University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Made
11/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Link: NCAA Championships Preview
By Brian Deutsch (GopherSports.com)
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) -- Minnesota's Steve Plasencia will lead the No. 16 Gopher men's cross country program back to the NCAA Championships this Saturday for the 15th time in his 20 seasons at the helm of his alma mater.
And he'll do it using what he knows best - in-state talent.
Exclusively in-state talent to be precise.
The Maroon & Gold's entire NCAA Championships roster will be comprised of Minnesota natives for this weekend's 10-kilometer race at Louisville's E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. In fact, all but one of the Gophers' 17-man roster calls Minnesota home.
For Plasencia, recruiting in-state talent isn't just a goal - it's a requirement.
"We need to have a strong presence in our home state to have a successful program from a recruiting perspective," Plasencia said. "The majority of our student-athletes are going to be from the state of Minnesota, and without those kids, we wouldn't have a program."
And if anyone would know, it's Plasencia.
The former Gophers All-American and two-time Olympian grew up in Crystal, Minn., and developed at the University of Minnesota under another Minnesota native - the legendary Roy Griak. Plasencia eventually took over for his former mentor and quickly capitalized on the hotbed of distance runners found in Minnesota.
"We are fortunate that the state has a really good footprint when it comes to distance running, certainly in the last few years there has been a lot of success across the state," Plasencia said.
Many of those successful runners have found a new home at the University of Minnesota including four former state individual champions who will represent the Gophers this weekend in Louisville.
Among them is Aaron Bartnik, one of three redshirt senior captains this year for Minnesota along with Adam Zutz and Christian Skaret - all of whom will be in action this weekend. Bartnik won the 2009 Minnesota Class AA state title while at Eden Prairie High School and battled through several injuries to become a two-time All-Big Ten and All-Region honoree for the Gophers.
He's also the only Minnesota runner that has competed at the NCAA championships previously (qualified as an individual last year) - something that hasn't gone unnoticed as he prepares for the last cross country race of his collegiate career.
"One of our goals every season is to get this team back to nationals," Bartnik said. "We went a long time without going to the national meet as a team, and it means a lot to us to accomplish that in our final year here. Our last couple of races have been fantastic, and we are really looking forward to one last big performance this weekend."
To accomplish so much with a bunch of Minnesota kids also hasn't been lost on Bartnik either.
"It's definitely a rare thing - having almost entirely Minnesotans on the team," the redshirt senior, who studies electrical engineering, said. "I know a lot of people in the Minnesota running community think it's really special that we are doing this with an all-Minnesota crew."
Minnesota runners and fans aren't the only ones who think it's special - throw Plasencia in that group as well.
"That's a major selling point for us when we talk about being a part of this program. It does mean a lot to stay close to the support group they grow up with, and our program has had tremendous support from the running community here," Plasencia said. "A lot of people remember what Johnny or Joey did when they were in high school, and they keep supporting them when they come to the University of Minnesota. I think that it's good for the running community here to see that, and it's also good for the kids to feel the support from that community. There is no other situation that those young men are going to go into and have both those things align for them like they do when they come here."
As a former in-state product who found success at the University of Minnesota, Plasencia knows what he's talking about, and now he's able to help develop the next generation of distance runners.
"I really feel that coaching kids who have come up from a similar background to what I did, a few years later, it's a special thing, "Plasencia said. "It's very enjoyable - especially this year. This group particularly is a really good group of guys."
Good guys on and off the field of competition - there's no arguing that Minnesota has earned this trip to the NCAA championships.
Following a third-place finish at the Big Ten meet on Nov. 1, the Gophers became one of the hottest teams in the country with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional last Friday in Lawrence, Kan. Behind four All-Region performances from Bartnik, Obsa Ali, Zutz and Charlie Lawrence, the Gophers jumped from No. 26 to No. 16 in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll - the 10-spot jump marked the biggest movement in the poll.
Plasencia, meanwhile, was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career as the Maroon & Gold earned an automatic bid to Saturday's meet.
"You know that was a real high moment, given the fact we hadn't been back to the national meet as a team since 2011," Plasencia said of the regional performance. "For a while there just making the national meet, we took that for granted. To go back there was a really good feeling. I think I was a little more emotional than I expected myself to be to be honest with you."
Less than a week later, he'll have another emotional experience on Saturday. While Plasencia has led 15 teams to the NCAA championships in his 20 years with the program, this year marks the first time any current Gopher student-athlete will compete for a team NCAA title.
"Just to go back is a good feeling and to take a bunch of Minnesota guys there is special," Plasencia said. "To take a bunch of those guys for their first time and to be with them when they experience that, it's really fun, those are the reason kids come here. They want to experience going to those biggest meets and competing in the best venues and overall maximizing what their abilities are. That's cool for me to see."
And how will he feel if any of his kids break his school 10-kilometer record on Saturday?
Plasenica says, "I sure hope they do."
Players Mentioned
