnesota men’s tracksters were honored with Top-Five Scholar-Athlete Awards at the recent Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Ceremony. Mike Torchia (biochemistry major) was honored with his second Top-Five Award and was joined by Addison Demer (genetics/cell biology major), Sean Duling (political science major) and Mike Shelendich (biochemistry major). The award recognized the five male student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point averages.
The 2010 Team Captains
The Golden Gopher team captains for the 2009 season are R.J. McGinnis, Joe Plencner, Chris Rombough and Aaron Studt.
Players Mentioned
