Gopher Men Tie for First at John McDonnell Invitational

Against some of the top competition in the nation including the  two USTFCCCA top-ranked schools in the NCAA,  Minnesota mens track and field team finished tied for first on Saturday at the John McDonnell Invitational in Arkansas. The Gophers 137 points tied NCAA indoor champion and the number two ranked team outdoors, Arkansas, while outdoor top-ranked Texas A&M finished third with 129 points.

The Gopher's Mark Jennings’ threw 17.36m to win the shot put setting a new personal record.  Luke Johnson (16.60) and Logan Hussung (16.57m) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, also setting new PRs.  Harun Abda won the 800 in 1:48.66.   Alex Brend finished eighth with a PR of 1:51.04.  Zach Siegmeier improved his personal record in the pole vault with a second-place finish of 5.31m. The performance also moved the junior into a tie for fourth in the Gophers outdoor record book with Ben Peterson (1998).

Other notable performances: Oladipo Fagbemi  finished third in the triple jump(15.23 m) and fourth in the long jump(5.15 meters). Logan Connors was runner-up honors in the javelin(66.18 m).   Aaron Bartnik was second in the 3K(8:47.13).  In the 400 Jacob Capek was second( 47.39) Kevin Bradley fourth(48.45),  and John Holton eighth(49.06). In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Bobby Nicolls finished second (9:05.03) with Derek Storkel in third (9:12.48).

In the hammer throw, Micah Hegerle was second(63.58 meters), Jon Lehman fourth(57.54 m), and Justin Barber fifth(54.37 m). Dominique Howard, with a toss of 54.46 m,  finished second and  Mark Jennings  fifth(50.77 m) in the discus throw

John Simons finished second in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:45.86 while Travis Burkstrand came in fifth at 3:49.12 and Blayne Dulian finished seventh at 3:50.10.

The Gophers’ 4x400 team of Cameron Boy, Jacob Capek, Kevin Bradley and John Holton came in third with a time of 3:12.26.

Wally Ellenson finished tied for seventh in the high jump(2.02 m).  Ryan Todhunter came in sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.77. Goaner Deng finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles at 54.91, and Cameron Boy fourth in the 200 meters(20.94).  

Some Gophers also competed indoors at the Tomcat Invitational at St. Thomas on Saturday.  Adam Isakson tied for first in the pole vault(4.95 m), a new personal record. The Gophers also had a pair of top 10 performances in the 1,500 as Adam Zutz finished fourth in 4:00.49 and Andrew Larsen came in seventh at 4:02.57. Danny Schiller tied for ninth in the high jump with a leap of 2.13 m. Mitch Hechsel won the 400 in 50.03 and Rashawn Fountain was second in 50.57.

Full results for the John McDonnell Invite are HERE.  Tomcat Invitational results are HERE.