Wednesday, May 30, 2012

#22 Gopher Men Advance Seven and Relay

The University of Minnesota men's track team rose to #22 in the latest NCAA Division I track and field rankings, after qualifying seven individuals and a relay team to next weekend's NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Gophers will be represented by David Pachuta and Harun Abda at 800-meters, Nick Hutton at 1500m, Hassan Mead at 5000m, Quentin Mege and Micah Hegerle in the hammer throw, and Jack Szmanda in the decathlon.

The Gophers will also be represented by their 4 x 400m relay team of Jacob Capek, Abda, John Holton, and Kevin Bradley. The NCAA meet kicks off a week from today and runs until June 9.  All but Szmanda qualified via last weekend's NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas.

"After the Big Ten meet we were a little bit down," Gopher men's coach Steve Plasencia confided in a Gopher media release.  "Coming down here our goal was to make a little noise and I think we accomplished that. Now we have to turn it around, get ready and see what we can do in Des Moines at the finals."

The Gopher women will send their school record-breaking 4 x 100m relay team of Todea-Kay Willis, Nyoka Giles, Chimerem Okoroji, and Kylie Peterson to NCAAs.

Find complete entry lists for the NCAA Championships HERE (men) and HERE (women).

The complete pre-NCAA outdoor track rankings can be found HERE.

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