Gophers athletics director Mark Dienhart on Sunday confirmed that the NCAA and the men’s athletics department are investigating possible rules violations against Minnesota’s hockey program.
The investigation centers around a payment Gophers coach Doug Woog allegedly made to former player Chris McAlpine after the 1993-1994 season to help McAlpine finish school.
Dienhart said the athletics department’s compliance office received a tip that Dienhart learned about in the middle of Last week.
He said the investigation began then and continued through the weekend. The University will likely make an announcement regarding its findings within the next 48 hours, Dienhart added.
Because the investigation has not concluded, Dienhart said he would not speculate on possible punishments.

— Michael Rand

Women’s Tennis
Gophers women’s tennis players Nora Sauska and Jana Hrdinova are the only Minnesota athletes left in the Wolfpack Invitational in Raleigh, N.C. The pair advanced to the singles finals, which were played Sunday.
Gophers Tara Elkins, Jenni Svehla, Kim Simonsen and Helen Wang all lost their first-round singles matches. The teams of Svehla-Elkins and Simonsen-Wang both won their first-round doubles matches but lost in the second round.
Sauska and Hrdinova are coming off an impressive show at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago when Sauska, a freshman, won the singles B championship. At that tournament, Sauska and Hrdinova paired-up to win the doubles B title as well.

Men’s Cross Country
The Gophers men’s cross country team was named All-Academic last week by the U.S. Cross Country Coaches Association.
The team’s overall grade point average is 3.04, which is 25th in the nation. Minnesota’s GPA includes marks from the 16 runners on the team.
Brigham Young was ranked first with a GPA of 3.47, which includes 22 team members. The only Big Ten school above the Gophers was Ohio State. The Buckeyes were ranked 14th with a 3.13 GPA.
— Matthew Cross