Sports Notebook
10/2/2001 1:00 PM | | Samantha Myers |
By Chris Coughlan-Smith
Soccer
One year after suffering the only losing season in Gopher soccer’s eight-year history, second-year coach Barbara Wickstrand looks to field a faster and higher scoring team. "Last year was a bit of a transition," she says of the 8–10–1 season (5–5 in the Big Ten). "This year we’ve got more experience, plus our recruits are athletic and experienced." In practice, Wickstrand is emphasizing helping her speedy squad anticipate and organize its play in order to score more than last year’s 20 goals (in 19 games). Senior Alison Rackley, an all–Big Ten midfielder from Birmingham, Michigan, will be a key to creating scoring chances. The defense returns senior Samantha Myers of Frederick, Maryland, a second-team all–Big Ten performer, and goalkeeper Julie Eibensteiner, a senior from St. Paul who was named to the Big Ten all-tournament team. Experienced recruits include junior college all-American Ginny Jorde, a defender from Baltimore; forward Leah Kutcher of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a member of the Under-20 Canadian National Team; and transfer  | | Will McComb |
Anna Nudell Lee, a sophomore forward from Minneapolis who was a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics all-American playing for Seattle University last year.
Men’s Cross Country
Four of the Gopher’s top runners return to a team that has made four consecutive NCAA meet appearances. To make it into the 31-team field for a fifth year, Minnesota will depend on junior Will McComb of Port Elgin, Ontario, a two-time all–Big Ten runner, and senior Andrew McKessock, a four-minute miler from Owens Sound, Ontario. Not far behind should be several Minnesotans: juniors Neil Hanson of Granada and Luke Mullranin of Bemidji, both consistent performers last year, and redshirt freshman Josh DoBell of Mankato.
"An NCAA appearance and top-25 finish are nice, but it’s become the expectation for these guys now," says head coach Steve Plasencia. To move up in the field and stay close with Big Ten powers Michigan and Wisconsin, Plasencia brings in two runners who were multiple state-title winners in high school: freshman Erik Grumstrup of Rapid City, South Dakota, and sophomore Andrew  | | Darja Vasiljeva |
Carlson of Fargo, North Dakota, a transfer from the University of Arizona. "It’s not like the cupboard is bare by any means," Plasencia says.
Women's Cross Country
Sophomore Darja Vasiljeva of Jelgava, Latvia, leads the 2001 Gopher women’s cross-country team in search of its fifth consecutive NCAA appearance. Vasiljeva earned all–Big Ten honors and finished third in the regional meet as a freshman. Senior leadership comes from Victoria Moses of New Brighton, Minnesota, a consistent top-five finisher last year.
Volleyball
The chance to build on the best Gopher volleyball season in the team’s 25-year NCAA history bumps up against the fact that four of six starters are not returning. Fortunately, second-team all-American Stephanie Hagen, a senior from Minnetonka, Minnesota, returns as one of the nation’s best middle blockers, and all–Big Ten setter Lindsey Berg, a senior from Honolulu who has led the conference in service aces three consecutive times, returns to quarterback the team. Junior Lisa Axel of Buffalo, Minnesota, a strong defender, is the only other returning  | | Stephanie Hagen |
player to have appeared in more than 50 of the team’s 119 games in 2000.
The recent addition of Kathy Tilson, a senior transfer from the University of Texas and a former all–Big 12 player, will give the Gophers another veteran hitter to help ease the team’s transition. "We got real lucky," says head coach Mike Hebert. "She came to us out of the blue. Adding another senior with significant college experience will be very important in helping us with our growing pains."
Maggie Freiborg of Prinsburg, Minnesota, the high-school player of the year in 2000, will likely have the most impact of any newcomer. Hebert sees last year’s conference contenders—Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Minnesota—as once again being the cream of what will probably be the nation’s toughest volleyball league for the sixth consecutive year. If the conference title comes down to the final week of the regular season, the Gophers will have a say in the outcome; they finish with all three co-favorites. First they travel to Wisconsin for a 1 p.m. contest Sunday, November 18. The following weekend they host Ohio  |
State and Penn State in 7 p.m. matches Friday and Saturday night at the Sports Pavilion.
Head of the Mississippi
The second season of women’s rowing gets underway at the U of M with the Head of the Mississippi Regatta on Saturday, October 6. Hosted last year by the Twin Cities Rowing Club, this year’s regatta is a University of Minnesota event and should once again feature not only local club and college teams, but others from the Upper Midwest and Canada. The all-day event on the river features a finish line just north of the Washington Avenue Bridge.
Last year, the Gophers became the seventh Big Ten team to make rowing a varsity sport for women and had their high point when the novice eight boat took second at the season-ending South/Central Sprints, their NCAA regional tournament. Two rowers earned honors: Junior Amber Riopel of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, was a first-team all–Big Ten selection, while junior Beth Hornby of Winnipeg, Manitoba, garnered second-team honors. Look for more coverage in spring when the Big Ten season starts.
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