>Rower gets All-American Honors

Minnesota senior rower Jenny Barnes earned her third-straight First Team All-American honor earlier this week – further cementing her into the Gophers record book.

Barnes is the only Minnesota rower to earn All-American honors in the school’s history and was also selected to compete at the 2008 Women’s National Team/U23 Summer Selection Camp starting tomorrow.

The Columbus, Ind. native transferred to Minnesota after a year with Purdue club team. As a junior, Barnes helped the team to its first-ever Big Ten Championship and was named the 2007 Big Ten Rower of the Year.

NCAA track begins Wednesday

A Gophers contingency of 13 athletes will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which start today at the Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Gophers men’s team won a national championship in 1948 and out-going coach Phil Lundin has never had a squad finish higher than ninth (1997, 2003).

Meanwhile, the Minnesota women’s team has had four top 20 finishes in its history – the highest being 18th (1990, 1991).

Sophomore Heather Dorniden will attempt to capture her seventh All-American accolade – breaking her tie with Rachel Lewis (1988-1991) for the school record.

Florida State is the two-time defending national champion for the men while Arizona State clinched the women’s team title one year ago.

The four-day competition concludes on Saturday – when CBS will air two hours of the final day live starting at 3 p.m.