University of Minnesota Athletics
Big Ten Champs Off to NCAA West Prelims
5/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Gopher Track This Week:
NCAA West Preliminary Round
Thursday-Saturday – May 27-29, 2010
Mike A. Myers Stadium
Austin, Texas
Host: University of Texas
2010 Minnesota Men’s Track & Field Watch List
• Golden Gophers Travel to Texas for NCAA West Preliminary Round - The Minnesota men’s track & field team will be represented by 21 athletes this week at the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas plays host to the meet on Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29.
• NCAA Format Change - Instead of holding four regional championships around the nation, the NCAA changed the format for qualifying for the NCAA Championships to a two-meet Preliminary Round format. Texas and North Carolina A&T will host the meets with the top 12 finishers and relays advancing to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 9-12.
• Taking the Momentum Outdoors - Minnesota looks to continue its momentum from the indoor season where the Golden Gophers placed eighth in the NCAA Indoor Track Championships.
• Gophers Defend Big Ten Title - Minnesota captured its fourth consecutive (indoor/outdoor) Big Ten team title and celebrated three Gophers winning individual crowns - Ben Peterson (pole vault), Micah Hegerle (hammer) and R.J. McGinnis (decathlon).
Gophers Off to Texas for NCAA West Preliminary
Big Ten champion Minnesota will have 21 student-athletes competing this week at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round Meet in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas will host the meet Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29, at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
A Different Format for the NCAAs
This is the first season in which the NCAA will host East and West Preliminary Round meets. The East Preliminary Round meet will be held May 27-29 at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.
The Gophers will be joined by three other Big Ten teams in the West: Illinois, Iowa and Illinois. The seven remaining BIg Ten teams head to the East Preliminary Round site.
In all individual events, except the decathlon, the top 48 qualifiers receive Preliminary Round bids. The top 24 relays qualify for the Prelims. To advance to the NCAA Championships in Oregon on June 9-12, athletes and relays must finish in the top 12 of the respective Preliminary Rounds.
The top 24 decathletes on the NCAA descending order list punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships without having to qualify through preliminary rounds.
Watch the Meet Online
The NCAA West Preliminary Round meet will be streamed online all three days at www.ncaa.com/sports/c-otrack/champpage/c-otrack-div1-west-index.html.
The Gopher Roster Breakdown
The 21 Golden Gophers advancing to the 2010 NCAA West Preliminary Round includes 19 athletes competing in individual events and the 4x400-meter relay. Gophers will compete in 13 of the 20 events at the West Preliminary Round meet.
Gopher decathlete R.J. McGinnis has already earned a berth to the NCAA Championships as one of the top 24 decathletes in the nation.
Riding the Momentum of Indoor NCAAs
The Golden Gophers have six athletes competing this week who helped Minnesota to an eighth-place showing at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships. Of those six, Chris Rombough (5,000 meters, Ben Blankenship (1,500 meters) and Matt Fisher (high jump) seek a return trip to the NCAA Outdoor meet. The others will compete in different events than during the indoor championships - Logan Stroman (DMR indoor, 4x400m relay outdoor), Harun Abda (DMR indoor, 4x400m relay and 800 meters outdoor), Brock Spandl (heptathlon indoor, pole vault outdoor).
A Different Look to the Maroon and Gold
The Golden Gophers heads into NCAA competition without two of their standouts from last season, All-Americans Hassan Mead (5,000 meters) and Aaron Studt (shot put). Mead has missed the 2010 indoor and outdoor season with an Achilles tendon injury, while Studt decided to save his last outdoor season of eligibility for his fifth year of school. Both are expected to return to action next season.
These Gophers are Talented, but Very Young
A dozen (12) of the 21 Gophers competing in the NCAA West Preliminary Round are either freshman or sophomores. Chris Rombough, Matt Barrett, Logan Stroman and Raymond Blackledge are the only seniors on the Gophers’ post-season roster for the preliminary meet.
West Preliminary Round – Gophers’ Event Preview
Following is an event-by-event for the Gophers at the NCAA West Preliminary Round.
The 100 meters – Sophomore Sean King is the only Gophers sprinter set to compete in an individual event. King, who clocked a career-best time of 10.57 seconds this season, looks to erase a bad memory from the Big Ten meet where he entered ranked second but did not make the final.
The 800 meters – This event features three Gopher entrants: Harun Abda, Travis Burkstrand and David Pachuta. Abda, a true freshman, earned All-America honors earlier this season as a member of the Minnesota distance medley relay that placed third at the NCAA indoor meet. He is seeded 11th entering the West Prelims with a time of 1:48.62. Abda will also anchor the Gophers’ 4x400-meter relay. Burkstrand, a redshirt freshman, is coming off a career effort in placing third in the Big Ten meet in 1:49.30, a time seeded 19th. Sophomore Pachuta’s best time is 1:49.67.
The 1,500 meters – Junior Ben Blankenship is seeded eighth with a time of 3:41.96. Blankenship earned his first NCAA Championship appearance in the 1,500m last year after finishing as the Midwest Region runner-up. Sophomore Andy Richardson will make his second prelim/regional NCAA appearance. His season-best time is 3:46.21.
The 5,000 meters – Fifth-year senior Chris Rombough has advanced to the NCAA Championships in the this event the last two seasons. Rombough is coming off two important runner-up finishes in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the Big Ten Championships. He is seeded 11th with a career-best time of 13:48.80 clocked at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Junior Mike Torchia will make his second trip to the NCAA prelim/regional round. Torchia ran a career-best time of 14:02.86 this season.
The 10,000 meters – Senior Matt Barrett and redshirt freshman Pieter Gagnon will run in an NCAA track post-season competition for the first time. Barrett enters with a time of 29:35.09, while Gagnon’s top time is 29:46.25.
The 4x400-meter relay – The foursome of John Holton, Logan Stroman, David Pachuta and Harun Abda clocked a time of 3:08.66 at the Big Ten’s to garner a prelim invite. The relay is seeded 18th.
The High Jump – Senior Matt Fisher will compete in his third NCAA prelim/regional looking for a return trip to the NCAA Championships. Fisher is seeded seventh with a height of 7-2 1/4.
The Pole Vault: Big Ten champion Ben Peterson is coming off a career vault of 17-8 1/2 at the Conference Championships. Peterson advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2008, but missed the 2009 season with an injury. He enters the meet tied for the No. 6 seed. Brock Spandl, an All-American heptathlete during the indoor season, will make his third appearance in an NCAA prelim/regional meet. Spandl is tied of the 20th seed with a height of 17-0 3/4.
The Triple Jump – Fifth-year senior Raymond Blackledge and true freshman Oladipo Fagbemi both enter the West Prelims with identical best marks of 50-2. It is the first NCAA competition for Blackledge.
The Shot Put – Sophomore Trey Davis is seeded 11th coming off his career-best throw of 60-0 1/2 in placing second in the Big Ten Championships. Davis will make his second NCAA prelim/regional appearance in the event.
The Discus – The Gophers will have three throwers compete in the discus: redshirt freshman Micah Hegerle, Trey Davis and sophomore Tyler Kleinhuinzen. Davis competed in the regional in this event last year. Hegerle’s top throw of the season is 175-6, while Davis’ best is 172-5 and Kleinhuizen’s is 171-9.
The Hammer – Big Ten champion Micah Hegerle is seeded eighth with his top throw of the season - 211-5. Tyler Kleinhuizen will also compete in the hammer. His best throw this season is 185-0.
Trio of Big Ten Champions Leads Minnesota to Title
The Gophers had three athletes capture Big Ten individual titles to help Minnesota defend its team Conference crown. Micah Hegerle won the hammer throw with a toss of 208-3, while Ben Peterson captured the victory in the pole vault with a height of 17-8 1/2. R.J. McGinnis provided the third title, winning the decathlon with a total of 3,381 points.
Big Ten Names Plasencia the Coach of the Year
Minnesota head men’s track & field coach Steve Plasencia was honored as the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Track Men’s Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Gophers to their fourth consecutive Big Ten title. The Gophers compiled 145.0 points to capture the crown by 21 points over rival Wisconsin. Minnesota has swept the indoor and outdoor Conference titles in both 2009 and 2010. Plasencia is now a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year honoree.
“I’m honored to receive this award, but it’s so much more of a reflection of this team than anything else,” said Plasencia. “I share this award with an outstanding staff of coaches and obviously a wonderful group of student-athletes.”
The Big Ten also recognized its event champions as All-Big Ten First Team honorees. Three Gophers won Big Ten individual event titles last weekend: Micah Hegerle (hammer), Ben Peterson (pole vault) and R.J. McGinnis (decathlon). Conference runners-up are tabbed All-Big Ten Second Team honorees. Gophers honored on this squad were Chris Rombough (5,000 and 10,000 meters), Raymond Blackledge (triple jump) and Trey Davis (shot put).
Senior Logan Stroman was the Minnesota recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. These student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the Conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
Gophers are Big Ten Champions...Again! - Big Ten Championships Review
Sunday, May 16 – The Golden Gophers extended their streak of Big Ten titles to four with a 21-point margin of victory at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind., this weekend. Minnesota did not add to its individual champion count on Sunday, May 16, but the Gopher depth took over to send the Maroon and Gold home with another team trophy.
Minnesota tallied 145 points, to 124 by runner-up Wisconsin and 115 for third-place Ohio State. The Gophers scored two athletes in the triple jump and 5,000-meter run providing a insurmountable 20-point lead over the Badgers by the last event, the 4x400-meter relay.
After three Gophers celebrated individual crowns – Micah Hegerle in the hammer, Ben Peterson in the pole vault and R.J. McGinnis in the decathlon – in the first two days of competition, it was the sheer number of placewinners that pushed the Gophers over the top on championship Sunday.
The triple jump and 5,000-meter run were pressure-packed events. The Gophers have built a 63-point lead heading into Sunday. Wisconsin won the 4x100-meter relay and grabbed the top two spots in the 1,500-meter run and quickly closed the gap on Sunday. The Gophers countered with three important runner-up performances by Trey Davis in the shot put, Raymond Blackledge in the triple jump and Chris Rombough in the 5,000-meter run, as well as a big scoring output in the 800 meters.
After placing third in the discus on Saturday, Davis enjoyed another career day on Sunday in the shot put. Davis landed a career-best throw of 60-0 1/2 on his third throw of prelims and held the lead until the fifth round of throws in the final. Davis’ toss ranks eighth in school history.
Blackledge, a fifth-year senior, sailed past the 50-foot mark for the first time in his career. He was eighth after the prelims, jumped to third after his first attempt of the final and then up to second with his final jump of 50-2, the eighth-best leap in Minnesota history. Oladipo Fagbemi matched Blackledge’s distance of 50-2, but took third since Blackledge’s second-best jump was farther.
Rombough’s performance in the 5,000 meters was dramatic since at early stages of the race four Wisconsin Badgers were at the front of the pack. Rombough ran a tough, strategic race clocking a time of 13 minutes, 52.48 seconds outlasting each and every one of the Badgers. Rombough also placed second in the 10,000-meter run on Friday. Mike Torchia added a sixth-place finish in the 5,000 meters for the Gophers with a time of 14:04.02.
Minnesota picked up 14 points in the 800-meter run. Travis Burkstrand (1:49.30) edged teammate Harun Abda (1:49.36) for third place. David Pachuta was the third scorer, placing sixth in 1:49.67. Burkstrand’s and Pachuta’s times were career bests.
Ben Blankenship finished third in the 1,500-meter run, helping to outset the Badgers’ outburst in the event. Blankenship posted a time of 3:44.21.
Both the Gophers’ 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays contributed fourth-place finishes. The 4x100 relay of Sean King, Cameron Boy, Ryan Todhunter and Fagbemi ran a time of 41.43 seconds. The 4x400 relay of John Holton, Logan Stroman, Pachuta and Abda ran a season-best time of 3:08.66.
Paul Hoplin added a fourth-place showing in the javelin with a throw of 206-5.
“I’m proud of this team,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “We had some great performances from a lot of people this weekend. What can I say, we did it again!”
Saturday, May 15 – The Minnesota men’s track & field team continues to build on its team lead with titles and depth at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind. After the second day and eight events scored, Minnesota has more than doubled up its nearest competitor. The Gophers have compiled 79 points, followed by Indiana with 36, and Purdue and Wisconsin with 35.
The Golden Gophers’ brightest moment of the second day of the Championships was the performance of senior R.J. McGinnis, who captured the decathlon by just two points over Michigan’s Frank Shotwell. McGinnis needed a gutsy performance in the 1,500-meter run, the decathlon’s 10th and final event, to pull off the victory. McGinnis trailed Shotwell by 23 points going into the 1,500 meters then dug deep to find an extra gear in the race’s last 100 meters. He finished with a time of 4:35.75, beating Shotwell by just over four seconds. The final tally saw McGinnis score 7,381 points to Shotwell’s 7,379.
Jack Szmanda and Joey Schwecke added fourth and fifth-place finishes, respectively. Szmanda tallied a score of 7, 116, while Schwecke scored 7,081.
Minnesota was able to build its lead by having two or more athletes score in an event. The discus is a perfect example. The Gophers went third, fourth and sixth in the final standings. Trey Davis led the way, placing third with a throw of 172-9. Micah Hegerle, who won the hammer title on Friday, was fourth with a toss of 170-1. Tyler Kleinhuizen competed the trio’s scoring by placing sixth in a distance of 164-9.
Oladipo Fagbemi and Addison Demer contributed points in the long jump. Fagbemi placed fifth with a leap of 23-7 1/4. Demer was sixth in 23-5 1/2.
Completing the scoring on Saturday was Matt Fisher in the high jump. Fisher cleared his final bar at 6-11 1/4 .
Friday, May 14 – Minnesota captured two event titles in the first day of the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. Micah Hegerle captured the win in the hammer throw, while Ben Peterson completed an indoor-outdoor title sweep by winning the pole vault.
Hegerle, a redshirt freshmen, landed his best throw -208 feet, 3 inches – in his third attempt of prelims and the mark held. Hegerle’s winning throw was nearly eight feet farther than the second-place effort. Hegerle, who will compete in the discus on Saturday, is the second Gopher to capture a Big Ten title in the hammer.
Peterson enjoyed a career day in winning his first Big Ten outdoor title, but overall his third Conference pole vault crown. The Gopher junior cleared a personal-best height of 17-8 1/2 to capture Minnesota’s eighth pole vault title but first since 1997 (Vesa Rantanen). Peterson passed until the height of 16-8 3/4, then soared over the bar in his first try and again at 17-0 3/4. He cleared 17-4 1/2 and 17-8 1/2 on his second attempt at each height.
Brock Spandl added a third-place finish in the pole vault, clearing a season-best height of 17-0 3/4.
Day one of the decathlon turned into an interesting battle between two Gophers – R.J. McGinnis and Joey Schwecke. Between the two, the lead changed hands four times over the five events with McGinnis, an indoor heptathlon All-American, grabbing the day one lead with 3,908 points. Schwecke is only 15 points behind McGinnis with a total of 3,893. Jack Szmanda is sixth with 3,751 points.
Schwecke owns the lead through the first two events, first running a career-best time of 10.93 seconds in the 100-meter dash and then landing a season-best long jump of 23-2 1/4.
McGinnis took the lead for the first time by topping the field in the shot put with a throw of 47-4 1/4. Schwecke cleared 6-6 in the high jump to recapture the lead after four events before McGinnis’ time of 50.83 seconds in 400 meters edged him back in front of his Gopher teammate. Schwecke ran a time of 51.47in the race.
Chris Rombough placed second in the 10,000-meter run in the final event of the first day of the Championships. Rombough clocked a career-best time of 29:10.67.
Men’s Track Wins Second Golden Goldy’s Award
The Golden Gopher men’s track & field team was named the Minnesota Male Team of the Year for the second consecutive season at the Golden Goldy’s Awards. The Golden Goldy’s is a year-ending celebration of the Minnesota Athletics Department sponsored by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC).
Minnesota Wins Big Ten Indoor 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.
Minnesota Finishes Eighth at 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships
The U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its list of 366 track & field athletes who competed at last weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships to earn USTFCCCA All-America honors. Nine Golden Gophers captured All-America acclaim matching the 2004 Minnesota squad for the most in a single indoor season.
All-America honors are awarded to the top eight finishers in each event at the NCAA Championships. In addition, the top eight finishing athletes among U.S. citizens from the national meet earn All-America status.
Minnesota finished eighth as a team, its highest team showing since placing seventh in 2003. The Golden Gophers’ distance medley relay highlighted the NCAAs as the foursome of Ben Blankenship, Harun Abda, Logan Stroman and Chris Rombough turned in a third-place finish. Rombough also earned All-America accord with a seventh-place finish in the 3,000-meter run.
Aaron Studt earned All-America honors in both the shot put (sixth) and weight throw (fifth), while Matt Fisher collected his first career accolade in the high jump (ninth).
All three Gopher heptathletes who competed at the NCAA meet collected All-America acclaim for the first time in their Minnesota careers: R.J. McGinnis (sixth), Jack Szmanda (ninth) and Brock Spandl (10th).
Head Coach Steve Plasencia
Minnesota’s Steve Plasencia is in his second season as the Golden Gopher head coach and has led the Gophers to indoor/outdoor sweeps of Big Ten titles in both years. 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 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 2010 season are R.J. McGinnis, Joe Plencner, Chris Rombough and Aaron Studt.
NCAA West Preliminary Round
Thursday-Saturday – May 27-29, 2010
Mike A. Myers Stadium
Austin, Texas
Host: University of Texas
2010 Minnesota Men’s Track & Field Watch List
• Golden Gophers Travel to Texas for NCAA West Preliminary Round - The Minnesota men’s track & field team will be represented by 21 athletes this week at the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas plays host to the meet on Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29.
• NCAA Format Change - Instead of holding four regional championships around the nation, the NCAA changed the format for qualifying for the NCAA Championships to a two-meet Preliminary Round format. Texas and North Carolina A&T will host the meets with the top 12 finishers and relays advancing to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 9-12.
• Taking the Momentum Outdoors - Minnesota looks to continue its momentum from the indoor season where the Golden Gophers placed eighth in the NCAA Indoor Track Championships.
• Gophers Defend Big Ten Title - Minnesota captured its fourth consecutive (indoor/outdoor) Big Ten team title and celebrated three Gophers winning individual crowns - Ben Peterson (pole vault), Micah Hegerle (hammer) and R.J. McGinnis (decathlon).
Gophers Off to Texas for NCAA West Preliminary
Big Ten champion Minnesota will have 21 student-athletes competing this week at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round Meet in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas will host the meet Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29, at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
A Different Format for the NCAAs
This is the first season in which the NCAA will host East and West Preliminary Round meets. The East Preliminary Round meet will be held May 27-29 at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.
The Gophers will be joined by three other Big Ten teams in the West: Illinois, Iowa and Illinois. The seven remaining BIg Ten teams head to the East Preliminary Round site.
In all individual events, except the decathlon, the top 48 qualifiers receive Preliminary Round bids. The top 24 relays qualify for the Prelims. To advance to the NCAA Championships in Oregon on June 9-12, athletes and relays must finish in the top 12 of the respective Preliminary Rounds.
The top 24 decathletes on the NCAA descending order list punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships without having to qualify through preliminary rounds.
Watch the Meet Online
The NCAA West Preliminary Round meet will be streamed online all three days at www.ncaa.com/sports/c-otrack/champpage/c-otrack-div1-west-index.html.
The Gopher Roster Breakdown
The 21 Golden Gophers advancing to the 2010 NCAA West Preliminary Round includes 19 athletes competing in individual events and the 4x400-meter relay. Gophers will compete in 13 of the 20 events at the West Preliminary Round meet.
Gopher decathlete R.J. McGinnis has already earned a berth to the NCAA Championships as one of the top 24 decathletes in the nation.
Riding the Momentum of Indoor NCAAs
The Golden Gophers have six athletes competing this week who helped Minnesota to an eighth-place showing at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships. Of those six, Chris Rombough (5,000 meters, Ben Blankenship (1,500 meters) and Matt Fisher (high jump) seek a return trip to the NCAA Outdoor meet. The others will compete in different events than during the indoor championships - Logan Stroman (DMR indoor, 4x400m relay outdoor), Harun Abda (DMR indoor, 4x400m relay and 800 meters outdoor), Brock Spandl (heptathlon indoor, pole vault outdoor).
A Different Look to the Maroon and Gold
The Golden Gophers heads into NCAA competition without two of their standouts from last season, All-Americans Hassan Mead (5,000 meters) and Aaron Studt (shot put). Mead has missed the 2010 indoor and outdoor season with an Achilles tendon injury, while Studt decided to save his last outdoor season of eligibility for his fifth year of school. Both are expected to return to action next season.
These Gophers are Talented, but Very Young
A dozen (12) of the 21 Gophers competing in the NCAA West Preliminary Round are either freshman or sophomores. Chris Rombough, Matt Barrett, Logan Stroman and Raymond Blackledge are the only seniors on the Gophers’ post-season roster for the preliminary meet.
West Preliminary Round – Gophers’ Event Preview
Following is an event-by-event for the Gophers at the NCAA West Preliminary Round.
The 100 meters – Sophomore Sean King is the only Gophers sprinter set to compete in an individual event. King, who clocked a career-best time of 10.57 seconds this season, looks to erase a bad memory from the Big Ten meet where he entered ranked second but did not make the final.
The 800 meters – This event features three Gopher entrants: Harun Abda, Travis Burkstrand and David Pachuta. Abda, a true freshman, earned All-America honors earlier this season as a member of the Minnesota distance medley relay that placed third at the NCAA indoor meet. He is seeded 11th entering the West Prelims with a time of 1:48.62. Abda will also anchor the Gophers’ 4x400-meter relay. Burkstrand, a redshirt freshman, is coming off a career effort in placing third in the Big Ten meet in 1:49.30, a time seeded 19th. Sophomore Pachuta’s best time is 1:49.67.
The 1,500 meters – Junior Ben Blankenship is seeded eighth with a time of 3:41.96. Blankenship earned his first NCAA Championship appearance in the 1,500m last year after finishing as the Midwest Region runner-up. Sophomore Andy Richardson will make his second prelim/regional NCAA appearance. His season-best time is 3:46.21.
The 5,000 meters – Fifth-year senior Chris Rombough has advanced to the NCAA Championships in the this event the last two seasons. Rombough is coming off two important runner-up finishes in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the Big Ten Championships. He is seeded 11th with a career-best time of 13:48.80 clocked at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Junior Mike Torchia will make his second trip to the NCAA prelim/regional round. Torchia ran a career-best time of 14:02.86 this season.
The 10,000 meters – Senior Matt Barrett and redshirt freshman Pieter Gagnon will run in an NCAA track post-season competition for the first time. Barrett enters with a time of 29:35.09, while Gagnon’s top time is 29:46.25.
The 4x400-meter relay – The foursome of John Holton, Logan Stroman, David Pachuta and Harun Abda clocked a time of 3:08.66 at the Big Ten’s to garner a prelim invite. The relay is seeded 18th.
The High Jump – Senior Matt Fisher will compete in his third NCAA prelim/regional looking for a return trip to the NCAA Championships. Fisher is seeded seventh with a height of 7-2 1/4.
The Pole Vault: Big Ten champion Ben Peterson is coming off a career vault of 17-8 1/2 at the Conference Championships. Peterson advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2008, but missed the 2009 season with an injury. He enters the meet tied for the No. 6 seed. Brock Spandl, an All-American heptathlete during the indoor season, will make his third appearance in an NCAA prelim/regional meet. Spandl is tied of the 20th seed with a height of 17-0 3/4.
The Triple Jump – Fifth-year senior Raymond Blackledge and true freshman Oladipo Fagbemi both enter the West Prelims with identical best marks of 50-2. It is the first NCAA competition for Blackledge.
The Shot Put – Sophomore Trey Davis is seeded 11th coming off his career-best throw of 60-0 1/2 in placing second in the Big Ten Championships. Davis will make his second NCAA prelim/regional appearance in the event.
The Discus – The Gophers will have three throwers compete in the discus: redshirt freshman Micah Hegerle, Trey Davis and sophomore Tyler Kleinhuinzen. Davis competed in the regional in this event last year. Hegerle’s top throw of the season is 175-6, while Davis’ best is 172-5 and Kleinhuizen’s is 171-9.
The Hammer – Big Ten champion Micah Hegerle is seeded eighth with his top throw of the season - 211-5. Tyler Kleinhuizen will also compete in the hammer. His best throw this season is 185-0.
Trio of Big Ten Champions Leads Minnesota to Title
The Gophers had three athletes capture Big Ten individual titles to help Minnesota defend its team Conference crown. Micah Hegerle won the hammer throw with a toss of 208-3, while Ben Peterson captured the victory in the pole vault with a height of 17-8 1/2. R.J. McGinnis provided the third title, winning the decathlon with a total of 3,381 points.
Big Ten Names Plasencia the Coach of the Year
Minnesota head men’s track & field coach Steve Plasencia was honored as the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Track Men’s Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Gophers to their fourth consecutive Big Ten title. The Gophers compiled 145.0 points to capture the crown by 21 points over rival Wisconsin. Minnesota has swept the indoor and outdoor Conference titles in both 2009 and 2010. Plasencia is now a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year honoree.
“I’m honored to receive this award, but it’s so much more of a reflection of this team than anything else,” said Plasencia. “I share this award with an outstanding staff of coaches and obviously a wonderful group of student-athletes.”
The Big Ten also recognized its event champions as All-Big Ten First Team honorees. Three Gophers won Big Ten individual event titles last weekend: Micah Hegerle (hammer), Ben Peterson (pole vault) and R.J. McGinnis (decathlon). Conference runners-up are tabbed All-Big Ten Second Team honorees. Gophers honored on this squad were Chris Rombough (5,000 and 10,000 meters), Raymond Blackledge (triple jump) and Trey Davis (shot put).
Senior Logan Stroman was the Minnesota recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. These student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the Conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
Gophers are Big Ten Champions...Again! - Big Ten Championships Review
Sunday, May 16 – The Golden Gophers extended their streak of Big Ten titles to four with a 21-point margin of victory at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind., this weekend. Minnesota did not add to its individual champion count on Sunday, May 16, but the Gopher depth took over to send the Maroon and Gold home with another team trophy.
Minnesota tallied 145 points, to 124 by runner-up Wisconsin and 115 for third-place Ohio State. The Gophers scored two athletes in the triple jump and 5,000-meter run providing a insurmountable 20-point lead over the Badgers by the last event, the 4x400-meter relay.
After three Gophers celebrated individual crowns – Micah Hegerle in the hammer, Ben Peterson in the pole vault and R.J. McGinnis in the decathlon – in the first two days of competition, it was the sheer number of placewinners that pushed the Gophers over the top on championship Sunday.
The triple jump and 5,000-meter run were pressure-packed events. The Gophers have built a 63-point lead heading into Sunday. Wisconsin won the 4x100-meter relay and grabbed the top two spots in the 1,500-meter run and quickly closed the gap on Sunday. The Gophers countered with three important runner-up performances by Trey Davis in the shot put, Raymond Blackledge in the triple jump and Chris Rombough in the 5,000-meter run, as well as a big scoring output in the 800 meters.
After placing third in the discus on Saturday, Davis enjoyed another career day on Sunday in the shot put. Davis landed a career-best throw of 60-0 1/2 on his third throw of prelims and held the lead until the fifth round of throws in the final. Davis’ toss ranks eighth in school history.
Blackledge, a fifth-year senior, sailed past the 50-foot mark for the first time in his career. He was eighth after the prelims, jumped to third after his first attempt of the final and then up to second with his final jump of 50-2, the eighth-best leap in Minnesota history. Oladipo Fagbemi matched Blackledge’s distance of 50-2, but took third since Blackledge’s second-best jump was farther.
Rombough’s performance in the 5,000 meters was dramatic since at early stages of the race four Wisconsin Badgers were at the front of the pack. Rombough ran a tough, strategic race clocking a time of 13 minutes, 52.48 seconds outlasting each and every one of the Badgers. Rombough also placed second in the 10,000-meter run on Friday. Mike Torchia added a sixth-place finish in the 5,000 meters for the Gophers with a time of 14:04.02.
Minnesota picked up 14 points in the 800-meter run. Travis Burkstrand (1:49.30) edged teammate Harun Abda (1:49.36) for third place. David Pachuta was the third scorer, placing sixth in 1:49.67. Burkstrand’s and Pachuta’s times were career bests.
Ben Blankenship finished third in the 1,500-meter run, helping to outset the Badgers’ outburst in the event. Blankenship posted a time of 3:44.21.
Both the Gophers’ 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays contributed fourth-place finishes. The 4x100 relay of Sean King, Cameron Boy, Ryan Todhunter and Fagbemi ran a time of 41.43 seconds. The 4x400 relay of John Holton, Logan Stroman, Pachuta and Abda ran a season-best time of 3:08.66.
Paul Hoplin added a fourth-place showing in the javelin with a throw of 206-5.
“I’m proud of this team,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “We had some great performances from a lot of people this weekend. What can I say, we did it again!”
Saturday, May 15 – The Minnesota men’s track & field team continues to build on its team lead with titles and depth at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, Ind. After the second day and eight events scored, Minnesota has more than doubled up its nearest competitor. The Gophers have compiled 79 points, followed by Indiana with 36, and Purdue and Wisconsin with 35.
The Golden Gophers’ brightest moment of the second day of the Championships was the performance of senior R.J. McGinnis, who captured the decathlon by just two points over Michigan’s Frank Shotwell. McGinnis needed a gutsy performance in the 1,500-meter run, the decathlon’s 10th and final event, to pull off the victory. McGinnis trailed Shotwell by 23 points going into the 1,500 meters then dug deep to find an extra gear in the race’s last 100 meters. He finished with a time of 4:35.75, beating Shotwell by just over four seconds. The final tally saw McGinnis score 7,381 points to Shotwell’s 7,379.
Jack Szmanda and Joey Schwecke added fourth and fifth-place finishes, respectively. Szmanda tallied a score of 7, 116, while Schwecke scored 7,081.
Minnesota was able to build its lead by having two or more athletes score in an event. The discus is a perfect example. The Gophers went third, fourth and sixth in the final standings. Trey Davis led the way, placing third with a throw of 172-9. Micah Hegerle, who won the hammer title on Friday, was fourth with a toss of 170-1. Tyler Kleinhuizen competed the trio’s scoring by placing sixth in a distance of 164-9.
Oladipo Fagbemi and Addison Demer contributed points in the long jump. Fagbemi placed fifth with a leap of 23-7 1/4. Demer was sixth in 23-5 1/2.
Completing the scoring on Saturday was Matt Fisher in the high jump. Fisher cleared his final bar at 6-11 1/4 .
Friday, May 14 – Minnesota captured two event titles in the first day of the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. Micah Hegerle captured the win in the hammer throw, while Ben Peterson completed an indoor-outdoor title sweep by winning the pole vault.
Hegerle, a redshirt freshmen, landed his best throw -208 feet, 3 inches – in his third attempt of prelims and the mark held. Hegerle’s winning throw was nearly eight feet farther than the second-place effort. Hegerle, who will compete in the discus on Saturday, is the second Gopher to capture a Big Ten title in the hammer.
Peterson enjoyed a career day in winning his first Big Ten outdoor title, but overall his third Conference pole vault crown. The Gopher junior cleared a personal-best height of 17-8 1/2 to capture Minnesota’s eighth pole vault title but first since 1997 (Vesa Rantanen). Peterson passed until the height of 16-8 3/4, then soared over the bar in his first try and again at 17-0 3/4. He cleared 17-4 1/2 and 17-8 1/2 on his second attempt at each height.
Brock Spandl added a third-place finish in the pole vault, clearing a season-best height of 17-0 3/4.
Day one of the decathlon turned into an interesting battle between two Gophers – R.J. McGinnis and Joey Schwecke. Between the two, the lead changed hands four times over the five events with McGinnis, an indoor heptathlon All-American, grabbing the day one lead with 3,908 points. Schwecke is only 15 points behind McGinnis with a total of 3,893. Jack Szmanda is sixth with 3,751 points.
Schwecke owns the lead through the first two events, first running a career-best time of 10.93 seconds in the 100-meter dash and then landing a season-best long jump of 23-2 1/4.
McGinnis took the lead for the first time by topping the field in the shot put with a throw of 47-4 1/4. Schwecke cleared 6-6 in the high jump to recapture the lead after four events before McGinnis’ time of 50.83 seconds in 400 meters edged him back in front of his Gopher teammate. Schwecke ran a time of 51.47in the race.
Chris Rombough placed second in the 10,000-meter run in the final event of the first day of the Championships. Rombough clocked a career-best time of 29:10.67.
Men’s Track Wins Second Golden Goldy’s Award
The Golden Gopher men’s track & field team was named the Minnesota Male Team of the Year for the second consecutive season at the Golden Goldy’s Awards. The Golden Goldy’s is a year-ending celebration of the Minnesota Athletics Department sponsored by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC).
Minnesota Wins Big Ten Indoor 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.
Minnesota Finishes Eighth at 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships
The U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its list of 366 track & field athletes who competed at last weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships to earn USTFCCCA All-America honors. Nine Golden Gophers captured All-America acclaim matching the 2004 Minnesota squad for the most in a single indoor season.
All-America honors are awarded to the top eight finishers in each event at the NCAA Championships. In addition, the top eight finishing athletes among U.S. citizens from the national meet earn All-America status.
Minnesota finished eighth as a team, its highest team showing since placing seventh in 2003. The Golden Gophers’ distance medley relay highlighted the NCAAs as the foursome of Ben Blankenship, Harun Abda, Logan Stroman and Chris Rombough turned in a third-place finish. Rombough also earned All-America accord with a seventh-place finish in the 3,000-meter run.
Aaron Studt earned All-America honors in both the shot put (sixth) and weight throw (fifth), while Matt Fisher collected his first career accolade in the high jump (ninth).
All three Gopher heptathletes who competed at the NCAA meet collected All-America acclaim for the first time in their Minnesota careers: R.J. McGinnis (sixth), Jack Szmanda (ninth) and Brock Spandl (10th).
Head Coach Steve Plasencia
Minnesota’s Steve Plasencia is in his second season as the Golden Gopher head coach and has led the Gophers to indoor/outdoor sweeps of Big Ten titles in both years. 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 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 2010 season are R.J. McGinnis, Joe Plencner, Chris Rombough and Aaron Studt.
Players Mentioned
MD
/ Men's Track & Field
DIS
/ Men's Track & FieldJU
/ Men's Track & Field
MD
/ Men's Track & Field
SPR
/ Men's Track & Field
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/ Men's Track & Field
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/ Men's Track & Field
JU
/ Men's Track & Field
HUR
/ Men's Track & Field
JU
/ Men's Track & FieldHJ
/ Men's Track & Field
DIS
/ Men's Track & Field
THR
/ Men's Track & Field
SPR
/ Men's Track & Field
THR
/ Men's Track & Field
SPR
/ Men's Track & Field
THR
/ Men's Track & FieldJS
/ Men's Track & Field
DIS
/ Men's Track & Field
MD
/ Men's Track & Field
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/ Men's Track & FieldPV
/ Men's Track & Field
MD
/ Men's Track & Field
DIS
/ Men's Track & Field
JU
/ Men's Track & Field
SPR
/ Men's Track & Field
PV
/ Men's Track & FieldMD
/ Men's Track & Field
THR
/ Men's Track & Field
PV
/ Men's Track & Field
SPR
/ Men's Track & Field
DIS
/ Men's Track & FieldCHS Home Grown Gophers: Emmett Gerres
Friday, September 05
The Greek Freak of Minnesota
Friday, July 18
Gophers Finish 1-2 in Hammer Throw
Monday, June 16
Mantzouranis Earns NCAA Silver Medal
Thursday, June 12