Hoplin makes top 10 list on first throw as a Gopher!

On just his first javelin throw of his college career Paul Hoplin puts himself 5th on the all time Gopher performance list. His throw of 214'9 gives Paul a regional qualifying mark and chance to qualify for the national meet come May.

Gophers Enjoy Sunny South Carolina and Score 5 Regional Qualifiers in the Field Events

The University of Minnesota Track and Field team spent spring break in sunny South Carolina at Clemson University. The weather was great and the team got in some great training. Best of all there were 5 regional qualifying marks in the field events by the Gophers. Andy Bastian threw 192’ 2 in the Hammer, Freshmen David Gierut vaulted 16’ 6.75, Freshmen Paul Hoplin threw 214’ 9 in the Javelin and Sophomore Aaron Studt qualified in both the Hammer (189’ 4) and the Shot with a throw of 56’ 5.75. The next stop for the team is Eugene Oregon for the Pepsi Invite on April 5th.

Ibrahim Kabia Punches His Ticket for Nationals

Junior Ibrahim Kabia qualified for the NCAA Indoor national meet with his season best of 6.67 in the 60 dash, which he ran at the Big 10 Championships on March 2. Kabia finished 5th at last years indoor NCAA Championships and will be looking to improve his place from a year ago this coming weekend in Fayetteville Arkansas.

Young Talent Shines at Big 10 Indoor Championships

The future looks bright for the Gopher track and field team as they had numerous outstanding performances from their underclassmen. Out of the 13 gopher athletes who scored in individual events, 3 were freshmen and 9 were sophomores. Ben Peterson lead the way with a pr and a 1st place finish, vaulting 17'1.75. Freshmen Hassan Mead had double duty and more than lived up to expectations. In two loaded fields Hassan placed 3rd in the 3k with a time of 8:11.7 just one second out of first place, then came back in the 5k on Sunday in a tactical contest and took 2nd place with a time of 14.26. Freshmen Brock Spandl had a sensational weekend, with perhaps the top field event double of the meet. On Saturday Brock managed a 3rd place finish in the pole vault just after completing day one in the heptathlon. On day two the young gopher moved up in the heptathlon scores and finished with 5283 points good enough for 4th place honors.
Other notable performances came from Ibrahim Kabia who finished 2nd in the 60 dash with a time of 6.67. In the throwing circle second year man Aaron Studt placed 6th in the shot put and 5th in the weight throw. Finally to round out the scoring a trio of sophomores Matt Fisher, Logan Stroman and Joe Plencner placed 6th, 7th and 8th in the high jump, 600m dash and pole vault.

Distance Squad Scores Three in 5k

Hassan lead a youthful distance squad, sophomore Chris Rombough anchored the 2nd place DMR, and then came back in the 5k to place 6th. Teammate Mike Torchia was right on Chris’s heals to place 7th and Forrest Tahdooahnippah took 11th. Freshmen half miler David Pachuta helped the DMR place 2nd and finished 7th in the open 800m.

Gophers Show Depth in Heptathlon

Although Brock placed 4th in the Heptathlon he was definitely not alone. Sophomores RJ McGinnis and David Meissner both scored points for the Gophers placing 5th and 8th with Freshmen Joey Schwecke just missing the podium with an 11th place finish.