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Todd Smolinski (photo by Michelle King)

Men's Swimming and Diving
The Gopher men's swimming and diving program looks set to stay right where it has been: battling Michigan for a Big Ten title and looking for a third straight top-10 national finish. Coach Dennis Dale (B.A. 67) heads a team loaded with returning talent, and early results are more than encouraging. "We've never had a Minnesota team swim this well this early in the season," he says. The Gophers return a conference finalist [top eight] in every event two or three swimmers in many. Sophomore freestyler Justin Mortimer of Milton, Massachusetts, took fourth in the 1,650-yard free and sixth in the 500 free at the NCAA meet after setting a freshman record in finishing second in the Big Ten in the 400 individual medley. Junior Todd Smolinski of St. John, Indiana, set the Big Ten record in the 100 backstroke, and earned all-American honors in that event and the 200 backstroke. He was beaten in the 200 back at the Big Ten meet by teammate Ben Bartell, a senior from Grafton, Wisconsin. Junior Jeff Hackler of Alpharetta, Georgia, was an all-American in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Junior Allen Ong of Ipoh, Malaysia, is Minnesota's "stopper" in the freestyle sprints.

"We re a top-10 national team right now. If some of our short-distance freestylers come through, we can be in the top six at NCAAs," Dale says. After 16 years with Minnesota, including 10 consecutive times in first or second in the Big Ten and in the top 15 in the NCAA, Dale is enjoying this team as much as any he has coached. "They are a really hardworking team," he says. "They make you proud

Dana Baum (photo by Eric Miller)

to coach them."

Women's Swimming and Diving
The Gopher women's swimming and diving team, as always, has balance and top competitors, but may lack the sheer numbers that have proved vital in its 1999 and 2000 Big Ten title years. "We definitely have some standouts," says head coach Jean Freeman. "We're probably one year from being able to compete at the top of the Big Ten again." With the middle of the Big Ten tightly grouped, "We need to get our swimmers sitting in the 12th through 25th spots [in the Big Ten rankings] to step it up." The standouts are junior Dana Baum of Carson City, Nevada, the school record holder in the 200-yard freestyle and a Big Ten contender in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle events; and junior Keri Hehn of Fargo, North Dakota, who transferred from the University of Nebraska after reaching the NCAA meet in the 100 and 200 breaststroke last year. Senior Jinny Smedstad of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a consistent top medley and backstroke swimmer. Depth is emerging from sophomore Megan Moore of Westmont, Illinois, in the backstroke and freestyle sprints; sophomore Juleen Rodakowski of Rochester, Minnesota, in the butterfly; and sophomore Sarah Bohlsen of Sartell, Minnesota, among others.

Divers Shannon Jackson, a sophomore from Andover, Minnesota, and junior Kim Bahmer of Shakopee, Minnesota, are Big Ten caliber. "We're really happy with where we are," Freeman says. "We thought we had some bigger holes than we do. Some people have already really jumped up."

Revising the Record Books
Two fall Gopher sports saw some rewriting of their record books in 2001. Football wide

Megan Beukens (photo by Eric Miller)

receiver Ron Johnson, a senior from Detroit, holds every career receiving record and most of the single-season marks. His most remarkable statistic may be his 46 consecutive games with a catch, which tied an NCAA record. He also finished with 198 career catches for 2,999 yards and 31 touchdowns, almost double Tutu Atwell's second-best mark of 17 (Atwell played for the Gophers from 1994 to '97).

Lindsey Berg of Honolulu finished her Gopher volleyball career by leading the Big Ten in service aces for the fourth consecutive year, a conference record. Her 283 aces is third best in conference history. She also finished with 5,913 assists, third best in conference history. Middle blocker Stephanie Hagen of Minnetonka, Minnesota, ended her career with a school record .368 hitting percentage and with 524 blocks, second best in Gopher history.

Women's Gymnastics
Senior all-American Mary Anne Kelly of Barrington, Illinois, set the school all-around record last season, breaking the mark set in 2000 by teammate Megan Beukens, a senior from Brandon, South Dakota. The seniors will lead a team that returns almost intact after scoring a 195.80 in last year's NCAA regional meet, missing the NCAA finals by 0.15 points.

Legends of the Hall
Two U of M legends were inducted into their sports respective halls of fame this fall. Roy Griak (B.A. 49, M.Ed., 50), Gopher men's track and cross country coach for 33 years, was named to the United States Track Coaches Hall of Fame. Griak, who stepped down as head coach in 1996, coached such standouts as multiple all-Americans Garry Bjorklund and Steve Plasencia,

MaryAnne Kelley (photo by Eric Miller)

both of whom went on to be U.S. Olympians.

Belmar Gunderson, the University's first director of women's athletics, was inducted into the United States Tennis Association Northern Section Hall of Fame in October. A U.S. Open quarterfinalist and part of the second-ranked doubles team in the country in the 1960s, she has won 11 national doubles titles in various age group competitions. Also named to that hall were former player Don Hendrickson (B.S. '59, M.S. '61) and former women's coach Ellie Peden.

Quotebook
"I hope they like the way this feels, being on the other side of it. . . . Your food tastes better, your music sounds better, you sleep better at night. I hope it's a thing that's contagious." Women's basketball coach Brenda Oldfield after the Gophers blew past Santa Clara 92-73 to win the Golden Gopher Basketball Classic, averaging 103 points per game. The Gophers opened their 2001-02 season 9-1, their best start ever.

Men's Tennis
In 13 years, coach David Geatz has coached his team to five Big Ten titles and four runner-up finishes; they've also made three trips to the NCAA final 16 in the last six years. This year, look for even more of the same. "This is the best team I've had at Minnesota," he says. "If we stay healthy we could contend for the NCAA title. We re definitely a top-10 team." The Gophers feature two of the top players in the country in junior Harsh Mankad of Mumbai, India, the 2001 National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship winner; and junior Thomas Haug of Zurich, Switzerland, a past regional champion. Right behind them are freshman Avery Ticer of Amarillo,

Harsh Mankad (photo by Jerry Lee)

Texas, who reached the semifinals of the 2001 Big Ten Indoor Championships in November; junior Manuel Lievano of Bucaramanga, Colombia, a transfer from North Greenville (North Carolina) College, where he was an NAIA national champion; sophomore Chris Wettengel of Bentonville, Arkansas, who was 10-3 in matches before being injured last year; and sophomore Alexey Zharinov, of Novosibirsk, Russia, whom Geatz says is "tremendously improved." Although only six singles spots exist, the team also has junior Eric Robertson of Milwaukee, who played fourth or fifth singles last spring, and senior transfer Raven Stephens of Minneapolis, who lettered for the University of Kentucky for three years. "Hopefully they'll keep making each other better," Geatz says. "You need depth and competition within the team to make yourself good."

The Big Ten race features defending champion Ohio State and Illinois, which is one of the top teams in the country. "They're really good," Geatz says. "But we're really good too. You have to be one of the best in the country to win the Big Ten."

Women's Tennis
New coach Tyler Thomson took over the Gopher women's tennis program near the end of the fall individual season and has great hopes for success perhaps as early as this season. "It's often the case when a new coach comes in that there is a dearth of people that you want to have on your team," he says. "But I am very happy with what we have here. They have a lot of talent and great attitudes." He starts with sophomore Valerie Vladea of Kitchener, Ontario, who was an all Big Ten team member last year. "She has the potential to be

Valerie Vladea (photo by Eric Miller)

a dominating number-one player," he says. Freshman Kelly Perry of San Diego "will be a mainstay for us for four years," he says, in part because of her long and distinguished junior career that saw her ranked among the nation's top 10 juniors several times. Unfortunately, immediate success will be determined in part by the health of last year's second and third players, juniors Amy Thomas of Orchard Park, New York, and Michaela Havelkova of Liberec, Czech Republic. Both struggled with injuries and were unable to practice after the fall season ended in late October. The good news is there are other talented players battling for spots. "If everyone is healthy, it's very realistic for us to be in the top half of the Big Ten at the very least and we're capable of reaching the NCAA tournament."

Thomson says he wants players to learn to take advantage of opponents weaknesses and to keep opponents off balance with shifting stratagems, rather than relying on power to get themselves out of trouble. Still, with talented and committed players in the younger classes and a new facility set to open next year, Thomson foresees big things. "I'm excited about the possibilities. Everything is in place to be able to accomplish great things."

Quotebook
"It puts a permagrin on my face every time I think about it." New Gopher women's tennis coach Tyler Thomson on the state-of-the-art tennis facility scheduled to open on campus in fall 2002. The team currently drives about 15 miles each way to Bloomington for practice and matches.

Chris Coughlan-Smith is senior editor of Minnesota.