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Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2004 > March-April 2004   Print View Sports Notebook 3/9/2004 Nice day for a row. All photos courtesy of University Athletics. By Chris Coughlan-Smith Rowing The Golden Gophers return 16 letter-winning rowers from last year, including five to the first varsity eight boat and all four from the first varsity four. Leading the pack is second-team All-American Melissa Roche, a senior from Albert Lea, Minnesota. Senior captain Heidi Rose of St. Paul, a second-team All-Big Ten performer, also returns. The team finished fall on a high note, winning both varsity races at the Head of the Iowa Regatta, a meet that featured some of the best teams from the upper Midwest, including Big Ten power Wisconsin. The Gophers will race locally once this spring, on April 24 at Lake Phalen in Sam Steidl St. Paul, their final tune-up before Big Ten and NCAA competitions. Baseball One of the few northern teams to crack the preseason top-25 national rankings, Minnesota looks to vie for a third consecutive Big Ten regular season baseball title. The Gophers are led by a pair of preseason All-Americans: sophomore pitcher Glen Perkins of Stillwater, Minnesota, and senior center fielder Sam Steidl of Alexandria, Minnesota. Perkins had a school-record 117 strikeouts and went 8-0 in Big Ten starts. Steidl led the Big Ten in hits last year, while earning his third All-Big Ten award. Although the Gophers have to replace most of their infield, they lose only one pitching Piper Marten regular from a team that went 40-22, including a school record 24-6 in Big Ten play. Minnesota will play its first home Big Ten series against Penn State April 16-18. For the second straight season, Minnesota wraps up Big Ten conference play at home against Ohio State, the team that has been the Gophers' top conference challenger, May 21-23. Softball The 2003 edition of Minnesota softball posted a 37-21-1 overall record (12-8 in the Big Ten) and advanced to an NCAA regional tournament for the second year in a row. Although they graduated six seniors, the Gophers do have some experience at most positions and return record-setting pitcher Piper Marten, a senior Alean Frawley from Farmington, New Mexico. Marten struck out 311 batters in 2003 to break her own school record and now owns a career record of 67-38 going into her final season. Minnesota opens Big Ten play at home April 16-18 against Purdue. Women's Basketball Draws a Crowd The biggest crowd of the season to see a basketball game in Williams Arena was counted on February 8. The 14,363 people in attendance watched the Gopher women's basketball team beat Penn State. The women's team improved to 18-3 (6-3 in the Big Ten) with the win. Earlier that day, the men's team fell to 8-12 (0-9 in the Big Ten) in losing to Illinois at Williams before a crowd of 13,404. Women's Terra Petsinger Track Alean Frawley, a senior from Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, set a school record in the shot put last year and is a leader on this season's women's track and field team. The only chance to see the Gophers in home action comes May 7 at the Minnesota Qualifier, a week before the Big Ten meet. Women's Golf Junior Terra Petsinger of Arvilla, North Dakota, leads a young team rebuilding under second-year coach katie Weiss. The team does have potential; in fall, Petsinger outscored 72 golfers from 13 teams to lead the Gophers to the team title at the Minnesota Invitational. Men's Golf The men's golf squad took a tough fall schedule and Justin Smith ripped through it, winning three of their four tournaments. "This is a young team, but we have very good leadership from our seniors," says coach Brad James. "This is a fun team to be around. They're very dedicated on and off the course." Senior Justin Smith of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, leads the two-time defending Big Ten champions as he has since he earned All-American honors at the 2002 NCAA tournament, where the Gophers won the team title. Smith won individual titles in two of the four fall tournaments. "The younger players are getting good experience and learning what it takes to win," James says. "Now we just need to keep working hard and not think we can coast." James Volleyball achievers has another reason to be pleased: The program's full complement of 4.5 scholarships is now fully endowed thanks to the continuing efforts of the Save Gopher Sports campaign, which began in response to threats to eliminate golf and men's gymnastics due to financial concerns. The golf team's success has come with a majority of Minnesota players; there are seven on this season's 11-man roster. "We always have to recruit against the weather," James says. "But we use the weather as a positive. We get indoors in winter and work on technical aspects of the game. It helps a lot more than hitting long drives every day." First Final Four The Gopher volleyball team, Cheers to the victors led by All-American senior Cassie Busse of Prior Lake, Minnesota, reached its first NCAA Final Four in December. After a rough start (they lost their first four games and later their first two Big Ten contests), they ended the year at 26-11, second in the Big Ten, and ran off four wins in the NCAA tournament before falling to eventual national champion USC. A Sunny Thriller The Gopher football team pulled out a thrilling 31-30 victory over Oregon at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on December 31. The team finished 10-3 and earned top-20 rankings in both major polls, Minnesota's best season since 1967.

Last modified on 11/16/2004 12:49:07 PM ©2009 by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. The University of Minnesota Alumni Association is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

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