The Gophers contingency will head to the West region preliminary meet in Austin, Texas (University of Texas) with competition set for May 23-25. Qualifiers from the west regional will compete at the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore.
A day after helping the Gophers to the squad's third 4x800 meter relay title in as many years, Travis Burkstrand and Harun Abda put together a 1-2 finish in the 800 meters on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 14,504.
Career Highlights A 2010 and 2012 NCAA Preliminary Meet competitor on the Gophers' 4x400-meter relay • Big Ten scorer every year.
2012 Season - Indoor: Finished fifth in the 600 meters at the Big Ten Championships with a time of 1:19.84 • anchored the 4x400 meter relay team that finished third with the fifth-fastest time in school history (3:09.52) • also ran a time of 48.37 in the 400m • finished second in the 400m at the Holiday Inn Invitational (48.71) • third in the 400m at the Bill Bergan Invite (48.24) • finished third in the 600m at the Snowshoe Open (1:20.22) • placed second in the 600 yards at the Iowa State Classic (1:09.99) • anchored the 4x400m relay team that set the fourth-fastest time in school history and placed fifth at the Alex Wilson Invitational (3:06.87) • ran the second leg of the 4x400meter team that won the Holiday Inn Invitational (3:12.13) and Jack Johnson Classic (3:15.30). Outdoor: NCAA West Preliminary competitor in the 4x400-meter relay, helping the Gophers advance to the NCAA Championships • ran a 48.01 in the 400 meters at the Big Ten Championships • also anchored the 4x400m, which ran the seventh-best time in school history (3:06.50) • finished third in the 400 meters at the Tom Cat Twilight (48.01) • anchored the 4x400m team that won at the Mt. SAC Relays (3:07.55) • 4x400 meter relay team also finished fourth at the Drake Relays • ran the third leg of the 1,600m sprint medley relay that set the sixth-fastest time in school history at Drake (3:23.69) • Academic All-Big Ten.
2011 Season - Indoor: Competed in the 400 meters at the Alex Wilson and finished eighth (47.87) • competed in the 400 meter at the Bill Bergen Invitational and finished third (48.11) • competed in the Snowshoe Open in the 400 meters and finished first (49.19) • ran in the Big Ten Championships and finished fourth in the 600 meters (1:18.62) • competed in the Jack Johnson and finished fifth in the 600 meters (1:20.23).
2010 Season - Indoor: Competed in five meets • led off the Gophers' 4x400-meter relay that placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships with an NCAA provisional time • finished ninth in the 400 meters at the Conference meet • clocked a season-best time of 48.96 seconds in the Big Ten 400m prelim. Outdoor: NCAA Preliminary Meet participant • led off the 4x400-meter relay that placed 18th in the quarterfinals with a time of 3:08.59 • relay placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships • raced the open 400 meters in five meets • placed ninth in 400 meters at Big Tens • clocked top time of the season (47.83) in Conference prelim • Academic All-Big Ten • varsity letterwinner.
2009 Season - Redshirted the indoor and outdoor seasons.
High School - A 2008 graduate of Greenfield High School • high school coaches were Jamee Muehr and BrianVerfuerth • Wisconsin Division i all-state performer in the 400 meters • placed fifth in 2007 • top high school time was 49.06 • also competed at state in swimming • lettered four years in soccer, swimming and track. Personal - Born Sept. 28, 1989 • bio systems engineering major • parents are William and Jill Holton • has an older sister Sarah • enjoys travelling and the arts.
