Uphill run for Gophers in men's Big Ten indoor championships

John Simons and Zach Siegmeier carried the Gophers to a sixth place finish in the Big Ten men's indoor track and field championships a year ago.

Simons won the mile and finished second in the 3,000. Siegmeier won the pole vault. Both were seniors.

So, too, was Jon Lehman who placed second in the weight throw.

The Gophers will be back in Geneva, Ohio, for the conference indoor meet on Friday and Saturday. And it's hard to see how they can make up for the points they lost.

They don't have anyone seeded first in any of the individual events and only one second seed. Of course, there could be surprises. Someone could have a great day.

Here's a look at some Gophers to watch:

Sophomore Mitch Hechsel is the second second seed in the 600. His time is 1:17.57. And right behind him is teammate Nate Roese, the third seed with a time of 1:17.68. Roese was sixth in this race a year ago. The top seed is Penn State's Brannon Kidder (1:16.98).

Rashawn Fountain, another Gopher, is the fifth seeed (1:18.07). This could be the Gophers' best event.

In the mile, senior Blayne Dulian is the top seed in the third heet and the third seed overall with a time of 4:03.28. He is about a second slower than a runner from Illinois and one from Penn State.

Senior Justin Barber is the fifth seed in the weight throw whle junior Luke Johnson is the fifth in the shop put.

Beyond those four, the highest have a handful of athletes seeded fifth through eight.

The 60-yard dash could be interesting. Berkley Edwards, a Gophers running back and former prep spring champion in Michigan, is entered. But he has the slowest seed time. Freshman Brad Neumann has the best, at 6.81, but that's only eighth. Neumann is the seventh seed in the 200.

Edwards' seed time if 6.92. In between them is Gemechu Godi at 6.87. Improving just a little in that race, can move a runner way up.

Both Neumann and Edwards are in Heat 1.

Another interesting Gophers is junior Goaner Deng. He was third in the 800 a year ago. He is in the 800 again, but his seed time of 1:51.71 is more than a second behind teammate Bradley Johnson, seeded seventh at 1:50.65.

Junior Adam Zutz is seeded sixth in the 5,000, freshman Ryan Lockard seventh in the high jump, and junior Aaron Bartnik is seeded eighth in the 3,000.

Four individual champions return in track, three in the field events.