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Hilding Mortenson lays the first brick for TCF Bank Stadium. PHOTO BY CHRIS COUGHLIN-SMITH

Football might not yet be in the air, but the rapid progress of construction on TCF Bank Stadium has gone a long way toward evoking the sights and sounds of on-campus football again. The latest milestone: the laying of the first brick on April 7 by 100-year-old Hilding Mortenson, who worked as a 16-year-old bricklayer during construction of Memorial Stadium in 1924. He is also an uncle to Mort Mortenson Jr., of the Mortenson construction family, the general contractor for the stadium. With dozens of University officials, construction workers, media, and dignitaries looking on, Hilding Mortenson spread and feathered mortar on the brick ledge, “buttered” the end of one brick, and laid two, tapping them down level and plumb with the ledge. Mortenson hasn’t laid a brick in 37 years, but he clearly has not lost his touch.

The Golden Gophers gave their fans some thrilling moments this winter but took home no postseason titles in hockey, basketball, wrestling, or swimming.

The Gopher women’s stellar hockey season ended in heartbreaking fashion with a 3-2 overtime loss at Ridder Arena to rival Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 15. One week earlier, the Badgers had defeated the Gophers 4–3 in the WCHA Final Face-Off, a loss that resulted in the Gophers missing the WCHA tournament final for the first time in seven years. The Gophers finished the season with a 27–7–4 overall record and a 21–5–2 mark in the WCHA, finishing second behind champion University of Minnesota–Duluth.

The Gopher men’s hockey team put together a blistering postseason run on the heels of a disappointing regular season, finally falling 5–2 to eventual national champion Boston College in the regional semifinals to close out the year. The Gophers played six postseason games that were

David Plummer crowned his Golden Gopher career with eight individual all-America awards, second all-time at Minnesota. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

all decided by one goal, including four overtime games. They ended the season at 19–17–9 overall after making their eighth straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Tubby Smith guided the Gopher men’s basketball team to a 20–14 season and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament, where they lost to Maryland. It was the first postseason appearance for the Gophers since the 2006 NIT. Looking ahead to the 2008–09 season, the team announced that it will play the Louisville Cardinals next December at the University of Phoenix Stadium Shootout.

The young Gopher women’s basketball team exceeded expectations during the regular season, finishing 20–11 and earning a first round NCAA tournament match as the No. 9 seed against No. 8 seed Texas in the first round. The only starter the Gophers will lose to graduation is senior Leslie Knight.

Gopher wrestlers finished the NCAA tourney in 10^th place, their lowest finish since 1996. Minnesota’s lone representative in the finals, Jayson Ness at 125 pounds, finished in second place.

The women’s swimming and diving team won the Big Ten championship and placed 13th in the NCAA meet. The men’s team finished 11th in the National Championships, securing its 17th consecutive top-15 finish. Senior David Plummer finished his Golden Gopher career with eight individual all-America awards, which ranks second all-time at Minnesota. He is the only Gopher to ever earn all-America awards for four straight years in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events.

Fifty-one Golden Gopher student athletes earned academic all–Big Ten honors in winter sports, including basketball player Emily Fox (junior, journalism), who was a consensus selection. Academic all–Big Ten honorees must have a grade point average of 3.0 or better.

—Cynthia Scott