Minnesota gymnast Clay Strother was named Big Ten gymnast of the week. Strother collected four titles against Nebraska in the final weekend of the regular season, including winning the all-around with a score of 54.350.
The senior won the floor exercise with a score of 9.550, the pommel horse with a 9.675 and the vault with a 9.500. Strother has won at least three events in four of the past five meets and has been victorious on the vault for five straight competitions. This is the second time this season Strother has earned conference honors, as he was also chosen March 11.
Strother and the Gophers gymnasts will compete Friday and Saturday at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
Thursday practice open
Team practices Thursday at the NCAA Hockey West Regional at Mariucci Arena will be open to the public.
North Dakota will be the first team to take the ice and will practice from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Sioux’s first-round opponent, Ferris State, will follow at 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
No. 4 seed Mercyhurst will conduct its practice from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the top-seeded Gophers will follow. Minnesota will practice from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Friday’s regional semifinals will begin at 4 p.m. with North Dakota meeting Ferris State. The Gophers-Lakers semifinal is set to face off at 7:30 p.m. The two winners will meet Saturday at 4 p.m. for the right to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y., April 10-12.
Men’s tennis
The 12th-ranked Minnesota men’s tennis team defeated Purdue, 7-0, in West Lafayette, Ind., Sunday afternoon. Minnesota improves to 11-3 on the season, including a 2-1 mark in the Big Ten.
The Gophers swept the three doubles matches and then won all six singles matches. Senior Thomas Haug defeated Scott Mayer at No. 1 singles in three sets, 6-0, 6-7, 6-2. Aleksey Zharinov was also pushed to three sets, but prevailed over Andrew Wakefield, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Chris Wettengel defeated Troy Havens at No. 3 singles in three sets, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, while Manuel Lievano claimed a 6-2, 7-5 win versus Paul Rose at No. 4. At No. 5 singles, Avery Ticer defeated David Robinson, 6-2, 6-0, and senior Eric Robertson got past Colin Foster at No. 6, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.
Minnesota returns to action this weekend at the Baseline Tennis Center. The Gophers host Michigan on Friday night, Division III power Gustavus on Saturday and Michigan State on Sunday.
Rowing
Minnesota’s rowing team competed in dual action against Tennessee on Saturday in Knoxville. The Gophers captured the top spot in both the Varsity Eight and Varsity Four competition.
Minnesota’s Varsity “A” boat won the race by a narrow margin, 6:32.0, while Tennessee was a close second with 6:32.6. The winning boat was comprised of Katherine Nelson at coxswain, Jackie Gagner at stroke, Amber Riopel, Heidi Rose, Melissa Roche, Sam Wangsgard, Jill Peters, Beth Hornby in the second seat and Angela Hedin at bow.
Minnesota’s “B” Varsity Eight team finished fourth in 7:09.5. The boat was comprised of coxswain Leah Gross, Beth Ratterman at stroke, Kirsten Kosloske, Andrea Pierce, Mariel Gartner, Jessi Johnson, Alison Zylstra, Lora Sweezy and Lida Storch at bow.
The Gophers also won the Varsity Four with a time of 7:46.6, while the “B” team at 7:54.2, followed by Tennessee’s team at 8:01.1.
Women’s tennis
The No. 36 Minnesota women’s tennis team (8-5) lost 5-2 to the No. 26 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-2) in Atlanta, Ga., Saturday. The Gophers’ two points came off singles wins from Angela Buergis at the No. 1 spot and Amy Thomas at No. 4. Minnesota lost all three doubles matches.
Buergis pushed her way past Georgia Tech’s Catherine Gunn and earned a straight set, 6-4, 7-5, victory at No. 1 singles. Thomas claimed the Gophers’ other point by fighting her way around the Yellow Jackets’ Sekita Grant 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) to earn the win at No. 4 singles.
In other singles action, Valerie Vladea fell to Jaime Wong 6-4, 6-7 (5), 10-12 at the No. 2 spot. Michaela Havelkova fell to Kelly Anderson 3-6, 4-6 at No. 3 singles.
In doubles play, Minnesota’s Thomas/Vladea duo fell to No. 54 Wong/Anderson 8-9 (2) at the No. 1 spot. Buergis and Reddy lost to Gunn/Grant 5-8. At No. 3 doubles, Havelkovs/Watts lost to Morris/Shosho 5-8.
