BleedGopher
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per Pat Borzi:
Last week’s decision by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents to postpone a vote on the $190 million Athletics Village project until October might be annoying to football coach Jerry Kill and men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino. But for another coach — one who makes far less than either of them — the delay means something significant.
Steve Plasencia, a two-time U.S. Olympian at 10,000 meters and five-time All-American runner for the Gophers, coaches men’s track and cross country at Minnesota. He succeeded Roy Griak as cross country coach in 1996, and added head track duties in 2009 when Phil Lundin left for St. Olaf. Plasencia coaches squads largely overlooked by Gopher fandom, except for a tight-knit group of devotees loyal to the charismatic Griak, who died in July at age 91.
For almost a decade, Plasencia watched sections of the 25-year-old track behind the Bierman Field Athletic Building crack, crumble and wear away. Passable for practice, the rubberized surface is too shabby for intercollegiate competition. The U hasn’t hosted a major meet since the 2003 Big Ten Championships, and nothing at all since 2009. Even at the 2003 Big Tens, Marc Ryan, the senior associate athletics director who served as meet director, said he and his crew patched cracks and holes right through the final event.
https://www.minnpost.com/sports/201...stpone-vote-athletics-village-good-news-track
Go Gophers!!
Last week’s decision by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents to postpone a vote on the $190 million Athletics Village project until October might be annoying to football coach Jerry Kill and men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino. But for another coach — one who makes far less than either of them — the delay means something significant.
Steve Plasencia, a two-time U.S. Olympian at 10,000 meters and five-time All-American runner for the Gophers, coaches men’s track and cross country at Minnesota. He succeeded Roy Griak as cross country coach in 1996, and added head track duties in 2009 when Phil Lundin left for St. Olaf. Plasencia coaches squads largely overlooked by Gopher fandom, except for a tight-knit group of devotees loyal to the charismatic Griak, who died in July at age 91.
For almost a decade, Plasencia watched sections of the 25-year-old track behind the Bierman Field Athletic Building crack, crumble and wear away. Passable for practice, the rubberized surface is too shabby for intercollegiate competition. The U hasn’t hosted a major meet since the 2003 Big Ten Championships, and nothing at all since 2009. Even at the 2003 Big Tens, Marc Ryan, the senior associate athletics director who served as meet director, said he and his crew patched cracks and holes right through the final event.
https://www.minnpost.com/sports/201...stpone-vote-athletics-village-good-news-track
Go Gophers!!