Heath Wins Minnesota-Packed NCAA 3000m

Using a furious drive to the finish line, Winona native Elliott Heath won his first NCAA Indoor title in a 3000-meter race where a trio of Minnesota athletes stormed the podium.

Heath, who competes for Stanford University, won the event in 8:03.7, outkicking the University of Minnesota's Ben Blackenship, the runner-up in 8:04.65. Justin Tyner, the Brianerd High School alum who competes for Air Force, was 5th in 8:05.57.

Video coverage of the entire race is above.

Earlier in the meet, Heath had finished 5th in the 5000m in 13:34.54, while Blankenship, A Stillwater High School alum, made his mark on the meet with a 3:54.61 1600m anchor leg for the University of Minnesota's 3rd-place DMR.

The Gopher men tied for 6th in the men's team standings with 27 points, tying the program's best-ever result at the meet. There's a GopherSports recap of the men's meet HERE.

Find full meet results HERE.

Video: A Flotrack interview with Elliott Heath.

Video: A Flotrack interview with Ben Blankenship.

Video: A Flotrack interview with Justin Tyner.