Golden Gopher Cross Country This Week:

Big Ten Conference Cross County Championships

Sunday, Oct. 31
Women - 10:45 a.m. CT
Men - 11:45 a.m. CT
Verona, Wis.
Zimmer Championship Course

TV Coverage: Big Ten Network
Tape-Delayed Broadcast
Sunday, Nov. 21 – 11 a.m. CT

The Golden Gopher men’s cross country team travels to Wisconsin on Sunday to compete in the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. The men will race a distance of 8 kilometers on the new Zimmer Championships Course in Verona, Wis. The race begins at 11:45 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

Minnesota head coach Steve Plasencia sat down with gophersports.com to talk about his team going into the Championships, the Gophers’ team depth and taking on the Big Ten meet without two-time Conference champion Hassan Mead.

The Gophers will field a lineup that includes six runners with Big Ten Championships experience, led by seniors Ben Blankenship and Mike Torchia. Blankenship finished 18th a year ago. Due to injuries throughout his Gopher career, Torchia will run just his second Big Ten cross country race. He was 16th in 2008.

Minnesota placed third in the Big Ten Championships in 2009.