The indoor track team got its season started with two meets prior to spring semester getting underway. The Northwest Open and Minnesota Open were held Jan. 8 and 15, and were more like glorified practices than full-scale indoor track meets.

No team scores were kept for either meet, but the Gophers men’s and women’s teams did very well against Division-III competition such as Mankato, Hamline, and Concordia.

The season’s first big meet will be this Friday and Saturday, when Minnesota hosts the Jack Johnson Classic at the Fieldhouse. The meet is named in honor of longtime equipment manager, Jack Johnson.

Men’s head coach Steve Plasencia is on a quest for his fifth straight Big Ten title (third straight indoor) and will presumably have the services of six-time All-American, Hassan Mead. Mead was lost for the cross country season in the fall after an Achilles injury, but was on hand Saturday for the Minnesota Open. Mead, along with several other top competitors, was in street clothes cheering at the Fieldhouse.