The Minnesota softball team heads to Jacksonville, Fla. to open the 2007 regular season in the JU Tournament hosted by Jacksonville University.

The Gophers – who went 17-33 overall and 1-17 in the Big Ten last season –

open the tournament against North Carolina-Greensboro at 2 p.m. CST today and play again at 4 p.m. against Jacksonville.

Saturday’s action for Minnesota begins at 9 a.m. against Greensboro and is followed by an 11 a.m. date with Jacksonville.

The Gophers will play their final game of the tournament against Southern Illinois at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Tennis teams competing in North Carolina

Coming off wins over Yale and Drake, the men’s tennis team will spend the weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. taking on a pair of foes.

The Gophers square off against Virginia Commonwealth at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday and will finish the weekend against Wake Forest at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

After a second-place performance at the Minnesota Court Classic two weekends ago, the women’s tennis team will also spend the weekend in North Carolina.

The Gophers head to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday and North Carolina-Greensboro at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Track teams to Iowa

Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams are headed to the Iowa State Classic this weekend. More than 80 teams and 1,700 athletes will be competing at the event in Ames.

The men’s team will also send some team members to the Wisconsin-River Falls Coca Cola Classic.