University of Minnesota Athletics
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/ Men's Cross Country
Photo by: Christopher Mitchell / Sport Sho
B1G Honors Basten as Athlete of the Week
10/9/2019 1:55:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS – The Big Ten Conference has named Alec Basten as the Big Ten Athlete of the Week following the redshirt junior's record-breaking performance last weekend at Lehigh's Paul Short Run.
A native of Green Bay, Wis., Basten set a new University of Minnesota eight-kilometer record of 23:26.7 on Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa. The performance bested Basten's previous personal record by nearly 20 seconds and unseated Gopher great Hassan Mead as the school record holder. An eight-time All-American, nine-time Big Ten champion and 2016 Olympian, Mead ran 23:29 at the 2011 Big Ten championships.
One of four personal records for the Maroon & Gold on Saturday, Basten came in third out of 395 finishers while the Gophers finished fifth out of 44 programs.
Earlier this year, Basten earned Second Team All-America honors on the track for the first time in his career in the 3,000 meter steeplechase while he was also selected as an Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten honoree for his work in the classroom.
Up Next
Following a week without competition, Minnesota returns in mid-October with four meets between Oct. 18-19. The Gophers women's program runs in the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Oct. 18 with the Tori Neubauer Invitational following on Saturday, Oct. 19 in Ettrick, Wis. The Minnesota men will also be in Ettrick for the Jim Drews Invitational while another contingency of Gophers will run in the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., that day.
A native of Green Bay, Wis., Basten set a new University of Minnesota eight-kilometer record of 23:26.7 on Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa. The performance bested Basten's previous personal record by nearly 20 seconds and unseated Gopher great Hassan Mead as the school record holder. An eight-time All-American, nine-time Big Ten champion and 2016 Olympian, Mead ran 23:29 at the 2011 Big Ten championships.
One of four personal records for the Maroon & Gold on Saturday, Basten came in third out of 395 finishers while the Gophers finished fifth out of 44 programs.
Earlier this year, Basten earned Second Team All-America honors on the track for the first time in his career in the 3,000 meter steeplechase while he was also selected as an Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten honoree for his work in the classroom.
Up Next
Following a week without competition, Minnesota returns in mid-October with four meets between Oct. 18-19. The Gophers women's program runs in the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Oct. 18 with the Tori Neubauer Invitational following on Saturday, Oct. 19 in Ettrick, Wis. The Minnesota men will also be in Ettrick for the Jim Drews Invitational while another contingency of Gophers will run in the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., that day.
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