No. 8 Minnesota sophomore setter Lindsey Vander Well was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week Monday. It marks the second time this season Vander Well has received the honor.
Vander Well averaged 16.43 assists per game while recording 3.0 digs per game in a week where Minnesota defeated Iowa (3-1) and No. 8 Penn State (3-0). In the victory over Iowa Oct. 16, Vander Well tied the school record with 74 assists in a four-game match.
On the season, Vander Well is averaging 12.53 assists per game, 2.76 digs per game, and .56 blocks per game.
The Gophers have now captured Big Ten Player of the Week honors in four of the ten weeks it has been handed out. Junior Cassie Busse won the honors Sept. 27 and on Aug. 26, while Vander Well claimed Big Ten Player of the Week Sept. 16.
Minnesota will be in action Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. on the road against Ohio State and Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. against Indiana.
Men’s cross country
innesota men’s cross country team won the Jim Drews Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. The Gophers took three out of the first five places and were led by junior Andrew Carlson, who won the race covering the 8,000-meter course in 24:28.6.
On its way to claiming the team title, Minnesota defeated conference rival and defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin for the second time this season.
The 8th-ranked Badgers took third and fourth individually finishing with 62 points, but were unable to catch the 13th-ranked Gophers, who finished with 30 points.
Running strong for Minnesota were senior Will McComb, who placed second (24:53.2), sophomore Ryan Malmin, who placed fifth (25:07.8), and senior Andrew McKessock, who placed ninth (25:21.6).
The No. 13 Gophers have one meet remaining before the Big Ten championship as they host the Marathon Sports meet at Les Bolstad Sunday.
Women’s cross country
innesota women’s cross country team placed 15th of 38 teams at the Pre-NCAA meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday. The meet was held on the same course that will host the NCAA championships in November.
The Gophers posted a team score of 430. Top-ranked Brigham Young ran away with the team title by tallying 15 points and placing five runners in the top 15 finishers. No. 4 Colorado finished second with 143.
Junior Darja Vasiljeva led the Gophers with an 18th place finish, posting a time of 20 minutes, 56 seconds on the 8-kilometer course. Freshman Carly Emil was the second Gopher to cross the finish line, placing 48th in 21:36.
The rest of Minnesota women’s cross country team placed fourth at the Tory Neubauer Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. The Gophers were led by senior Christine Harper ,who placed 13th with a time of 19:09.8 for the 5,000-meter course. Wisconsin-La Crosse claimed the team title finishing with 86 points. The Gophers finished with 145 points.
Also running well for Minnesota were senior Allison Mumbleau, who placed 19th, (19:14) and freshman Harper McConnell, who placed 26th.
The Gophers have one meet remaining before the Big Ten championship as they host the Minnesota Open at Les Bolstad on Friday. The race starts at 4:30 p.m.
Rowing
innesota’s rowing team competed in the 38th annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
The Gophers were one of 509 teams that competed in the Head of the Charles event, with more than 6, 000 competitors. Minnesota finished 22nd in both the Championship 4+ and the Championship 8+ events.
In the Championship 4+ race, Minnesota competed against 33 teams. The Gophers had Leah Gross as the coxswain, Amber Riopel at stroke, Mariel Gartner, Angela Hedin and Alison Zylstra at bow, finishing 22nd overall.
The Gophers finished 22nd in the Championship 8+ out of 47 entries. Katherine Nelson was at coxswain, followed by Beth Hornby, Melissa Roche, Heidi Rose, Jill Peters at the No. 5 position, Sam Wangsgard, Katie Thurstin, Jackie Gagner at the No. 2 position and Kirsten Kosloske at bow.
The Gophers finish the fall season at the Head of the Iowa, Oct. 27, in Iowa City.
