Gopher Squads Heading to Regionals

The University of Minnesota track and field teams will travel to Norman, Oklahoma this weekend for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, the qualifying meet for the NCAA Championships to be held June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Big Ten Champion Gopher men will send 19 athletes to the meet. Decathlete R.J. McGinnis is already automatically qualified for nationals; fellow multi-eventer Joey Schwecke owns a provisional mark for NCAAs.

The Big Ten 3rd-place Gopher women will send 20 individuals, plus a 4 x 100m relay team to Regionals.

Matt Fisher and Hassan Mead are the #1 seeds in the high jump and 5000m, respectively. Fisher still has the top collegiate high jump mark in the nation this year.

Heather Dorniden and Alicia Rue are the top seeded Gopher women. Both are #2 seeds -- Dorniden at 800m, Rue in the pole vault.

Burnsville alum Laura Hermanson of North Dakota State is the #1 seed at 800 meters.
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An in-depth Regional preview for the Gopher men's team can be found HERE. Complete men's startlists are HERE.

A Gopher women's preview should ultimately appear HERE. Complete women's startlists are HERE.

Gopher Honors ... The Gopher programs earned individual accolades from the Big Ten Championships last week. Gopher men's coach Steve Plasencia was named the Big Ten Outdoor Track Coach of the Year for leading his team to the conference title.

Aaron Studt, who matched his conference indoor shot put title with one outdoors, was named the Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Year. Hassan Mead, who won the 5000/10,000m double at Big Tens was named the Track Athlete of the Year.

Gopher women's pole vaulter Alicia Rue was named the Big Ten's Co-Field Event Athlete of the Championship for her record-setting 14-3 1/4 victory at the meet.