Down the Backstretch

On January 10th, Division I track and field in Minnesota started the 2009 season with an indoor meet at the U of M. Fast forward to this week, and the season is coming to a close with the NCAA Outdoor Championship at the University of Arkansas. As usual, many Minnesotans will be major players on the national stage. We picked 10 of the best to showcase with Pick 10 this week.

A refresher on Pick 10 rules: You're asked to predict the finish place for each of 10 chosen athletes at D1 Outdoor Nationals. You will score points for each athlete that scores at or above the finish place you predict for them, following the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system. If the athlete finishes below your predicted place, however, you receive zero points.

To play Pick Ten, cut and paste the list of names/events below into an e-mail and add your place predictions -- 1st, 2nd, 3rd... or 8th. Send your predictions to DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com by 10:30 A.M. CDT on Wednesday, June 10. Make sure your full name is in the e-mail.

Consult DtB Fantasy Corner for full results.

Pick 10 ... NCAA National Meet:

Garrett Heath in the 1500 Meters:
Aaron Studt in the Shot Put:
Hassan Mead in the 5k:
Matt Fisher in the HJ:
R.J. McGinnis in the Decathalon:
Laura Hermanson in the 800 Meters:
Heather Dorniden in the 800 Meters:
Amy Laskowske in the 10k:
Alicia Rue in the PV:
Liz Roehrig in the Heptathlon:

To help you make your picks ... Here is some information on the athletes we've included in the competition:

Ranked lists of accepted athletes are here for Men and Women.

Garrett Heath is ranked 3rd in the 1500. The Stanford senior has already accrued 8 All-American awards in his career. Aaron Studt was the runner-up in the Indoor National Meet in the Shot Put. Studt is ranked 9th going into the meet this week. Hassan Mead is ranked 2nd in the nation at 5000 meters with his school-record 13:28. Matt Fisher is tied for the highest collegiate jump in the nation going into Nationals. R.J. McGinnis currently holds the 6th best Decathlon score in DI.

McGinnis' former high school teammate, Laura Hermanson, was an All-American indoors at 800 meters and is currently ranked 7th. Heather Dorniden is another 800 meter ace and while ranked 11th going into the meet, not many athletes have more National Meet experience than the former National Champ and 8 time All-American.

Amy Laskowske is ranked 10th going into the 10K with only 5 seconds separating the seed times of #5 - #10. Alicia Rue is ranked #3 entering NCAAs and is currently undefeated outdoors. Liz Roehrig returns for one more crack at the NCAA heptathlon crown - the Gopher senior was 2nd in the event last year and is ranked #2 going into the meet.

Good luck!

Yes/No Update ... Last week’s question - "Will there be 2 or more All-Time State Meet Records broken at the Minnesota State High School Meet on Friday and Saturday?" - was likely affected by the inclement weather. There was only one all-class meet record over the weekend and the correct answer was "No." Seven contestants answered correctly.

Yes/No will return next week. Full results are posted HERE.