University of Minnesota Athletics
Plasencia Earns USTFCCCA Honor
11/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) - As the No. 16 University of Minnesota men's cross country program prepares for the NCAA championships, Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia has been honored as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
The USTFCCCA announced its regional honors on Tuesday, just days after the Maroon & Gold posted a runner-up finish at the 2015 NCAA Midwest Regional in Lawrence, Kan.
Behind four All-Region honorees in Aaron Bartnik, Adam Zutz, Obsa Ali and Charlie Lawrence, the Gophers used a strong finish at Rim Rock Farm to combine for 95 points at this year's regional. The second-place performance earned Minnesota an automatic bid to this weekend's national championships in Louisville, Ky. - the first time since 2011 that the Gophers will compete for a national title as a team. Additionally, the impressive showing last weekend vaulted Minnesota from No. 26 in the USTFCCCA poll up to No. 16 this week - the most movement of any nationally ranked team in the poll.
Now in his 20th year with Minnesota, Plasencia has led the Maroon & Gold to 15 NCAA championship appearances while this is his fourth career USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year Honor (2015, 2004, 2001, 1999). Plasencia has coached a total of 12 All-Americans and 33 All-Big Ten honorees in cross country.
Fittingly, the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year is officially named the Roy Griak Award after long-time Minnesota track & field and cross country coach Roy Griak, who passed away earlier this year. Plasencia became an All-American under Griak as a student-athlete and still holds the school 10-kilometer record. After 33 years as head coach of the Gophers, Griak retired in 1996 with Plasencia stepping in as head coach of the cross country program and later the track & field program.
The 2015 NCAA Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 21 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. The men's 10-kilometer race is set for 12 p.m. CT with the women's six-kilometer race starting at 11 a.m.
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