Gophers Celebrate Their Third Straight Big Ten Title
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Three Golden Gophers won individual titles on Sunday as the Minnesota men’s track & field team captured its third consecutive Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships title. The Gophers tallied 117.33 points to better Indiana’s runner-up score of 114.50, the closest team race since 2003.
“This was such a hard-fought meet,†said Minnesota head coach Steve Plasencia. “Being in the heart of the battle, with the meet tight all day, it’s all still kind of a blur. I haven’t appreciated that we won this thing yet but we have the trophy. I’m happy for the team.â€
The Gophers held off a late charge by Indiana to secure the three-peat. The Hoosiers scored 19 points in the 5,000 meters, the last event before the final 4x400-meter relay, to close to within 9.67 points of Minnesota. Aware of this, Plasencia pulled together his relay and gave some last-minute coaching advice.
“We told them what the situation was, that they just needed to run hard, avoid contact and hang on to that baton,†explained Plasencia.
The Gophers did just that with John Holton, Max Hanson, Jacob Capek and Harun Abda crossing the finish line in a safe time of 3 minutes, 15.35 and in fifth place setting the championship celebration in motion.
Minnesota took its first lead in the team standings after the mile run, the first event scored on the second day of the Championships. Senior Ben Blankenship became the first Gopher to defend the Big Ten title in this event running a season-best time of 4:01.14.
