Minnesota men defend indoor title

In decisive fashion, the Minnesota men’s track and field team successfully defended its Big Ten indoor championship.
The Gophers were without six-time All-American Hassan Mead, who is struggling with an Achilles’ tendon injury. With the indoor season as short as it is, the team said it decided it would be better to have Mead not waste a year of eligibility while he battles an injury.
Plenty of other Gophers stepped up in Mead’s absence, with a total of five Minnesota athletes being crowned Big Ten champions in six different events .
Gophers senior Aaron Studt defended his Big Ten crown when he won the shot put competition with a personal-best final throw.
“It’s pretty surreal. I’m just really excited that I was able to pull it off with my last throw,” Studt said in a statement Saturday. “I’m more concerned about the team score as opposed to me winning but I’m just very excited. It feels good to repeat as champion.”
On the second day of competition, Studt won the weight throw as well, again on his final throw. Head coach Steve Plasencia said he was very impressed with the way Studt performed.
“He’s got my vote as the athlete of the meet,” Plasencia said.
Minnesota’s Ben Blankenship won the mile with a time of 4 minutes, 5.64 seconds, narrowly edging his closest opponent by 0.27 seconds. Plasencia said that the victory was the turning point of the meet. The Gophers had a lead in points after the first day of competition, and Blankenship’s victory padded the lead.
“It feels great,” Blankenship said in a statement. “Being at home for this was awesome. There was just so much energy going on in here, which really helped.”
Freshman Harun Abda won the 600-meter run with a time of 1:17.76. Abda also ran the 800 leg for Minnesota’s distance medley relay team and competed in the 4-by-400 meter relay.
“Harun is a very, very talented kid, and he’s just been a great kid to work with,” Plasencia said.
Gophers junior Ben Peterson won the pole vault competition by clearing a height of 17 feet, 6 1/2 inches. His mark is a personal and Minnesota season high.
The Gophers swept the top three spots in the heptathlon, led by senior R.J. McGinnis .
“It’s a great feeling to have the person that is pushing you the most to be wearing the same jersey. It’s always fun to compete with your teammates,” McGinnis said in a statement.
McGinnis racked up 5,708 points on the event, which was the second highest total of anyone in the Big Ten this season. Freshman Jack Szmanda and junior Brock Spandl finished second and third, respectively.
The NCAA indoor championship this year is scheduled to take place March 12 and 13 in Fayetteville, Ark. Final word on who will be named to the field will be announced later this week.

Note: The Minnesota women's track and field team finished fourth this weekend at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The Gophers had won the past three conference titles, but saw their streak ended as host Penn State claimed the crown.