Etrain Team Power Rankings: #23 Minnesota Gophers

By: Garrett Zatlin

Reminder of the list so far...

#25 Eastern Michigan Eagles

#24 Penn State Nittany Lions

#23 Minnesota Gophers

#22 Cornell Bears
#21 Furman Paladins
#20 Florida State Seminoles

#19 Colorado State Rams

#18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

#17 NC State Wolfpack

#16 Penn Quakers

#15 Virginia Tech Hokies

#14 UCLA Bruins

#13 BYU Cougars

#12 Louisville Cardinals

#11 Michigan Wolverines

#10 Virginia Cavaliers

#09 Oregon Ducks

#08 Oklahoma State Cowboys

#07 Iona Gaels

#06 Mississippi Rebels

#05 Villanova Wildcats

#04 Wisconsin Badgers

#03 Syracuse Orange 

#02 Stanford Cardinals
#01 Colorado Buffalos

23. Minnesota Gophers
Flotrack's #23: Colorado St. Rams

Coach: Steve Plasencia
Notable Departures: Blayne Dulian

Notable Additions: Joey Duerr, Connor Olson

Projected Scoring Five: Aaron Bartnik (SR), Adam Zutz (SR), Christian Skaret (SR), Alex Brend (SR), Obsa Ali (SO)

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The University of Minnesota has been known for developing some outstanding individuals like John Simons, Hassan Mead, and Ben Blankenship. However, they have never really been known as a team to watch. This season, that changes. While I feel that they do deserve a spot on the list, it’s difficult to know where to put them when you consider their inconsistency last season. They have shown that there are talented guys on their squad, but you never know if they’re always going to show up.

As I mentioned above, the Gophers went through a roller coaster of success and disappointment last season. The men up north started the season off at a couple of small meets, but didn’t have their first true contest until they hosted their own meet, the Roy Griak Invitational. The race was filled with talented teams all across the nation that included Texas, UNC, D2 squad Grand Valley St., Colorado St., and Southern Utah. Although the Gophers had their hands full, they still came out with an excellent third place team finish that was led by Aaron Bartnik’s 8^th place individually. The race was tightly contested and the Gophers ended up only 7 points out from first place (Southern Utah), and 3 points out from second place (Colorado St.). It was a very encouraging start for the host team who ended up placing much higher than anyone had predicted. Three weeks later, Coach Plasencia and his squad headed to the Wisconsin Invite as the 27^th ranked team in the nation and with a new-found swagger in their step. Unfortunately, they would leave that swagger in Wisconsin after they struggled to make an impact in a loaded field finishing 20^th out of 36 teams. Bartnik was the front man in 29^th place while only one other teammate of his finished under 100^th place (Zutz-83^rd). Teams they had soundly defeated at Roy Griak, like UNC and Iowa St., would prevail over Minnesota. Could the team rebound from a tough race like that at a loaded BIG 10 conference meet? That answer would be no. Minnesota was trounced at the post-season meet finishing 7^th out of 12 teams. Even Coach Plasencia admitted that they were “a little bit short of where [they] wanted to be”. Midwest regionals would be their last chance to salvage what was becoming a disappointing season. Even with most BIG 10 teams in the Great Lakes region, Minnesota was still very familiar with teams like Illinois, Oklahoma, and Iowa after competing against them throughout the 2014 season. The familiarity seemed to help the Gophers as they were able to defeat all of those teams. Still, the Gophers finished 4^th falling short to OKST, Tulsa, and ISU even with Bartnik placing 4^th individually. The ‘at large’ team bid was out of reach and only Bartnik would end up going to nationals.

Minnesota makes the list because of the returners they have and the leadership that Bartnik brings to the table. Seniors, Zutz, Brend, and Skaret will need to close the gap between them and their lead man. They don’t need compete with Bartnik, but they just can’t afford to give up any more ground. It will also be crucial for those guys to have consistently good races. Aside from the seniors, there’s a lot to like about the sophomores. There is always a good chance that second year runners will improve on their freshman year. With Obasa Ali, Riley Macon, and Charlie Lawrence having bounced around the top seven throughout last season, it’s encouraging to think that they will capitalize on their experience this fall. It also doesn’t hurt that Minnesota brought in an excellent recruiting class to continue their growth. With the pieces and potential surrounding this squad, then can become very successful. However, they will need to have better pack running and bring down that time spread if they are to take advantage of a Midwest region that loses a good chunk of competitors to graduation.