Gophers junior Rasa Michniovaite won the Iowa State Memorial Invitational, leading the Minnesota women’s cross country team to their second straight Iowa State title in Ames, Iowa.
Michniovaite won her third title of the season, finishing in 17 minutes, 49 seconds. Michniovaite also won the Minnesota /Drake dual Sept. 11 and the Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 26.
Sophomore Corinne Nimtz was the Gophers’ second finisher, placing seventh overall in 18:37. Sophomore Elaine Eggleston placed eighth in 18:45. Other scorers for the Gophers included junior Minna Haronoja (17th, 19:22) and freshman Victoria Moses (23rd, 19:29).
Minnesota won the team title with 52 points. Host team Iowa State took second with 88 points, followed by Columbia in third with 92.
Chicoine falls
Gophers senior men’s tennis player Tom Chicoine lost 6-4, 6-3 to No. 2 seeded James Blake of Harvard in the second round of the All-American Tournament in Austin, Tex.
Minnesota will participate in the Penn Classic in Philadelphia, Penn., Oct. 23-25.
Football rescheduled
The Oct. 24 Gophers homecoming game vs. Michigan State at the Metrodome has been selected as an ESPN-Plus game of the week and will be televised locally on WCCO Channel 4. As a result, the game will now begin at 11:10 a.m. instead of 2:30 p.m., as originally scheduled.
NBA update
NEW YORK (AP) — In a critical ruling for the NBA and the union, arbitrator John Feerick decides Monday whether more than 200 players with guaranteed contracts should be paid during the lockout.
If the players win, the owners will be liable for about $800 million in guaranteed salaries, although they have vowed to appeal if they lose. The league already has sued the players over Feerick’s jurisdiction.
“If we win, I think it just emboldens the spirit and resolve of the players,” union director Billy Hunter said. “But I don’t think there will be anybody celebrating because there’s no guarantee that it will end the lockout.”