Cross Country

Minnesota cross country coach Steve Plasencia knew going into the Big Ten Championships on Sunday that it would be a battle to finish in the

top five.

And sure enough, the Gophers finished 13 points behind Iowa and dropped into sixth place and the second division of the conference race held in East Lansing, Mich.

"We knew coming in there would be a battle for the middle spots," Plasencia said.

The Gophers, fighting Iowa for the fifth spot, proved to have more depth than the Hawkeyes by posting better times at the fourth through seventh spots.

Minnesota's men's cross-country team placed 16th in the Purple Race of the Pre-NCAA Meet in Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday. Defending national champion and top-ranked Stanford cruised to the team title with 25 points, placing six runners in the top 10. Iona College was second with 95 points. Minnesota tallied 419 points.

The Pre-NCAA meet field was split into two races, Purple and Gold, of equal strength. No. 5 Colorado edged No. 3 Northern Arizona by a 109-114 margin to capture the team title in the Gold race.

If Minnesota's men's cross-country team learned two things Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational, they are that Kip Kangogo really "can go-go," and Wisconsin once again will be a tough team to beat in the Big Ten.

Kangogo, a junior from Brigham Young University, won the Griak for the second-straight year, and Wisconsin dominated the team competition, finishing with 89 points. Minnesota finished 12th with 320 points.

"I wanted to be in the top 10," Gophers coach Steve Plasencia said. "But it was a good stepping stone for us."

On the bright side, Minnesota's women's cross-country team was vocal; redshirt freshman Emily Brown continued her solid running, and senior captain Anita Menden finished the race.

But the team was hoping to place higher than 19th at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul on Saturday.

"At the beginning of the season, we thought top 10 or top 12 in this race would be good," coach Gary Wilson said. "We fought all day, but we didn't start out aggressive enough."

Minnesota's men's cross-country coach Steve Plasencia described his team going into Saturday's Roy Griak Invitational meet as "Carlson-less."

Running their second meet without senior Andrew Carlson, who is still recovering from injury, the Gophers are growing accustomed to running in packs to compete at the same level.

One of the runners Plasencia needs to lead those packs is junior Ryan Ford.

"He's a competitor and a real race-day guy," Plasencia said.

Last season, Erik Grumstrup had a reason to be "grumpy." He started the season as the Gophers' top finisher in the Brigham Young University Autumn Classic. But after that, Grumstrup slowly slid off the map, ending his season with a 58th-place finish in the Big Ten meet.

Grumstrup was able to look past his own inconsistencies and support his team during its 17th-place finish in the NCAA championship meet.

Minnesota's women's cross country team delivered a dominating performance Saturday in the Fourth Oz Memorial Run at the Les Bolstad cross-country course.

The Gophers had the top nine finishers and 13 of the top 16 runners overall.

Minnesota finished with a perfect score of 15, the lowest possible for a cross country race. Division II school Drake finished second with 65 points and Division III Bethel College placed third with 73 points. Division II Minnesota State-Mankato was last with 95 points.

When Minnesota's women's cross country team hosts the Oz Memorial Run on Saturday at the Les Bolstad Golf Course, coach Gary Wilson hopes it will be under more comfortable running conditions.

Over the last couple weeks of practice, Wilson's squad has dealt with respiratory problems stemming from stiff humidity and temperatures reaching into the 80s.

"When this weather breaks, we'll see a big difference," Wilson said. "We're Minnesotans, dang it, not tropics runners."

Emily Brown might have made an immediate impact on Minnesota's women's cross country team last season had it not been for an extra bone in her foot.

Coming off a second-place finish in Wisconsin's state high school cross country meet, she was part of the Gophers' big recruiting class in 2002. However, after a training injury, Brown needed surgery to remove the bone, causing her to redshirt in the fall.

Minnesota's women's cross country team kicked off its season Saturday with its annual intrasquad meet held at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.

Redshirt freshman Emily Brown finished the 5,000-meter race first with a time of 19 minutes, 20 seconds. But on a down note, those attending the meet learned senior Darja Vasiljeva might not get to compete at all this season.