Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2006 > May-June 2006	Print View

Photographs courtesy of University Athletics

First the good:

Two Gopher wrestlers and a runner brought home NCAA individual national titles. In wrestling, junior heavyweight Cole Konrad put together a Herculean finish to go undefeated for the season and capture the national title in double overtime against Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State. The victory came nearly a year to the day that Mocco defeated Konrad in overtime for the 2005 crown. Freshman Dustin Schlatter finished the best freshman wrestling season in school history with a win over Iowa’s Ty Eustice at 157 pounds. Schlatter finished the season at 42-1. As a team, the Gophers finished second to Oklahoma State, which won its fourth straight NCAA title.

Heather Dorniden, a freshman, claimed the national title in the 800-meter indoor run. She is the University’s first women’s track and field athlete to win a national crown.

Women’s swimming and diving co–head coaches Kelly Kremer and Terry Nieszner made waves by being named Big Ten Coaches of the Year in only their second season at the helm. The team finished a close second to Penn State at the Big Ten championships.

The Gopher women’s gymnastics team, led by conference Gymnast of the Year Laura Johnson, snapped Michigan’s seven-year title streak and brought home the Big Ten team title for the first time since 1998. The Gophers are the only team to defeat Michigan in the Big Ten championships in the past 14 years. The men’s gymnastics team earned a bid to the 2006 national championships as the No. 10 seed. The team has competed in the championship every season since 1975.

The Gopher women’s hockey team made it to the NCAA title game for the third straight year but lost 3-0 to Wisconsin in front of 4,701 fans at Mariucci Arena.

>>> The bad: The top-seeded Gopher men’s hockey team suffered a shocking 4-3 overtime loss to No. 4 seed Holy Cross in the semifinals of the 2006 NCAA West Regional. The Gophers finished the season on a three-game skid; a week before the Holy Cross loss, they dropped an 8-7 heartbreaker in overtime to St. Cloud State in the semifinal of the WCHA Final Five, and suffered a 4-0 shutout in the third-place game.

>>> And the bewildering: The Gopher women’s basketball team endured plenty of frustration on the court this season, beginning 17-4 and then losing six of the final eight games. But the real stinger came after the season ended, when five players quit the team in a one-week span. Sophomores Lauren Lacey and Brittney Davis were the first to go, followed by top forward Jamie Broback, up-and-coming sophomore forward Natasha Williams, and junior Liz Podominick, a veteran post player who was expected to contend for a starting spot next season. Podominick’s departure was anticipated—she’s an elite thrower on the track and field team and will concentrate on making the 2008 Olympic team—but the other defections were unexpected. Athletics Director Joel Maturi was steadfast in his support of coach Pam Borton, and said his annual routine review of the program would include a closer look at players’ concerns. Combined with the graduation of six seniors, the losses add up to a major challenge going into next season.

The Gopher men’s basketball team finished the Big Ten season a dismal 5-11, but the team’s lackluster showing was surpassed by the poor performance of Twin Cities media following the Gophers’ final loss of the season. Newspapers and other outlets, picking up on Internet rumors, widely—and incorrectly—reported that Maturi had decided to fire coach Dan Monson. The reports caught both men off guard and necessitated some quick reassurances to players, their families, fans, and, presumably, recruits. “You have empathy for the people besides you that it affects,” Monson told the Minnesota Daily. “[I]t really makes you reflective on how many people your job impacts and what the responsibility for this job is.” ¦