University of Minnesota Athletics
DMR, Studt Capture All-America Honors
3/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Chris Rombough found himself boxed in as the distance medley relay, 4,000 meters in distance, came down to its final two laps. Nine of the 11 teams in the NCAA Indoor Championships field were bunched together and with a slower pace, it became clear that it would be a sprint to the finish.
Rombough, a fifth-year senior, gave a little ground in the final lap dropping back to fifth place but needed to do so to find a open lane to the finish line. He then used an all-out sprint in the final 50 meters of his 1,600-meter leg, passing two runners, and raising his arms in celebration as he anchored the Minnesota distance medley relay to All-America honors.
Ben Blankenship, Logan Stroman and Harun Abda joined Rombough on the relay clocking a time of 9 minutes, 38.09 seconds.
“I’m so happy for those guys,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “Chris actually twisted an ankle at one point late. He finished that race on pure desire.”
Minnesota finished the first day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with nine team points.
The Golden Gophers also received an All-America performance by senior Aaron Studt in the shot put. Studt placed sixth landing a throw of 61-feet, 5 1/2 inches. Studt is the first Gopher to capture back-to-back All-America honors in the shot put since Ron Backes accomplished the feat in 1985-86. The national accolade was Studt’s third of his Minnesota career. He will compete in the weight throw on Saturday.
Three Gophers are competing in the heptathlon with Big Ten champion R.J. McGinnis in second place after four events with 3,200 points. Jack Szmanda is in 12th place with 2,975 points, while Brock Spandl is in 15th with 2,869 points.
McGinnis opened by running a time of 7.12 seconds in the 60-meter dash to score 823 points, then landed a leap of 22 7 1/4 (788 points) in the long jump. The Gopher senior began to up move in the field with a second-place showing in the shot put with a throw of 49-6 1/4 scoring 795 points. McGinnis tied for fourth in the high jump clearing 6-6 1/4 (794 points).
Szmanda, the Big Ten runner-up, was seventh both the shot put (43-5 3/4) and the high jump (6-4). He ran a time of 7.27 in the 60 meters and notched a distance of 22-3 1/2 in the long jump.
Spandl’s best event was the high jump, where he cleared 6-4. His other performances were 7.22 in the 60 meters, 36-0 1/4 in the shot put and 22-5 1/4 in the long jump. Spandl has a chance to make up some ground with his best event, the pole vault, on Saturday.
Oregon’s Ashton Eaton owns a commanding lead in the heptathlon with 3,561 after day one. Eaton is not only the defending NCAA champion but also set the collegiate record with a score of 6,256 points earlier this season.
The heptathlon concludes with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run on Saturday.
Blankenship also competed in the prelims of the mile run but did not advance. Blankenship ran a time of 4:07.91 to finish with the 14th-fastest time in prelims. The top 10 advance to the final.
In addition to the heptathletes and Studt in the weight, the Gophers will also have Matt Fisher (high jump) and Rombough (3,000 meters) compete on Saturday.
Rombough, a fifth-year senior, gave a little ground in the final lap dropping back to fifth place but needed to do so to find a open lane to the finish line. He then used an all-out sprint in the final 50 meters of his 1,600-meter leg, passing two runners, and raising his arms in celebration as he anchored the Minnesota distance medley relay to All-America honors.
Ben Blankenship, Logan Stroman and Harun Abda joined Rombough on the relay clocking a time of 9 minutes, 38.09 seconds.
“I’m so happy for those guys,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “Chris actually twisted an ankle at one point late. He finished that race on pure desire.”
Minnesota finished the first day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with nine team points.
The Golden Gophers also received an All-America performance by senior Aaron Studt in the shot put. Studt placed sixth landing a throw of 61-feet, 5 1/2 inches. Studt is the first Gopher to capture back-to-back All-America honors in the shot put since Ron Backes accomplished the feat in 1985-86. The national accolade was Studt’s third of his Minnesota career. He will compete in the weight throw on Saturday.
Three Gophers are competing in the heptathlon with Big Ten champion R.J. McGinnis in second place after four events with 3,200 points. Jack Szmanda is in 12th place with 2,975 points, while Brock Spandl is in 15th with 2,869 points.
McGinnis opened by running a time of 7.12 seconds in the 60-meter dash to score 823 points, then landed a leap of 22 7 1/4 (788 points) in the long jump. The Gopher senior began to up move in the field with a second-place showing in the shot put with a throw of 49-6 1/4 scoring 795 points. McGinnis tied for fourth in the high jump clearing 6-6 1/4 (794 points).
Szmanda, the Big Ten runner-up, was seventh both the shot put (43-5 3/4) and the high jump (6-4). He ran a time of 7.27 in the 60 meters and notched a distance of 22-3 1/2 in the long jump.
Spandl’s best event was the high jump, where he cleared 6-4. His other performances were 7.22 in the 60 meters, 36-0 1/4 in the shot put and 22-5 1/4 in the long jump. Spandl has a chance to make up some ground with his best event, the pole vault, on Saturday.
Oregon’s Ashton Eaton owns a commanding lead in the heptathlon with 3,561 after day one. Eaton is not only the defending NCAA champion but also set the collegiate record with a score of 6,256 points earlier this season.
The heptathlon concludes with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run on Saturday.
Blankenship also competed in the prelims of the mile run but did not advance. Blankenship ran a time of 4:07.91 to finish with the 14th-fastest time in prelims. The top 10 advance to the final.
In addition to the heptathletes and Studt in the weight, the Gophers will also have Matt Fisher (high jump) and Rombough (3,000 meters) compete on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
MD
/ Men's Track & Field
MD
/ Men's Track & Field
HJ
/ Men's Track & FieldJS
/ Men's Track & Field
DIS
/ Men's Track & Field
PV
/ Men's Track & FieldMD
/ Men's Track & Field
THR
/ Men's Track & Field
PV
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