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7/12/2004
The Gopher baseball team won its third straight Big Ten regular season title this spring, its seventh consecutive finish among the conference's top three. But this year the Gophers also won the Big Ten tournament, hosted at Siebert Field on the Minneapolis campus, after failing to do so the last two years. With the tournament title, Minnesota earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, its sixth berth in seven years. "One of the players' main goals was to win the Big Ten Tournament," head coach John Anderson said after the tournament. "They were tired of losing." Minnesota, which ended the year 38-23, was led by Big Ten pitcher of the year Glen Perkins, a sophomore from Stillwater, Minnesota. Perkins was 7-0 in Big Ten play (9-2 overall) and is now 19-4 in his career, including a perfect 15-0 in the Big Ten. Senior centerfielder Sam Steidl of Alexandria, Minnesota, led the team in hitting and was named first-team all-Big Ten for the second time. Junior first baseman Andy Hunter of West St. Paul, Minnesota, was also first team all-conference after leading Minnesota in home runs and runs batted in. Anderson was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third straight time and now has a record of 839-515 in his 23 seasons. Molitor in the Hall Paul Molitor, who played for the Gophers from 1975-77, will be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in July, just four years after Dave Winfield (1971-73) entered the hall. Minnesota is the only Big Ten baseball team with two players in the hall of fame. Honoring Scholars The U's 15th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet in April saw 355, or almost half the school's student athletes, earn the Scholar-Athlete Award by maintaining a cumulative grade point average of better than 3.0 while earning a varsity letter. The top honors are listed below. Outstanding Achievement
(For accomplishments in leadership, academics, volunteerism, and athletics) - Cassie Busse, Prior Lake, Minnesota; volleyball - Adam Steele, Eden Prairie, Minnesota; track and field Inspiration Award (For success in the face of difficult circumstances) Lindsay Whalen, Hutchinson, Minnesota; basketball Top-Five GPA Award (Five best grade-point averages among men and women with three or more years of athletics participation) -Laura Bjork, Colfax, Wisconsin; track and field/cross country -Sarah Hesser, Minneapolis; track and field/cross country -Paula Hoffert, Lewiston, Minnesota; track and field/cross country -Sarah Solfelt, Eden Prairie, Minnesota; swimming and diving -Mary Skokut, Carmel, Indiana; gymnastics -John Albert, Bloomington, Minnesota; track and field -Guillermo Alvarez, Denver, Colorado; gymnastics -Mikael Jakobsson, Orebro, Sweden; track and field -Steffen Landgraf, Berlin, Germany; track and field -Andrew Tilstra, Luverne, Minnesota; track and field Quotebook "This is the beginning of a sea change in college sports. Landmark legislation has been passed that will ensure that each and every student athlete has a genuine opportunity to receive a high-quality education and to graduate." —NCAA President Miles Brand on rules passed in April that penalize schools for low student athlete graduation rates and if players do not make adequate progress towards degrees each year. "Good equipment can help, but great coaches and eager girls win races. We don't race the boathouse." —U senior rower Melissa Roche of Albert Lea, Minnesota, on how the rowing team has remained competitive for four years without a permanent boathouse. The University recently lifted a moratorium on sports facilities construction, with a boathouse the top priority. The team currently uses an unheated tent with no plumbing. | |||||||||||||||||
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