Pick 10: NCAA Championships

NCAA Championships are underway this week. Collegiate athletes in different divisions will compete in Austin, Texas, Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina and Berea, Ohio. The Division I action is considered the first round of the National Meet with the final round being held in two weeks in Eugene, Oregon. Division II and III will crown their national champs this weekend.

There are too many great match-ups to pick a single Yes/No question, so we will bring out the Pick 10 contest this week.

Pick Ten has a simple concept: predict the finish place for each of 10 Minnesota athletes at Outdoor Nationals. You will score points for each athlete who scores at or above the finish place you predict for them, following the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.

For example: If you pick Zac Preble to place first in the Decathlon at Nationals, and he places first, you get 10 points. If you pick Preble to place first and he finishes second, you get zero points. If you pick Preble to finish third in the Decathlon and he places first, second or third, you get 6 points, since you that's the place you picked him for.

To play Pick Ten, cut and paste the list of names/events below into an e-mail and add your place predictions -- 1st or 2nd or 3rd...8th. Send your predictions by 9:30 A.M. CST on Thursday, May 27th to DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com. Make sure your full name is in the e-mail. We'll announce the winner of this Pick Ten contest next week and keep a running tally of Pick Ten scores from throughout the year to crown a grand champion. As with our Yes/No contests, we don't offer any prizes, so no one needs to fear running afoul of NCAA or other anti-gambling regulations.

Pick 10 ... Outdoor Nationals:

Denise Mokaya (Minnesota State, Mankato) in the 800:

Zac Preble (Bemidji State) in the Decathlon:

Lauren Stelten (Minnesota State, Mankato) in the Pole Vault:

Shanai Guider (Winona State) in the Discus:

Max Hanson (Gustavus) in the 800:

Taylor Ferda (Bethel) in the 400H:

Kelly Lovett (Carleton) in the Javelin:

Marie Borner (Bethel) in the 1500:

Matt Fisher (University of Minnesota) in the High Jump:

Gabriele Anderson (University of Minnesota) in the 1500:

To Help You Make Your Picks ...

Denise Mokaya is the fourth ranked 800 meter runner and has run 1:49.54 outdoors. He was in the 2010 indoor National Champion in the 800. Zac Preble is ranked second in the Decathlon with 7026 points. Preble was fourth in the event in 2009. Lauren Stelten has the highest vault in D2 this year at 13-5 1/4. She finished second in the PV at indoor nationals. Shanai Guider has the second best discus throw this year with a 161-5 toss.

Max Hanson has run 1:50.31 and is ranked second in the 800 going into Nationals. He finished fifth in the 800 indoors. Taylor Ferda is the fourth ranked 400 hurdler with a time of 52.17 this year. Ferda finished fourth at indoor nationals in the 55 hurdles. Kelly Lovett is the second ranked javelin thrower in 2010 and finished seventh at Nationals in 2009. Marie Borner is a four-time National Champion and has the second fastest 1500 time in the field. Borner is also competing in the 800.

Matt Fisher comes into the West Prelims tied for the sixth best high jumper in the field. He has high jumped 7-2 1/4 this year and has qualified for Nationals twice in his career. Gabriele Anderson is ranked fifth in the 1500 with a 4:15.43 qualifier.

NCAA Division I Meet info including entries are HERE.
NCAA Division II entries: Men * Women
NCAA Division III heat sheets: Men *Women

Good luck!

The fantasy contest question from last week was: Y/N: Will both Will Leer and Garrett Heath run faster than 3:40.00 at the USATF High Performance meet at Occidental College on Saturday evening? The difference between yes and no was a mere 6/100ths of a second this week. Will Leer ran comfortably under 3:40 and Garrett Heath ran 3:40.05. The correct answer was no and eight contestants answered correctly. Gregg Robertson is now the sole owner of first place with thirteen points.

The Pick Ten standings are still tight. Mike Henderson is the leader with 82 points, followed closely by Jesse Schoen with 78 and Toby Hatlevig at 76 points.

For full standings of both contests, please visit DtB Fantasy Corner.