Coming off seasons that set new standards in Minnesota women’s athletics, the Gophers’ women’s hockey and basketball programs announced their top assistants this week.

Women’s hockey coach Laura Halldorson announced the addition of assistant coach Charlie Burggraf this week.

Burggraf replaces Joel Johnson, who left Minnesota after the Gophers won the national title this season.

Burggraf was assistant men’s coach at Bethel College before coming to Minnesota. He is a native of Roseau, Minn., and a graduate of the University of North Dakota where he played hockey from 1975-79 and was captain in his last two seasons.

“I’m very excited to add Charlie to our coaching staff,” Halldorson said. “He will add a wealth of knowledge to our program through his experiences playing hockey, coaching hockey and working in the business world.”

In the basketball world, Minnesota coach Pam Borton announced the addition of Barb Smith as the associate head coach/recruiting coordinator for the program.

Former associate head coach Melissa McFerrin, who helped the Gophers advance to the NCAA Final Four in April, was recently hired as the head women’s basketball coach at American University.

Smith was previously at California-Berkeley where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach.

“We are very excited to have Barb as a member of our coaching staff,” Borton said. “We are glad she is back in the Big Ten Conference where she was an outstanding student-athlete.”

Wrestling in Venezuela

Three Minnesota wrestlers will be competing in the 2004 Junior Pan American Championships in Maracaibo, Venezuela July 22-25.

Redshirt freshmen Roger Kish, Mack Reiter and C.P. Schlatter were named to the seven-member 20-year-old and under U.S. National Team.