Monday, May 02, 2011

Gopher DMR Tops Wisconsin at Drake

The University of Minnesota men's track team scored a hard-earned victory over cross-border rivals Wisconsin in the Drake Relays distance medley which featured Minnesota natives carrying the baton for both teams.

The Gopher quartet of Nick Hutton, Kevin Bradley, Travis Burkstrand, and Hassan Mead edged the Badgers by .30 for the win, thanks to a gutty anchor effort by Mead. Buffalo High School alumnus Zach Mellon ran the lead-off, 1200m leg for Wisconsin, while Burnsville grad Rob Finnerty anchored for Wisconsin.

13.1 Mpls

“The DMR victory was the highlight of our weekend at Drake,” Minnesota head coach Steve Plasencia said. “All four guys ran very well.”

You can watch the entire race, below, via Flotrack, which covered the entire meet ...

Hutton and Burkstrand were also members of Minnesota’s Drake Relays champion 4x800-meter relay.

The sprint medley relay of Ryan Todhunter, Cameron Boy, Jacob Capek and Joe McFarland placed fifth in a time of 3:21.44.

The top performance in the field events was turned in by Micah Hegerle in the hammer. Hegerle landed a throw of 212 feet, 7 inches in placing sixth. The throw was just two inches off his career best of 212-9, which remains the top effort in the Big Ten this season.

Oladipo Fagbemi added a sixth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 49-3 3/4.

Above: Mead (r) outruns Finnerty.

Gopher Women ... At the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, redshirt freshman Katie Moraczewski finished fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a career-best time of 10 minutes, 38.33 seconds. The time ranks fifth in Gopher history.

At the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, the Gophers’ 4 x 400-meter relay of Kelly Stalpes, Alena Brooks, Nyoka Giles and Sharyn Dahl placed sixth in the College Race with a time of 3:40.86.

Photo by Gene Niemi.

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