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She was all-American Janel McCarville’s primary backup at center and returned from missing three weeks with mononucleosis to play her best basketball in the Gophers’ three NCAA Tournament games. Then, just six weeks after joining the track team, Podominick won Big Ten shot put and discus throw titles in May. Her 3.8 GPA as a sociology and anthropology double major earned her academic honors in both sports. In August, she was named to the Big Ten all-star basketball team for a five-game tour of Europe.

Though physically imposing—at 6-foot-2 and well-muscled—Podominick is also soft-spoken and quick to laugh. She recently discussed being a two-sport athlete.

Q: After a frustrating freshman basketball season, did you wonder if you could do both sports?
A: A little bit. It was a long freshman year, a big adjustment, and I needed to get away from [basketball] and be around other people. I did throw [with the track team], though I didn’t compete. I think it really helped me. It wasn’t really to get my confidence back, but just to realize, “oh yeah, I am good at this.”

Also, my strength improved a lot from the track [weight] lifting. And having been away a little bit, once basketball started last year, I was really able to focus on it.

Q: This year, were you surprised to win Big Ten titles so soon after basketball ended?
A: It was beyond my expectations. . . . Lynne [Anderson, Minnesota’s throws coach] is a great coach and her plan all along was to have me redshirt my first year, to let me get used to the tougher academics and getting worn down in the long basketball season. Plus, she would rather have me throwing farther in my fifth year when I can concentrate just on track.

Q: Your fifth year will be 2008, the next Olympic year, right?
A: That’s my ultimate dream. I’m realistic enough to know that I probably won’t play basketball after college, except recreationally. I think I have more of a future in track. Even if 2008 is a little rushed, considering I won’t have been training all year round for four years for it, I’ll be young enough [23] to keep going for it. I’d like to try.

Exactly one play into the 2005 football season, Gopher running back Laurence Maroney had 67 yards and a touchdown to his credit. Minnesotans tend to distrust raised expectations—and preseason hype even more. So when the national media anointed Maroney a preseason all-American and perhaps even a Heisman Trophy candidate, we crossed our fingers and hoped he hadn’t been jinxed. When he burst through the Tulsa defense for a second long touchdown and piled up a career high in rushing in one quarter, we were able to exhale and move on to other sports worries.

Homecoming weekend featured more than a thrilling Gopher football victory (42–35 over Purdue). Three of the U’s “Olympic sport” teams competed in front of their biggest crowds of the year. The soccer team opened the Big Ten season Friday night against Purdue with a special $1 admission—and proceeded to break their all-time attendance

How close was it? Quarterback Bryan Cupito snuck into the end zone on a two-point conversion to send the Gophers' homecoming game into overtime. The Gophers won in the second overtime. Photograph courtesy of University Athletics.

record with 1,751 witnessing a 2–1 loss at Elizabeth Robbie Stadium near the St. Paul campus. About 16 hours and a quarter mile away, the cross-country teams hosted one of the nation’s biggest and most prestigious cross country meets, the Roy Griak Invitational. Thousands of runners from hundreds of teams competed in seven different races on undulating, deceptively difficult courses at the U’s Les Bolstad Golf Course. In the 31-team Division I race, the Gopher women’s team posting a surprise second-place finish ahead of six top-25 national teams. The men’s team was seventh out of 27.

For three gorgeous sunny days in mid-September, Gopher golfers ruled the local links, winning two home tournaments and taking medalist honors. Niall Turner won the inaugural Gopher Invitational at Spring Hill Country Club in Wayzata, leading the men’s team to a tie-breaker win over Washington. At Les Bolstad, the women golfers won the Minnesota Invitational. Junior Sarah Butler took honors, helping her squad win. A second team of Minnesota golfers was just six shots back, tied for second with Montana.

An informal survey at the Minnesota State Fair found that Minnesota is indeed the state of hockey. Forty percent of the 600-plus votes registered in Goldy’s Poll on day three of the fair indicated that hockey is the favorite U sport. Football and basketball each earned about half that percentage, while volleyball sat near 10 percent. Among those who marked “Other” as their favorite, a number wrote in a sport, with gymnastics, soccer, and baseball each getting a handful.

Although they lack a big name star, the Gopher women’s basketball team may have more depth than ever. The team loses only one player—first-team all-American center Janel McCarville. But heir-apparent Liz Podominick won’t have the starting job handed to her. The Gophers’ sophomore post players from Chicago—Lauren Lacey and Natasha Williams—have worked to correct the deficiencies that held them back last year and will give Minnesota more size on the front line. Minnesota’s hallmark defensive intensity will benefit from having two, and in some cases three, strong players at each position.

When the Gopher men’s basketball team takes the court, look for more talent and more outside scoring options than last year’s surprise team of the Big Ten. Two senior guards with something to prove return: Adam Boone from injury and Moe Hargrow from a short-lived transfer out of the program. Minnesota will miss seven-footer Jeff Hagen in the middle, but watch for redshirt freshman forward Jonathan Williams, who missed last year with a shoulder injury, to be the surprise of the season. n Chris Coughlan-Smith (B.A. ’86) is senior editor of Minnesota.

Quotebook

“There have been a lot of games that I’ve coached in that I wish the first quarter was not on TV, but that wasn’t one of them.”
—Gopher football coach Glen Mason on the first game of the 2005 season, which was to be shown live on ESPN2. But since the preceding game ran over, local fans didn’t see the contest until Minnesota already had a 17–0 lead over Tulsa.

“I was OK the night before, but when I walked in the arena and smelled the mini-donuts I started to get the jitters.”
—Gopher hockey freshman forward Ryan Stoa after his first college game. He and two other freshmen scored goals in a 4–3 exhibition win over the University of Alberta on October 6.