Pick Ten: DI/DIII Regionals

Our 2013 Down the Backstretch fantasy contests are coming to a close.  We'll wrap up the Pick Ten competition this week with a contest featuring the Division I and Division III Regional races.  Next week, the Yes/No game will conclude with a question relating to the collegiate National Cross Country Meets.

Entering the final weekend, the Pick Ten contest is tight.  Here are the current leaders:

Mike Henderson - 191

Bryan Tolcser - 178

Patrick Eastman - 174
Rich Cowles - 173
Daniel Gerber - 172

The University of Minnesota Gophers will run in the Midwest Regional on Friday, while Elk River's Emma Bates and her Boise State squad will compete in the West Regional on the same day.  Over in Division III, the MIAC and UMAC teams are all heading to Northfield, where St. Olaf will host the Central Regional on Saturday.

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 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.

For example: If you pick Laura Docherty to place first in the Midwest Regional race, and she places first, you get 10 points. If you pick Docherty to place first and she finishes second, you get zero points. If you pick Docherty to finish third in the race and she places first, second or third, you get 8 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 11:30 A.M. CST on Friday, November 15th 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 2013.

Pick 10 ... NCAA Regional Races:

Emma Bates - Boise State:
Laura Docherty - University of Minnesota:
Molly Kayfes - University of Minnesota:
University of Minnesota Men:
University of Minnesota Women:
Ailee Larson - St. Catherine
Brian Saksa - St. Olaf:
Matt Berens - Bethel:
St. Scholastica Women:
Carleton Men:

Here is some information to help you with your picks:

• 2013 Big Ten Championship (Men/Women)
• 2013 MIAC Championship (Men/Women)
• 2013 UMAC Championship (Men/Women)
• 2013 Mountain West Championship (Women)
• 2012 Division I Midwest Regional
• 2012 Division I West Regional (Women)
• 2012 Division III Central Regional (Men/Women)
• Current Division I Regional team rankings
• Current Division III Regional team ranking

The question in last week's Yes/No Contest was: Will two or more teams from Minnesota automatically qualify for the Division II National Meet?  The answer was yes -- UMD women and Winona State women both qualified for the National Meet.  UMD won the meet and Winona State finished fourth.  Ten players answered correctly this week and Dimitri Drekonja and Pat Foley joined Lori Anne Schwiesow in first place with 23 points.  Daniel Gerber, Chris Lundberg and Mary Varney have 21 points.

PHOTO ID:

Photo from the collection
of Gene Niemi

The fellow pictured here is an Olympian, a Minneapolis native, and Washburn High grad.  You might still see him at track meets in the area.  Who is he and where was the picture taken?

Eight individuals correctly identified the University of Minnesota assistant track coach Steve White in last week's Photo ID contest:  Dylan Dragswiek, Jesse Schoen, Bill Miles, Mike Henderson, Toby Hatlevig, Daniel Gerber, Pat Foley and Bryan Tolcser.  Bill Miles came through with the first correct answer.

Good luck!

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