GOPHER ACHIEVEMENTS

Readers may remember (or can scroll down and read) an article about the miraculous recoveries and courage of former Gopher baseball player and San Diego Padres coach Mark Merila. His son, Boston (St. Michael-Albertville), is now on the roster of the Gophers. Here’s a link to a recent article featuring more about him> https://gophersports.com/…/baseball-rounding-the-bases… Bethany

MINNESOTA VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS ON NATIONAL TEAM; GRANDMA’S RACE THIS WEEKEND

Minnesota has impressive representation on the 25-player USA Volleyball Nations League (VNL) roster: Sarah Parsons (Eden Prairie), Tori Dixon (Burnsville), Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul), and Paige Tapp (Stewartville) are on the team and all but Tapp are returning members. Sarah Parsons and Paige Tapp recently helped a professional team in Stuttgart claim the German league

SINGING FOR THE UNSUNG MINNESOTA ATHLETES

As a classroom teacher, it was always fun and rewarding to learn of the contributions students have been able to make in society. A student struggling academically became a gifted mechanic while a somewhat uncoordinated girl became a star softball player at Apple Valley; a roommate, Arne Graff, persevered to become a prominent physician at

Cheers For Achievements, Historic Race!

Lots to cheer about . . . Congratulations to Hugh McCutcheon, head coach of the University of Minnesota (U of M) women’s volleyball team, on the announcement of being inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Several U of M athletes from Minnesota received Academic All-District awards: Lindsey Smits (Lakeville, track), Derek Wiebke (Kasson,

Duluth Races, More Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame Inductees

Several races were hosted in Duluth in conjunction with Grandma’s Marathon and many runners with Minnesota connections had notable achievements. Carrie Tollefson a recent Villanova University Hall of Fame inductee, won the women’s William Irvin 5K with a time of 18:21 while Team USA Minnesota runner Tyler Jermann placed an impressive 12th in the marathon.

Many Spring Sport Successes

Spring burst on the landscape suddenly after heavy snowfalls in April, but it has brought a pair of wonderful Big 10 championships to University of Minnesota women in softball and outdoor track and field and the baseball team is currently leading the conference. Many Minnesota athletes had outstanding performances at the Marine Corps U. S.

The cross country World Cup series concluded and we want to celebrate the successes the Minnesota athletes and their teammates.

Congratulations to Jessie Diggins (Afton, graduate of Stillwater High School) capturing second place overall in the prestigious endurance series of nearly 30 races spreading from late November to mid-March with the Winter Olympics sandwiched in between. Teammate Sadie Bjornsen placed 6th overall to make for an impressive American showing and the by far the the

Women’s National Cross Country Championship–Open Division

Debuting in 1964, the women’s cc national championships has had only one Minnesota athlete crowned as its champion: Emily Brown (West Allis, WI, U of M) in 2007 at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood, MD. It was a dominant win as Emily cruised through the 8 K race in a time of 26:58–more