University of Minnesota Athletics
Track Ready for Big Ten Championships
5/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 10, 2012
Schedule of Events
The University of Minnesota men's track and field team will cross the border this weekend for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, which will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin. Minnesota will be in search of their first outdoor title since 2010. Action begins this Friday at the Dan McClimon Memorial Track/Soccer Complex.
Fans can follow along with live stats here.
Looking at the Minnesota lineup for this weekend, the Golden Gophers will enter 34 student-athletes into the field of competition. The Gophers have a very strong group that includes athletes ranked in the top five of the conference in six events. Minnesota has athletes ranked 10th or better in the Big Ten in 13 total events.
READY TO GO
Junior Sean King looks like he has hit his grove just in time for the big stage. King's times in the 100-meter dash have not been where he would like them all season, but last week King clocked in at 10.44, just .1 second off his all-time best. King will also run in the 4x100 relay this weekend.
JUST INCHES FROM THE RECORD
Quentin Mege set career best mark of 215-0 earlier this season in the hammer throw. His mark is only nine inches away from tying the all-time school record, which is held by Gopher throwing coach Lynden Reder. Mege enters this weekend ranked first in the conference.
MEAD ON THE MOVE
Hassan Mead broke the school record a few weeks back in the 10,000 meters with a time of t 28 minutes 12.74 seconds to shatter Golden Gopher legend Garry Bjorklund's time of 28 minutes 24.40 seconds, set back in 1974.
RELAY TIME
Minnesota's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams have top five rankings in the conference and will be looking to score some big points this weekend. Running in the 4x100 with a time of 40.26 back at the Drake Relays this year will be Jacob Capek, King, Cameron Boy and Oladipo Fagbemi. Sechedule to start in the 4x400 is Capek, Harun Abda, Kevin Bradley and John Holton.
THE GOLDEN GOPHER COACHING STAFF
Steve Plasencia enters his fourth season as the Golden Gophers head men's track & field coach. Plasencia was awarded his fifth consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year award, adding the 2011 indoor accolade to those from the 2009 and 2010 indoor and outdoor seasons. Plasencia heads an extremely experienced coaching staff that includes assistants Scott Berggren, Paul Thornton, Lynden Reder, Steve White and Roy Griak.
WHERE WE RANK IN THE B1G
| Event/Name | Time/Distance | B1G Rank |
| 100M | ||
| Sean King | 10.44 | 7th |
| 800M | ||
| Harun Abda | 1:47.20 | 2nd |
| David Pachuta | 1:48.45 | 5th |
| 1,500M | ||
| Nick Hutton | 3:44.64 | 8th |
| 5,000M | ||
| Pieter Gagnon | 14:00.75 | 9th |
| 10,000M | ||
| Hassan Mead | 28:12.74 | 2nd |
| 4x100 | 40.26 | 4th |
| Jacob Capek | ||
| Sean King | ||
| Cameron Boy | ||
| Oladipo Fagbemi | ||
| 4x400 | 3:07.55 | 3rd |
| Kevin Bradley | ||
| Harun Abda | ||
| David Pachuta | ||
| John Holton | ||
| Pole Vault | ||
| Jack Szmanda | 17-4 1/2-5.30m | 2nd |
| Triple Jump | ||
| Oladipo Fagbemi | 49-4 1/2-15.05m | 8th |
| Shot Put | ||
| Trey Davis | 59-2 1/4-18.04m | 6th |
| Discus | ||
| Dominique Howard | 181-7 55.34m | 7th |
| Justin Barber | 178-4 54.36m | 8th |
| Trey Davis | 177-2 54.01m | 9th |
| Hammer | ||
| Quentin Mege | 215-0 65.54m | 1st |
| Micah Hegerle | 207-4 63.20m | 3rd |
| Jon Lehman | 196-6 59.89m | 9th |
| Decathlon | ||
| Jack Szmanda | 7,663 | 1st |
| Logan Markuson | 6,583 | 10th |
| Follow Gopher Track: |  |  | Follow @GopherMTrackCC |
Players Mentioned
