Saturday, February 28, 2009

Great First Day!

Well, it was rockin' here at Penn State on the first day of the Big Ten Championships. We had a very nice showing up and down the board. We head into the second day with many advancing to the finals in their track events, and several strong field events yet to come.

We are currently first in the team scoring with 47 points, while the Badgers are not far behind with 36. Indianna is third with 27, while Michigan sent several through to the finals tomorrow as well... they are in fourth with 19 points.

I'll continue to update tomorrow! Go Gophers!

Vaulters!

Joe P. and Brock held down the scoring in the vault... Joe hit 17'4 on his first attempt to finish second. Brock went 16'8 to finish 5th. Great job!

DMR

DMR Team of Blankenship, Linneman, Hans and Richardson finish 2nd in
9:46.9!

3000-meters!

Hasaan wins 3k in 8:02, Rombough 3rd in 8:06!

Other updates...

Duling advances to hurdle final... Hans and Richardson advance in
800-meters... Stroman advances to final of 600-meter... Demer 7th in long
jump!

Heptathlon Day One

Day One final standings: Joey-1st, RJ- 2nd, Brock - 5th, Garret - 9th

Shot Put

Aaron Studt Big Ten Champ! New PR of 62'11.

Mile Prelims

Blankenship through to final in 4:06.

Heptathlon High Jump

RJ 6'1', Joey 6'7. Brock 6'4', Wankel 6'2.

Heptathlon Shot Put

RJ 49'11', Joey 42'6. Brock 34', Wankel 36'8. Currently 1-2-5-8 in overall
scores.

Heptathlon Long Jump

RJ 23', Joey 22'10. Brock 22'8, Wankel 21'10. Currently 1-2-3-5 in overall
scores.

Heptathlon 60-meter

Joey: 7.08, RJ :7.13, Brock: 7.28, Wankel: 7.54

Meet Updates

Just a heads up that I'm going to try and update the blog with some live results from my palm pilot... first time doing it, so we'll see how it works!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Big Ten Athlete of the Week!

Aaron Studt was named athlete of the week by the Big Ten on Monday. Aaron earned the honor after his 66'11 throw in the weight at the Snowshoe Open. He currently ranks 7th in the NCAA in the shot put with his 62'2 and 19th in the weight throw with his 66'11.


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fisher's 7'3 Jump

Here is a clip of Matt's clearance of 7'3 at River Falls a few weeks back. The jump is currently second on the NCAA RANKING!


Snowshoe Videos

Monday, February 23, 2009

Recruiting Update

Here is a little update on where we’re at in recuiting. Below are the athletes that have signed and returned their National Letter of Intent. Go Gophers!

Derek StorkelTomah, Wisconsin

-- Derek was the Wisconsin State Champ in cross country this fall. For some context, Derek ran within one second of Chris Rombough’s time on the Wisconsin State Championships course. Derek's PR's on the track are 4:19 for 1600-meters and 9:24 for 3200-meters.

Ryan Todhunter – Grand Forks, ND (Red River)

-- Ryan is the reigning North Dakota State Champ in the high hurdles. Ryan ran his PR of 14.16 in the 110mH at the state championship meet last season. Ryan is also one of the top returners in the 300-meter hurdles.

Clay Gosse – Appleton, Wisconsin (North)

-- Clay is the top returning shot put and discus thrower from the state of Wisconsin, and one of the top returning throwers in the mid-west. Clay has personal best’s in the shot and discus of 59’2 and 167’ from his junior season.

Olidipo FagbemiMarshfield, Wisconsin

-- Olidipo has a PR of 48.51 in the 400-meters, one of the fastest times in the tri-state area. 'Dipo' has also run 22.14 in the 200-meter and boasts a personal best of 47’3 in the triple jump.

Matthew “Jake” Malm – Grand Forks, ND (Red River)

-- Jake is the top returning javelin thrower from North Dakota and was an all-state performer as a junior in that event. Has a personal best toss of 181’11.

Jon Lehman – Coon Rapids, Minnesota

-- Jon is one of the top returning discus throwers from the state of Minnesota with a PR of 158' to go with his 6'5 frame. Jon was also a top end football prospect and received all-state honors this fall. He was recently named to the All-Star football game this spring at SCSU.

***We have also landed some very solid in-state talent that have committed. Although, until we receive the appropriate signing documentation, NCAA rules prohibit us from publishing that info!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

11th in the NCAA

After some very strong performances at Iowa State, Washington and UW-River Falls we are currently 11th in the US Track and Field Coaches Association ranking.

We are excited to be the highest ranked Big Ten program, but we also understand the real ranking will be determined this weekend at Penn State!

The rankings can be found: HERE

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Friday Night Lights

As always the Snowshoe Open was a lot of fun and we had some great highlights heading into the championship portion of the season. While some rested, many had strong performances on our home track and gave the program some nice momentum into the Big Ten Championship meet next weekend at Penn State.

The hurdle crew is rounding into form with Silovich going 8.20 and Duling going 8.25. RJ hit a PR in his hurdle race with an 8.24 and later added a PR in the shot put going over 50' for the first time with his 50'5. Also over in the shot put Tyler and Trey both went over 55' for the second time this year going 1-2. The weight throw was solid with Studt moving his PR up to 66'11 and the rest of the guys at/near their PR's heading into Big Ten's.

We also had some nice PR's and wins in the jumps. Ray had a nice night going over 48' in the triple jump and hitting a solid long jump, while Demer emerged with a 46+ jump. Brock hit a season best in the vault with his 16'8. The distance crew of Furseth, Olson and Kampf went 1-2-3 in the 3k. Walter returned to the home track with a nice win in the 600-meters in 1:22.59.

NEWS-FLASH: Ibes had another win and provo in the 60-meters.

Ok. We get it. You're fast.

(Just kidding Ibes... go tear em' up at Big Tens!)

The red-shirts had a fine showing to close out their indoor seasons. Micah Hegerle and Sean King battled for most impressive red-shirt performance on the night. Micah with his 60-foot toss in the weight and Sean with a 6.89 in the 60-meter. After some research, its been determined that both performances currently rank 14th on the Big Ten rankings in their respective event, so we'll call it a tie!

I'll be posting a recruiting update on Monday morning... so stay tuned!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Big Weekend

The team split up to three different meets and it really payed off!

Our assistants came up big this weekend. Jason Havey and Scott Berggren took the helm at some of the various meets... Jason took a distance group out to Seattle and Scott covered a small group to UW-River Falls, while Steve White made the trek through the weather down to Ames for the Iowa State Classic with the rest of the staff and team.

Hassan and Rombough led the way with their record setting 3k's at the University of Washington's big distance meet. Both hit NCAA provo-marks and broke Rombough's previously held record from a few weeks ago. Hassan finished in 7:56.60 and Rombough in 7:57.58.

Matt Fisher led the way at River Falls with his monster jump of 7'3... which he made on his first attempt. As of Sunday, the jump ranks 2nd in the nation!

Down in Ames, Aaron Studt got a big toss in the shot with his 62'2, which is an indoor PR and currently ranks 5th in the nation. Aaron also had a solid showing in the weight with another meet over 64'.



Ibes continued a stellar senior season with yet another win in the 60-meter with his 6.67. The DMR had a nice win, coming just shy of the NCAA provo-standard with their 9:48.53. After a solid anchor for the DMR, Andy Richardson continued his strong freshman campaign by just missing the NCAA provo in the 800-meter with his 1:50.51. Hans also looked good with a 1:50.71 in a very good field. Logan Stroman had a runner up performance in the 600-yard with his 1:11.12. RJ continues his evolution from the scissor-kick, as he's moved his PR over 6'7 with his clearance this weekend.


The team will be back in action for a tune-up at home on Friday at the Snowshoe Open at the fieldhouse. The following weekend we'll be on our way to Penn State for the Big Ten Championships!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Bethel Invite

A small group made the trip across the metro for a meet at Bethel this Saturday. Many guys had the weekend off after a long road trip to Nebraska last week. Although it was a small meet, we had some performances well worth taking note of.

The high jump group had a great weekend! Matt Fisher led the way clearing 6'10 from a short approach. Matt Clauer and RJ both hit PR's of 6'8 and 6'6, respectively. These performances may seem 'good' but they are really 'great' when you consider the guys competed without spikes(Bethel's infield surface where the high jump takes place does not allow spikes).

Other highlights include Brock Spandl going 16'7 in the vault to get back on track... and the hurdle crew, led bySilovich and Duling, had solid showings in the 55mH.

The red-shirts also had a very solid day with Nick Hutton going 1:53.56 in the 800-meter, Sean King going 6.46 in the 55-meter, Kevin Bradley going 1:14.60 in the 600-yard and Micah Hegerle nailing a huge PR in the weight of 57'5.... all finished as the top collegiates in their respective events.



Iowa State and UW-River Falls are up next week!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Movie Time!

Here are some highlights from this weekend at the Adidas Classic in Lincoln, NE.


Ibes 6.65 - 60 METERS

David 16'1 - VAULT

Plencner 16'7 - VAULT

Aaron - 66'1 (PR) - WEIGHT

Andy 63'1 (PR) - WEIGHT

Tyler 56'0 (PR) - SHOT

Trey 60'1 (NEW FRESHMAN RECORD & PR) - WEIGHT

Trey 56'10 (PR) - SHOT

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Streak Continues!

For the 4th week in a row the Gophers get the nod for 'Big Ten Athlete of the Week'. Ibes Kabia takes home the honor this week, his second Big Ten award of the indoor season.

Ibes took the 'Adidas Classic' title with his 6.65 in the 60-meter down in Lincoln this past Saturday. His 6.64 from a few weeks ago continues to rank 2nd in the nation.



The award makes up for his clearly incorrect Super Bowl pick, as seen below in the previous post.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Wheels on the Bus....

Thanks to the'Minnesota Coaches Bus Company' wireless internet conection this post is coming to you from somewhere in the middle of Iowa. 'Art' the bus-driver is at the helm... a DVD of 'Dumb and Dumber' is playing and several guys are taking naps. We'll be swinging into Ames to pick up some Pizza as we keep rolling to get back for the Super Bowl.

We had some really nice performances last night at the Adidas Classic in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a good oportunity for our guys to get on a banked track, as we'll be heading to Penn State for the Big Ten Indoor Championship in just a few weeks where they also have a banked track. The meet was also quality in most events giving our full squad a good early test on the road. All in all, it was a great showing.

Although I try to hold my bias to a minimum, I have to say the throwers had a huge day. The shot put crew went 1-2-3, with Studt leading the way with a 56'11, Trey giving him a run for his money with a huge PR going 56'10 and Tyler also hitting a huge PR with his 56'0.

Studt also led the way in the weight with a lifetime best of 66'1, an imrovement on his provo-performance last weekend. Aaron also had another throw right at 66', making that 2-PR throws on the day. Andy Bastian nailed a long awaited PR with his 63'3... two years removed from his previous best of 62'9. Trey solidified a break-out day with a new freshman record of 60'1... and a very good series of 59-ish throws to go with it. Trey takes down Studt's old record of 59'3. The weight guys went 1-2-4 with their efforts.

On the track, Andy Richardson donned the Maroon and Gold in his Gopher debut. He did so in fine fashion taking the win in the mile with a 4:09.32 over a very solid field. Ibes Kabia (AKA 'Juice-Ain Bolt') had another fine performance in the 60-meter with the win with his 6.65, which is just off his PR of 6.63. The mark is also ahead of the NCAA provo-standard.

Other top 3 performances included Logan Stroman in the 600-yard with his 1:11.06 (and yes, I meant 'yard'). The time converts to 1:19-low through 600-meters. Storvick and Shelendich went 2-3 in the 800-meter with 1:53 and 1:54. Ben Puhl was runner-up in the 5k, while Plencner and Gierut went 16'7 and 16'1... with Plencner taking some good looks at 17'1.

We're coming up on Ames and the guys are ready for some Pizza... I'll post some videos from the meet later in the week.

Here are some 'front of the bus' pre-game Super Bowl picks:

Plaz: Steelers 31 - Cardinals 17 - Badgers 0
Paul: Cardinals 28 - Steelers 24
Lynden: Steelers 20 - Cardinals 17 (OT)
Ibes: Cardinals 24 - Steelers 17