Pick Ten: Outdoor Conference Championships

If you're a local collegiate athlete, it's time for your conference meet.

The University of Minnesota will head to Madison for the Big Ten Championships on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Meanwhile, many of the Division II schools in the area will compete at the Northern Sun Championships on Friday and Saturday, the same days that the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will be lining up at Concordia College in Moorhead.

If you're a DtB Yes/No participant, it's time for Pick Ten.

Pick Ten has a simple concept: predict the finish place for each of 10 Minnesota athletes at this weekends competitions. 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 track and field events.

For example: If you pick McKenzie Melander to place first in the 5000 meter race, and she places first, you get 10 points. If you pick Melander to place first and she finishes second, you get zero points. If you pick Melander to finish third in the race and she places first, second or third, you get 6 points by the scoring system above, since she placed at least as high as you predicted.

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 11:59 A.M. CST on Friday, May 11th to DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com. Make sure your full name is in the e-mail. 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.

We'll announce the winner of this week's contest and compile results of all of the year's Pick Ten contests to name a grand champion for 2012.

Pick 10 ... Outdoor Track and Field Conference Meets:

Chimerem Okoroji - University of Minnesota - 100 Meters:
McKenzie Melander - University of Iowa - 5000 Meters:
DeAnne Hahn - University of Minnesota - Hammer Throw:
Jack Szmanda - University of Minnesota - Pole Vault:
Megan Stroh - University of Minnesota-Duluth - Hammer Throw:
Michael Bendix - MSU - Moorhead - High Jump:
Nicholas Nelson - Minnesota State-Mankato - 100 Meters:
Concordia College Women - 4 x 400 Meter Relay:
Jordon Spronk - Bethel - 400 Meters:
Matt Johnson - St. Olaf - Javelin Throw:

Here is some information to help you with your picks:

There is (or will be) entries and heat sheets at the following sites:
- Big Ten
- NSIC
- MIAC

I will give you the rankings of each athlete in the field, but there are a few items to keep in mind:  The MIAC rankings are true rankings.  The heat sheets have already been posted.  The rankings in the Big Ten come from the entries.  However, there are often numerous scratches in the Big Ten Champs, so the field may change.  The NSIC rankings are based solely on season performance lists.  When this contest was written, there were not heat sheets posted.

Chimerem Okoroji is ranked fifth in the 100 meters.  McKenzie Melander from the University of Iowa by way of Eastview High School is ranked first in the 5000 meters.  Melander is ranked first by a full sixteen seconds but she is scheduled to run the 10,000 meters prior.  DeAnne Hahn is the number three hammer thrower in the conference.  Jack Szmanda is ranked second going in to Big Tens.

Megan Stroh was the fifth best hammer thrower in the NSIC this season.  This event is amazing this year with twelve athletes already owning a provisional qualifier.  Michael Bendix is ranked fourth in the high jump in a tight contest featuring five jumpers over 6-8 this year.  Nicholas Nelson has the second best time coming into the 100 meters at NSIC.

Concordia's women are ranked fourth in the 4 x 400 relay at MIAC.  Jordon Spronk is ranked second in the 400 meters and Matt Johnson has the third best javelin throw coming into the meet.

Good luck!

Last week's question was Will Heather Kampf run faster than 2:04.00 at the meet in Brazil on Sunday?  The correct answer was no - Kampf ran 2:05.02.   Only three people answered correctly this week including Gloria Jansen who moved into second place.  Jim Glazer and Ryan Aylesworth are tied for first with ten points.

The current leaders in the Pick Ten contest are Bill Atkins with 88 points and Toby Hatlevig at 86

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