Gopher Sports Spotlight talked with Minnesota head men’s cross country coach Steve Plasencia about this weekend’s Pre-NCAA Meet. The Pre-NCAAs are held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind., the site of the NCAA Championships in November. A large, talented field will compete in two 8-kilometer races with 18 of the 30 nationally ranked teams among the school attending.

Minnesota is ranked No. 25 entering the meet and hopes to run an impressive race on Saturday to tally important points toward an NCAA Championships berth. Leading the way for the Gophers are seniors Ben Blankenship and Mike Torchia and sophomore Pieter Gagnon.

Saturday’s Pre-NCAA Meet will be covered live on FloTrack.org.