The Minnesota women’s hockey team had three players selected to the American Women’s College Hockey Alliance All-American second team.
Sophomores Nadine Muzerall and Courtney Kennedy and freshman Jenny Schmidgall were selected for the team by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Muzerall was sixth in the nation with 30 goals and 11th in total points with 48. She scored three of Minnesota’s five goals at the AWCHA National Championship, where the Gophers finished third.
Kennedy was a first-team All American in 1998 with Colby College and one of only two repeat selections. She led Minnesota’s defense in goals with 16 and points with 33. Kennedy anchored a Minnesota defense that allowed a national-best 1.17 goals per game.
Schmidgall finished fourth in the nation with 33 goals and 71 points, and tied for fifth in assists with 38.
During the season, Schmidgall led the U.S. Women’s National Team to the silver medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Forward after leading the tournament with 12 points.
The Gophers finished the 1998-99 season with a 29-4-3 record, and the number of Minnesota All-Americans — three — was second only to Harvard’s four.
17 men earn All-Academic
17 male student-athletes have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors on the Winter Academic All-Conference Teams.
Seven swimmers, five wrestlers, four gymnasts and one basketball player made the list of athletes that are in at least their second year of competition and have earned a 3.0 grade point average.
Senior All-American swimmer John Cahoy of Hudson, Wis., tops the list, compiling a 4.0 gpa in every quarter of his college career while double majoring in chemistry and bio-chemistry. Cahoy was a 1998 Academic All-American and a member of four Big Ten Championship relay teams at the 1999 Big Ten Championships.
Senior Big Ten wrestler of the year Tim Hartung boasted a 3.24 gpa in kinesiology while earning his third Big Ten title and second NCAA championship. Senior Chad Kraft and junior Brandon Eggum also made the list.
Chad Connor, Matt Kiefer and Jason Krob led the men’s gymnastics squad with gpa’s of 3.86, 3.76 and 3.57 respectively.
Sophomore guard Kevin Nathaniel was the lone basketball player to make the list with a 3.19 gpa in criminal justice.
Ventura names three to Amateur Sports Commission
Governor Jesse Ventura announced the appointment of Herb Brooks and Bernie Omann and the reappointment of Kenneth Resnick to the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission.
Brooks is currently in player personnel with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is a former coach in the NHL, and coached the Gophers hockey team and the 1980 U.S. Gold Medal Olympic Hockey Team.
Omann is the current director of University Relations at St. Cloud State. He was chief of staff for former governor Arne Carlson and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for three terms.
Resnick is the current host of Rollerjam on TNN and has been a broadcaster for the American Wrestling Federation and host of the American Gladiators live tour.
Smith selected forleadership conference
Junior Natalie Smith has been selected to participate in the third annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference to be held May 31-June 4 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
A member of the women’s track and field team, Smith will be one of 300 student-athletes attending and was selected from approximately 850 nominations.
Smith has placed four times in Big Ten championships in her first two seasons at Minnesota and won the Barbados national championship in the long jump in 1997.
Chandler named coach of
2000 wrestling team
Former Minnesota wrestler and assistant coach Dan Chandler was named head coach of the U.S. Olympic Greco-Wrestling Team in 2000.
Chandler coached the 1995 and 1997 Greco-Roman teams, and was an assistant of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.
As an athlete he was a member of three Olympic teams in 1976, ’80 and ’84. Chanler also won medals in three Pan American Games, including golds in 1975 and ’79.
Men’s Gymnastics
Coming off a season that saw the Gophers finish last in the Big Ten, the trip to Champaign, Ill., for the NCAA East Regionals on Saturday will provide a chance for five Gophers gymnasts to shine at the individual level.
Freshmen Justin Lecher, Justin Conner and Todd Guilbeau will make their debuts, and senior pommel horse specialist Jason Krob will compete at the regionals for the third straight year.
Junior Ryan Winterbourne will round out the quintet, competing on the still rings and parallel bars.
Track and Field
The Gophers track and field teams will appear all over the country as they participate in the first significant meets of the outdoor season.
On April 9-10, the women’s throwers will compete at the Oregon Relays. The remainder of the team will be at the Sun Devil Invitational Apr. 10, hosted in Tempe, Ariz.
The men’s squad will split up to compete in Oregon this weekend and at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul on Apr. 10.
