Ski-U-Mah: Spring 2014 Issue by University of Minnesota Athletics

SKI-U-MAH WELCOME TO THE APRIL ISSUE OF SKI-U-MAH!

e often speak of comebacks in athletics; either within the context of one game, a resurgent team or a particular athlete who has overcome adversity or injury. While we share all of these in this issue, including a remarkable track and field student-athlete who is back in competition and an entire program that is enjoying renewed success, I want to use the term in a diﬀerent context. We are enjoying renewed interest in all of our diﬀerent athletic programs and attendance figures show fans and alumni are “coming back” more often. Coming back to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium where soccer balls are flying with increased velocity; to basketball games where we are raising the Barn to new heights with decibel-levels not heard in years; to volleyball and wrestling matches that are pushing the seating capacity of the Sports Pavilion; and of course to football games where renewed fan passion and surging attendance pushed the program to its best record in a decade. These are the “comebacks” that excite me the most. You, the fans, are the fuel that ignites our studentathletes and more than anything else, this rising attendance makes me hopeful for our future.

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In this issue you will read about Erin Hawkins, a redshirt freshman track and field student-athlete and a kinesiology major who, back from multiple knee surgeries to lead our sprinters, is now a team leader. She is an example in hard work and perseverance, not just for the track and field squad, but the entire athletics department. You will read about a resurgent softball program led by head coach Jessica Allister and a staﬀ that has turned a renewed focus into an NCAA Tournament berth and one the program’s best starts in history this spring. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes look at football recruiting, meet a baseball player who apparently has 28 hours in his day to accomplish all that he does and learn about the world’s top junior golfer, who also happens to be a freshman on John Carlson’s squad this season. And I invite you all to “come back.” Whether it’s to an athletic event you haven’t attended in years, to watch an open practice and see how our student-athletes prepare or to attend any of the many social events available to fans throughout the year. Make your own personal come back part of your plan for this year. Norwood Teague Director of Athletics

SKI- U- M A H APRIL the

2014

official

ISSUE

magazine

5 of

VOL .

Gopher

II Athle tics

GOPHER SPORTS FEATURES 10

BUILDING BRICKS: FOOTBALL RECRUITING

THE RISING: GOPHER SOFTBALL

JOSE MENDEZ

ERIN HAWKINS

JOHN MAYASICH

KEVIN KRAY

ADDITIONAL CONTENT 3

NEWSWORTHY

HOCKEY CITY CLASSIC PHOTO FEATURE

PHOTO FEATURE

CREDITS

UNLIMITED DANCE MARATHON

DEBORAH OLSON PROFILE

WHERE ARE THEY NOW:

CINDY McCOLLUM 40

BEHIND THE SCENES: KATE TABER

CROSSWORD: THE PUCK IS LIVE

for these stories and much more, visit the home of Gopher Sports at gophersports.com.

On the cover: Images of Minnesota’s champions. Top row: Men’s hockey claimed the B1G regular season title; Women’s swimming and diving won the B1G title for the third straight year; Lindsay Mable won the B1G all-around and vault championship and helped Minnesota win the conference regular season title; Dylan Ness was the national runner-up at 157 pounds and helped the Gophers win the Big Ten dual meet title. Bottom row: Minnesota was the NCAA runner-up and won the WCHA regular season and tournament crowns; Derek Toomey won the B1G 50 freestyle title in record fashion; John Simons won the B1G Indoor title in the mile; Alena Brooks won the 600 meters Indoor conference title. [photos by Eric Miller, Courtney Anderson, Steve Manuel, Josh Gateley, Walt Middleton & Becky Miller.

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{ A sold out crowd of 5,603 packed the Sports Pavilion to see the No. 3 Gopher wrestling team defeat No. 1 Penn State on February 9. The Gophers clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season title in the process. photo by Eric Miller. }

NEWSWORTHY Gopher volleyball stars Hannah Tapp and Adrianna Nora were named to U.S. Collegiate National Team rosters that will compete on a China Tour (June 17-27) and a European Tour (July 8-19). These tours are considered second tryouts for the U.S. National Team. Rachel Banham and Amanda Zahui B. were named to the AllBig Ten First Team, the first time Minnesota has had two players make the all-conference first team since 2004. Zahui B. was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Banham was a unanimous First Team pick on both the coaches and media teams.

Gabriele Anderson Grunewald [‘09] and Heather Dorniden Kampf [‘09] qualified for the World Track & Field Indoor Championships. Grunewald won the 3000 meters at the USA Championships while Kampf took third in the 1500 meters to earn berths.

The Gopher Men’s Golf team won the Del Walker Intercollegiate Classic in Long Beach, Calif. on March 4, giving the Gophers their second tourney title of the year. It’s the first time they have won two tournaments in a season since 2006-07.

The Gopher Soccer team traveled to Barcelona for nine days in March. They played three games against Spanish professional teams while immersing themselves in the soccer-heavy culture of Spain. Following an 8-5 season, a second straight bowl game berth and the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) in school history, football head coach Jerry Kill was given a restructured contract that extended his deal through 201819. He will be paid $2.1 million for the upcoming season.

Fourteen Golden Gophers competed in the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, all in the sport of ice hockey. Megan Bozek [‘13], Anne Schleper [‘12], Amanda Kessel and Lee Stecklein won silver medals with the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team. Minnesota Athletics, in conjunction with multimedia rights holder Gopher Sports Properties, announced a three-year extension with Clear Channel Radio. The agreement will see Gopher football radio broadcasts on KFAN Sports Radio FM 100.3 through the 2016 season.

PHOTOS: ERIC MILLER

PHOTO: JIM ROSVOLD

HOCKEY CITY CLA

PHOTO: BRACE HEMMELGARN

ASSIC

JANUARY 17, 2014

PHOTO: BRACE HEMMELGARN

PHOTO: JIM ROSVOLD

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

AUSTIN HOLLINS’ ATHLETIC DUNK OVER WISCONSIN’S NIGEL HAYES. 01.22.14. PHOTOS BY CHRIS MITCHELL.

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

BAILIE HOLST COMPETES ON FLOOR EXERCISE. 02.14.14.

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

TEAMMATES HONOR SARI NOGA AND MICAELLA RICHE ON SENIOR DAY. 03.02.14.

SETH AMBROZ ATTACKS THE NET AGAINST MICHIGAN STATE. 02.01.14.

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

ELLIS MANNON COMPETES ON THE HIGH BAR. 02.01.14.

PHOTO: CHRIS MITCHELL

GOPHERS CELEBRATE THE BIG TEN REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP. 03.02.14.

DUNK OF THE YEAR

PHOTO: JERRY LEE

PHOTO: BECKY MILLER

JON LEHMAN COMPETES IN THE HAMMER THROW AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS. 02.28.14.

MINNESOTA CELEBRATES A THIRD STRAIGHT BIG TEN WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP. 02.22.14. PHOTO: BSU PHOTO SERVICES

MINNESOTA CELEBRATES AFTER WINNING THE WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF. 03.08.14.

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

DYLAN NESS CELEBRATES A PIN IN DUAL MEET WITH PENN STATE. 02.09.14.

{ Lindsey Lawmaster celebrates during Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Duke, 9/7/13 }

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SKI-U-MA H Issue

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Norwood Teague SENIOR ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS Chris Werle EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / ASSISTANT ATHLETICS DIRECTOR FOR CREATIVE SERVICES Jeff Keiser EDITOR / WRITER Jake Ricker

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rick Moore, Justine Buerkle, Michael Molde, John Rosengren, Sarah Turcotte CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Chris Lagasse CONTRIBUTORS Paul Rovnak, Michelle Traen, Jake Ford DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Eric Miller CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Christopher Mitchell, Jim Rosvold, Courtney Anderson, Jerry Lee, Brace Hemmelgarn, Alicia Jerome, Becky Miller, Walt Middleton, Josh Gateley, Steve Manuel Advertising: 612.626.2300 GOPHERSPORTS.com Ski-U-Mah is written and designed by University of Minnesota Athletics and is provided as a courtesy to our fans and may be used for personal and editorial purposes only. Any commercial use of this information is prohibited without the consent of University of Minnesota Athletics. for questions about the editorial content in this issue of Ski-U-Mah, please email keiser@umn.edu.

{ DAN OLINGER WAITS ON DECK AS BOBBY JUAN BATS AGAINST CREIGHTON AT CITY OF PALMS PARK IN FORT MYERS, FLA. PHOTO BY ERIC MILLER. }

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Building

BRICKS

An in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the relentless Gopher football recruiting process. by Justine Buerkle

Before the sun rose over Minneapolis, the future of the University of Minnesota football program was already taking shape. Official documents trickled in, confirming verbal commitments that recruits had made to the Golden Gophers. It was Wednesday, February 5: National Signing Day. Billy Glasscock, the Gophers’ director of recruiting operations, arrived at the office at 5:15 a.m. that day and didn’t leave campus until after Minnesota’s Signing Day Social event that night—a fitting day for someone so involved with every step of the recruiting process. In addition to coaches and recruiting staff, support staff and others associated with the university community also have important interactions with prospective Gophers during that process. It takes seconds for a high school senior to sign his name on a sheet of paper, but a college football program works for months, sometimes even years, to secure that signature.

ON THE RADAR A potential recruit might grab Minnesota’s attention as early as his freshman or sophomore year. If an underclassman makes his allstate or all-conference team, the staff will take note to remember him when he reaches recruiting age. A recruit’s junior year is when the process starts kicking into full gear. The coaches and recruiting staff hold weekly meetings to watch juniors’ game film and start building a database of potential recruits. Many of these names come from NCAA-approved recruiting services. Others are recommendations from high school or junior college coaches the staff knows, or e-mails from the potential recruits themselves. “Those lists become really, really big, really fast,” Glasscock said. “When we first start gathering the names, we’re pretty lenient on who we think may be able to play at this level. There are so many variables. There’s so much time in between then and when they would sign. So that list can get to a couple thousand names.” The Gophers will start sending informational mailings—created and sent by volunteer-based recruiting assistants—to that list, directing them to the recruiting-specific GopherGridiron.com and contacting them through whichever methods are approved by the NCAA during a given period.

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As the school year continues, Minnesota invites these recruits to spring practices, junior days and other Gopher sports teams’ events. This gives the staff and recruits a chance to get to know each other, and a chance for the recruits to get a look at the Gopher football program and the atmosphere of Minnesota Athletics in general. That big list of names begins to shrink as time elapses, based on who the staff thinks has the ability to play in the Big Ten, who the staff wants to recruit and who the staff believes may seriously consider Minnesota.

ON THE ROAD In April and May, Minnesota’s nine full-time assistant coaches are allowed to evaluate recruits in athletic activities, such as a track or baseball practice, and speak with coaches, teachers and others who know the students. The Gophers actively recruit 12 to 14 areas of the country each year. The coaches each have assigned areas to visit during the NCAA-allotted travel periods. Defensive line coach Jeff Phelps recruits Illinois, Indiana and St. Louis. Being from the Chicago suburbs, having played at Ball State in Indiana and having coached at Northern Illinois with head coach Jerry Kill, Phelps has previous connections to those areas. Glasscock and his recruiting staff book the coaches’ flights and help them plan their trips and decide which recruits to see. Some coaches, like Phelps, like to plan most of their own trips, while others may rely more on the recruiting staff. The recruiting staff can be a valuable resource when coaches think of questions while on the road. The recruiting periods offer limited time to see recruits in person, so the Gophers try to make the most of it. “You want to get as much information as you can,” Phelps said. “You don’t want to waste time, especially when you’re in Chicago where you’ve got to deal with the Chicago traffic. …I always like to try to call ahead at least two days in advance to lay out the course that I would like to take. Obviously it doesn’t always go as planned. But you’re trying to talk to as many people in the school as you can.”

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

The Gophers’ director of recruiting operations, Billy Glasscock handles all of the details related to Minnesota’s recruiting.

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 11

said. “They feel when they’re here that they were around genuine people. That’s who Coach Kill is, and “Ultimately, as you go through that’s who our whole coaching staff is.” the recruiting process and you “I really felt they were super straight-up and honest with you here,” 2014 signee Brandon Lingen [Wayzata, have the opportunity to offer a young man a full ride scholarship, Minnesota] said. “They let you know what’s going on. They’re going to tell you how it really is. I like that.” you’re able to sit down in the For some of these recruits, an official visit is the only home with the family, and you just trip they will make to campus before Signing Day. So it is important to make that visit as smooth, informative ON CAMPUS see the joy on the faces of the and enjoyable as possible. Between spring and fall, the Gophers would like remom, dad, grandma, brothers, Jones, whom Kill recruited at Southern Illinois, said cruits to attend their football camp in June. Camps sisters. That just gives you so one of his favorite parts of the job was just knowing that allow the coaches to work with and evaluate seniorsthe students made it to and from Minneapolis safely. to-be, and camps give those recruits a good reason to much fulfillment, as I look back “I always joke with people that we kind of feel like a be on campus. and remember when that happrofessional travel agent,” Jones said. “It’s definitely an The list of names that was in four digits early in the pened for me and my family.” exciting, fun thrill ride, but it’s also very, very serious recruiting process narrows to about 250 by the fall. because, at the end of the day, you’re responsible for Those are the seniors invited to attend home games – JEFF PHELPS, DEFENSIVE LINE COACH teenagers, many of whom have never traveled before.” and watched by the coaches in one of their games that Once the recruits are on campus, there are three season. Out of that group, the staff may choose 56 to make an official visit to campus. main things the staff makes sure to showcase. “The No. 1 thing we highlight is our football program and coaching staff— Official visits run from fall, on weekends of home games, all the way up to Signing Day. While coaches go on all the road trips and make most of the regular contacts staff continuity, the fact that our coaching staff under Coach Kill has built winning with recruits, official visits require the time, effort and cooperation of a wide range programs everywhere they’ve been,” Glasscock said. “That’s one of the first things we make sure they understand—that we have done this before, that we’ve been of people. Glasscock and his assistant directors, Jeff Jones (now the team’s director of successful at other places and this is the process of how we do it, brick by brick. player personnel) and John Schaekel, planned the visits and spent the most time This is how we build football programs.” The second thing they highlight is the University of Minnesota in general. with the 2014 recruits while they were in town. The trio spent a lot of time together through all those months leading up to Signing Day, and Jones said that it Every recruit gets a tour of campus, from the athletic facilities to Coffman Memowas “like working with your brothers.” Their personalities and skills complement rial Union to the residence hall where he might live as a freshman. Ideally, the staff knows a recruit’s academic interests ahead of time and can personalize part of his each other. “Billy is definitely the leader of the group and the outgoing, fun-loving guy visit based on that information. “The third thing we talk about is life after football,” Glasscock said. “We hit that is great as a recruiting coordinator because he’s very social and very talkative that pretty hard when they’re here.” and cracking jokes all the time,” Schaekel said. The staff makes sure to highlight the opportunities provided by University of Schaekel characterized himself and Jones as detail-oriented and sometimes a little more serious. But all of the recruiting staff members know how to have fun Minnesota’s alumni network, the size of the school, the major companies headquartered in the Twin Cities and the university’s proximity to downtown Minneapolis. amongst themselves and with the recruits. And that friendliness is real. Each recruit’s visit has personalized components based on when he arrives and “The biggest compliment we get constantly from parents is about how organized we are when people show up, and how genuine the people are,” Glasscock what his academic interests are, but every recruiting weekend has a similar itinerDuring the contact period, in December and January (with a no-contact “dead period” in the middle), coaches may speak directly with recruits. They especially want to visit the recruits’ homes “so they can see you, put a face with the name, a face with the voice,” Phelps said. Coaches also travel to evaluate recruits in season during the Gophers’ bye weeks.

The recruiting process involves more than 20 staff members and inclludes daily meetings between Glasscock and head coach Jerry Kill.

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ary. Everyone eats together downtown and attends a Gopher game together. Everyone sees as much of campus as possible. Everyone sees the same presentations at some point on their visit. Those presentations are where all the support staff and other university personnel come into play. During each official visit weekend, the recruits attend a Saturday morning academic breakfast at the McNamara Alumni Center’s Heritage Gallery, which Glasscock calls “one of the biggest hits we have.” Recruits are seated at tables with the team’s academic advisors as well as instructors from their areas of interests. “It’s just a low-key talk over breakfast,” Glasscock said. “We try not to have a lot of official presentation where people are sitting there listening to someone talk at them. …At this point they’ve heard like 15 people talk at them. So we try to have it be more interaction-based.” Athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, equipment staff and Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development Peyton Owens III are all on hand during recruiting weekends to explain their areas of expertise. In the spirit of interactivity, the strength and conditioning presentation is split among the coaches at different stations in the weight room, and the recruits rotate through them instead of standing in the same spot with the same person. Glasscock said that the allotted 2 1/2 hours of rest time is popular because it’s hard work trying to see the whole university community in a short period of time. One of the most informal components of an official visit is also one of the most important: interaction with members of the current Gopher football team. “Those are the guys who are going to do a lot of the recruiting for you—the guys that come and play for you,” Glasscock said. “They carry a lot more influence than we do.”

ON THE UP-AND-UP “We follow the rules at the University of Minnesota,” Glasscock said. “I’m proud of that. I’m proud of the fact that we do things the right way.” To stay updated on the myriad NCAA regulations related to their area, the recruiting staff must attend compliance meetings, study the rule book and make sure the coaches are informed of these rules as well. Glasscock said he has gotten a perfect score on his recruiting test the past three years. The Internet has made following the rules even more complicated, as there are more ways than ever to reach recruits. The Internet has also sped up the recruiting process. The ease of disseminating information online has good and bad consequences. It is convenient for coaches to look up a junior’s video within seconds of hearing his name, but the Internet also allows recruits to create deceiving hype. “Our job is to weed through all that and actually find the kids that are productive players, and not the ones that have been marketed by a recruiting site to be really good player,” Glasscock said. Star ratings and recruiting class rankings do not concern the Gophers. “For one, how do you know how good a kid is ‘til he plays a college down?” Glasscock asked. “And the second thing is, at the end of the day, it’s about getting players that fit your program, that fit your style of play. If you’re going to rate recruiting classes, why not rate them four years later? Instead of rating them when they’re high school seniors, rate them when they’re college seniors. “If a kid plays fast, plays hard, loves playing football, fits what we do, we don’t care if he’s got 50 stars or no stars. We don’t care if he has 50 offers or no offers. If we like the kid, and he does those things, we’re excited to go get him.”

ON THE ROSTER The Gophers have a big board in their office to help organize information about recruits, using magnets labeled with each recruit’s basic information. Those magnets move frequently as new information comes in, and as recruits commit to Minnesota or elsewhere. Each magnet’s movement affects all the others at that position. Some recruits verbally commit early, while others may not announce their decisions until Signing Day. That first Wednesday of February, recruits send their signed National Letters of Intent via fax or e-mail, beginning at 7 a.m. in their time zone. All the effort put into recruiting them becomes more concrete.

new maroon

Hailing from 11 different states is the 2014 Gopher Football recruiting class. Four from this group are already enrolled at the U of M and participated in spring practice with the Maroon and Gold. Name Davis Anderson Emmit Carpenter Jonathan Celestin Gaelin Elmore Isaiah Gentry Jerry Gibson Melvin Holland Jr. Craig James Jeff Jones Payton Jordahl Julien Kafo Connor Krizancic Brandon Lingen Logan McElfresh Dimonic Roden-McKinzy Gary Moore Connor Mayes Riley Oharah Josh Parks Jacques Perra Cody Poock Luke Rasmussen Steven Richardson Rodney Smith Andrew Stelter Miles Thomas Jared Weyler Everett Williams

Pos. DB K LB TE WR TE WR CB RB LS DE WR TE P QB DT OL FB RB QB LB OL DT RB DE FB OL LB

Ht. 6-1 6-0 6-1 6-6 6-4 6-3 6-3 5-11 6-0 6-2 6-4 6-2 6-5 6-1 6-0 6-3 6-5 6-0 5-10 6-3 6-2 6-7 5-11 5-11 6-4 5-11 6-4 6-1

Wt. 180 180 210 246 185 220 190 170 198 210 255 190 245 185 213 285 305 244 195 210 234 270 285 200 264 236 280 220

Hometown Apple Valley, Minn. Green Bay, Wis. Jonesboro, Ga. Somerset, Wis. Cincinnati, Ohio Theodore, Ala. Ashburn, Va. Edwardsville, Ill. Minneapolis, Minn. Perham, Minn. Mont-Tremblant, Quebec Mentor, Ohio Wayzata, Minn. Brainerd, Minn. Kansas City, Kan. Mobile, Ala. Val Alstyne, Texas Goodland, Kan. Chisago Lakes, Minn. Roseville, Minn. Council Bluffs, Iowa Brookfield, Wis. Chicago, Ill. Jonesboro, Ga. Owatonna, Minn. Downs, Kan. Dayton, Ohio Mansfield, Texas

“There’s a sense of accomplishment,” Glasscock said. “You feel like your hard work paid off, all the time and energy you spent recruiting these kids and trying to make their experience the best they could have during that process. You’re super excited. Officially the kid’s here.” On National Signing Day 2014, several members of the football staff waited in a meeting room for the NLIs to arrive. As each was verified by the compliance office, someone moved the signee’s magnet and wrote the time of day on the board next to it—officially official. By lunch time, Minnesota had a full recruiting class. In the afternoon and evening, Kill spoke at a press conference and the Gophers held a Signing Day Social at TCF Bank Stadium. It was a long day to end a long journey of bringing in the 2014 class. What did the staff do to celebrate? Come right back to work the next day to bring in the 2015 class. In fact, the Gophers had already been working on the junior class as they were wrapping up 2014 recruiting. There are few days off in recruiting, or in college football in general. But this is college sports—it’s hard work, but it’s also fun. And it opens doors for high school students, some of whom may never have expected to go to college. “Ultimately, as you go through the recruiting process and you have the opportunity to offer a young man a full ride scholarship, you’re able to sit down in the home with the family, and you just see the joy on the faces of the mom, dad, grandma, brothers, sisters,” Phelps said. “That just gives you so much fulfillment, as I look back and remember when that happened for me and my family.” Every day, Minnesota’s coaching, recruiting and support staffs work together to bring in the next wave of new student-athletes. One relationship at a time, the class of 2015 has already started forming, as the Gophers continue to build their program the only way they know how—brick by brick. APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 13

KAITLYN RICHARDSON, SARA MOULTON AND TYLER WALKER (LEFT TO RIGHT) ALL EARNED FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG TEN HONORS IN 2013, LEADING MINNESOTA TO 36 VICTORIES AND A BERTH IN THE NCAA REGIONALS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE.

T H E

R I S I NG Under the direction of head coach Jessica Allister and a trio of multi-talented All-Big Ten players, Minnesota has burst onto the national scene as one of the elite powers in collegiate softball. BY MICHAEL MOLDE

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

o one would have known at the time, but the tremendous success Minnesota’s softball program has enjoyed the past three-plus seasons directly correlates to a decision made by an economics student at Stanford University in 2003. That student was current Minnesota head coach Jessica Allister. During her junior season as an All-American catcher for the Cardinal, Allister decided she wanted to pursue a career as a collegiate softball coach. Had she not made that choice, Allister was headed toward a career on Wall Street. “I’m a very competitive person, and the idea of being in a job where there wasn’t an end-of-year scorecard, so-to-say, wasn’t very exciting to me,” Allister said. “So, to me, being on Wall Street was a way that I’d still have been able to be competitive in my career. But then I came to the realization that I wanted to coach, and that I wasn’t ready to leave this sport.” Now in her fourth season, Allister has remarkably led Minnesota’s program from the bottom of the Big Ten standings prior to her arrival to its current status as a nationally-ranked power that has notched 30plus wins in each of her first three seasons. Allister was hired by then-Director of Athletics Joel Maturi on Au-

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gust 10, 2010 after a year as an assistant at Oregon and several years at Stanford. Her appointment followed a season in which the Gophers had gone 2-17 in the Big Ten and 16-37 overall. The quick turnaround under Allister is remarkable, as Minnesota won 31 games in each of her first two seasons before finishing 36-19 during 2013. Last year’s team posted its first winning record in Big Ten play since 2003, reached the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament, and received an at-large berth to its first NCAA Regional in a decade. This season, Minnesota got oﬀ to the best start in the program’s history by winning 17 of its first 20 games, and the Gophers have a realistic chance at capturing a Big Ten title and making its second-straight NCAA Regional appearance. With this being Allister’s first head coaching position, her initial move was the crucial task of assembling her staﬀ. She was able to hire Jessica Merchant, who had helped Michigan win the 2005 NCAA Championship as an All-American shortstop and had most recently been an assistant at UMass, and she convinced former Gopher standout

PHOTOS: ALICIA JEROME

Piper Ritter to return as pitching coach. “I tell people all the time that I have the two best assistant coaches in the country,” Allister said. “I really believe that Coach Merchant and Coach Ritter are unbelievable at what they do.” With classes about to begin and the start of fall practice looming, the new staff went to work trying to salvage a 2010 recruiting class. Fortunately, the 2009 class of local standouts Sara Moulton and Bree Blanchette stuck with the Gophers following the coaching change. But September was days away, putting Minnesota’s new staff well behind in the process. After working tirelessly those first few months, the staff

amazingly put together a class that included current Gophers Madie Eckstrom, Hannah Granger, Erica Meyer, Kaitlyn Richardson, Erika Smyth and Tyler Walker. Combined, those 2009 and 2010 classes include four position players who have started every game so far in 2014, as well as Moulton. When the senior right-hander wraps up her career at the end of this season, she will own virtually every notable school record for a pitcher. As most coaches would, Allister shies away from singling out any one individual player. The Gophers win and lose as a team, and each player has a role to play in the team’s success. But it’s hard to ignore the

success of Moulton, Richardson and Walker. IT STARTS IN THE CIRCLE About one-third of the way through her final campaign in the circle for the Gophers, Moulton owns a career record of 96-44 with a 1.71 earned run average and 1,041 strikeouts. She already owns Minnesota’s career marks for wins, complete games and shutouts, and needs less than 100 strikeouts and 40 innings pitched to move past Coach Ritter for first-place in those categories. Moulton has earned All-Big Ten accolades in each of her first three seasons. She was named Second Team All-Big Ten and the Big Ten Freshman of the

Allister’s appointment followed a season in which the Gophers had gone 2-17 in the Big Ten and 16-37 overall. The quick turnaround under Allister is remarkable, as Minnesota won 31 games in each of her first two seasons before finishing 36-19 during 2013.

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JUST FOR JUSTIN

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THE WEST COAST PLAYER Allister’s first big break in the recruiting process came when Walker called to say she was going to honor the verbal commitment she had given previous coaches, Lisa Bernstein and Julie Standering. “When the coaching change was announced (in May), Tyler re-opened her search and had some pretty good options,” Allister said. “But she called me and said, ‘My heart’s been at the University of Minnesota since I was a sophomore in high school, and I want to be a Gopher, so I’m still coming.’ That ended up being a huge day for Minnesota softball.” A graduate of Valley Christian HS in San Jose, Calif., Walker quickly realized that the new staﬀ had big goals for the Minnesota program, and she wanted

Allister hired Jessica Merchant from UMass where she helped the team reach the NCAA field in each of her four seasons. She was a two-time All-America shortstop at Michigan.

Ritter is in her eighth season as Minnesota’s pitching coach. She was a four-time All-Big Ten hurler for the Gophers, setting career records in nearly every statistical category.

to be part of the turnaround. “The coaches all had a vision of taking the Minnesota softball program and making it into a Big Ten title team,” Walker said. “When I met with the coaching staff on my visit, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wanted to be a part of the plans they had for the program.” Now in the midst of her junior season, Walker has been in the starting lineup and the Gophers’ leadoff hitter for every game since the start of 2012. Through the first 20 games this season, Minnesota’s shortstop has eye-popping career figures that include a .380 batting average, 120 runs scored, 158 hits, 27 doubles, seven triples, 22 home runs, 76 runs batted in and 41 stolen bases. “Tyler can drive the ball out of the park, she can drop down a bunt, she can slap, and she stole 20 bases last year, so she’s a dynamic offensive threat,” Allister said. “She’s been a fixture in the leadoff spot for us since the day she stepped on campus, and I’d say more times than not she gets on base to start the game, so she really sets the tone.” Last season, Walker earned First Team All-Big Ten and was a Second Team All-Great Lakes Region selection after being a Third Team All-Big Ten honoree as a freshman. Without a doubt, Minnesota’s defense has played a key role in the team’s success, and Coach Merchant has worked to improve Walker’s glove skills at short and Richardson’s at third base. The Gophers have led the Big Ten in fielding percentage in each of the past two seasons.

PHOTOS: ALICIA JEROME (LEFT), ERIC MILLER (RIGHT)

Minnesota junior shortstop Tyler Walker wears No. 42, which many people might guess is simply to pay tribute to the late, great Jackie Robinson. Walker does have admiration for the amazing man who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, but that’s only part of the story. Walker’s reason for selecting those digits is far more personal, and much more emotional. “My brother, Justin, wore the number 42 the last time he played the game that he loved,” Walker said. An outfielder at West Valley College, Justin was paralyzed during a mid-season collision at home plate against Sacramento City in 2008. His team went on to advance to the Final Four of the California Community College Baseball Championships, as Justin regained some movement in his legs. “He admired the career of the great Jackie Robinson,” Walker said. “My brother is my hero. If I had to pick one person that has influenced my life the most, I would say Justin, hands down. He pushes me every day to get better. He was not able to fulfill his dream of playing Division I baseball, so every time I put on my jersey, I am reminded that I am doing this for both of us.”

Year in 2011, and was Third Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore before earning First Team All-Big Ten recognition last season. Moulton also earned First Team All-Great Lakes Region as a junior and was Second Team All-Region as a freshman. With all of her accomplishments, it’s logical to think that success in the circle just comes easily for the Eagan native. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. “When I think about what makes Sara special, I go back to her first weekend,” Allister said. “Sara was all-everything as a high school player in the state of Minnesota. She won a state championship and she was ‘it’ in the state, which is awesome. But, when she got to college, she gave up a lot of runs during her first weekend.” What stands out in Allister’s mind, though, is not simply that her star pitcher struggled at the start of her college career, it’s that she didn’t let it rattle her and that she had the work ethic and the desire to figure out what she needed to do to improve. “My freshman year started out rough, and it was quite an eye-opening experience,” Moulton said. “The game was a lot faster than what I was used to and I learned the hard way that any balls on the plate got hit. Over the past four years, I committed to getting better in practice every day, and to working hard in the weight room. I have also been working hard to improve my mental game, as well.” “After that first weekend, Sara came back in on Monday, sat down with Coach Ritter, started watching the film, and asked, ‘Alright, how am I going to get better?’ That next weekend, she went out and got a little better,” Allister said. “The next Monday, she came back in, watched the film of her pitches and asked, ‘Okay, what did I do to get better, and how do I still need to improve?’ So it was just her ‘stick-toitiveness’ and her toughness that got her through it.” Allister says that Moulton is prepared, consistent, focused and competitive – all qualities that are expected in someone with her pedigree. “I don’t think she ever steps on the field without being 110 percent focused on the plan for that day,” Allister said. “She’s as prepared as they come.”

PHOTOS: ALICIA JEROME

“Coach Merchant knows the game so well and is always encouraging,” Walker said. “To be honest, I didn’t know what I was in for during my first practice as a Gopher. I remember thinking, ‘Man, I have so much to learn.’ We all realized that, and because of the work we do to get better every day, we have made tremendous strides as a defensive team since my freshman year.” Walker, whose father is a PAC-12 softball umpire, makes an impact away from the field, as well. “Tyler’s an emotional leader for our team, and anyone who knows Tyler knows that she’s fun to be around,” Allister said. “She just has this inner glow about her, this inner excitement, so she’s a leader for us in that sense.”

Allister after my last game and she came right up and talked to me,” Richardson said. “As soon as we started talking, I feel like we Year Overall Big Ten Team Team both connected. I love her competitiveness, Record Record BA ERA and I knew from the first conversation I had 2009 23-32 6-14 .220 2.55 with her that she was going to turn this pro2010 16-37 2-17 .217 4.52 gram around. I was so intrigued by her 2011 31-24 9-11 .248 3.02 goals and ambitions, and they were aligned 2012 31-22 10-14 .266 2.50 with what I wanted to do.” 2013 36-19 14-6 .247 2.41 Like Walker, Richardson’s numbers since coming to Minnesota are like those Allister became Minnesota’s coach before the 2011 season. seen in a video game. Through the first 20 games this season, Richardson’s career numbers include starting assignments in all 128 harder than everyone else, so that we’re more pregames, with a .392 batting average, 143 hits, 105 runs pared when we step on the field, and Katie embodies batted in, 93 runs scored, 34 doubles, 24 home runs, that.” “I think it’s awesome to be a part of something so THIRD PIECE OF THE PUZZLE 80 walks and just 56 strikeouts. Another coup for the Minnesota staﬀ was that, miracLast season, Richardson became Minnesota’s first fun, to be able to create this new identity for Minulously, Richardson was still unsigned at the start of All-America selection since 1998, earning third team nesota softball, and to be so proud of our school,” Richardson said. “I think all of my ideas about win“I think it’s awesome to be a part of something so fun, to be able to create ning, being competitive and becoming a better person just lined up really well with this coaching staﬀ, this new identity for Minnesota softball, and to be so proud of our school. and I knew that it was the right fit from the beginI think all of my ideas about winning, being competitive and becoming a ning.”

THE RISE

better person just lined up really well with this coaching staff, and I knew that it was the right fit from the beginning.” – KAITLYN RICHARDSON her senior year. At Sandra Day O’Connor HS in Phoenix, Richardson was a two-time All-State and three-time All-Region selection who batted .495 with 51 runs batted in, 19 doubles and six home runs in 2010. Academically, Richardson was a member of the National Honor Society and Society of Female Scholars who ranked in the top three percent of her graduating class. “The fact that Katie was still available the fall of her senior year is absolutely unbelievable and lots of schools missed the boat, but we were very fortunate in that sense,” Allister said. “Katie is just a pure hitter, but similar to Sara (Moulton), nobody works harder, is as prepared or as competitive as Katie.” “I was recruited during the start of my senior year, so it was kind of late in the process, but I saw Coach

honors from the NFCA, and she was a First Team AllBig Ten and First Team All-Great Lakes Region choice. Those honors came after she batted .430 with a .544 on-base percentage and 10 home runs. Sabermetricians would appreciate Richardson’s 2013 OPS (on-base + slugging) of 1.342. But most people are more likely to notice her toughness, like the time last season where she broke her nose in a Friday game at Northwestern, then came back wearing a mask on Saturday and hit two home runs in the first game of a doubleheader. “We’ll practice for three hours, and then she’ll go and hit oﬀ a tee by herself for another hour,” Allister said. “She is as focused on making sure that her preparation meets her goals as you possibly can be. Our Gopher softball motto is that we’re going to work

Beyond all the organization, intelligence and fundamentals that have led to her success as a coach, if you asked her players to describe Jessica Allister in three words or less, it’s likely at least one would choose the phrase, “Hakuna Matata.” During Sunday morning bus rides to various venues, the theme song to the Disney classic The Lion King is always played. How important is it? Cory Hall, who served as the team’s athletics communications contact during 2012, is said to have convinced the press box staﬀ at Georgia to play the song over the loudspeakers when the bus’s audio system failed that morning. The phrase is Swahili, and loosely translated, it means “no worries.” With Moulton, Richardson and Walker leading the way and Jessica Allister and her staﬀ at the helm, Minnesota softball fans can enjoy all of the program’s success and think to themselves – Hakuna Matata.

Michael Molde is a freelance writer for Gopher Sports. He can be reached at michaelmolde@hotmail.com APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 17

Right now, invasive species like Asian carp and zebra mussels are destroying ecosystems while terrorizing Minnesota’s local ﬁsh populations. But fear not, anglers.

Thanks to statewide support, the U of M is leading eﬀorts that help control and usher out these hostile guests. At the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center, University researchers are illuminating ways to ensure our waters can be returned to their rightful owners, the walleye. Discover even more at umn.edu.

Crookston | Duluth | Morris | Rochester | Twin Cities

Gopher Athletics assisted the Unlimited Dance Marathon to raise nearly $29,000 in cash donations during the 2013-14 academic year, all of which will directly benefit the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. The Unlimited Dance Marathon is a year-long fundraising and awareness campaign for the fight against pediatric health issues. The marathon this year was held in Mariucci Arena, February 22-23 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. In addition to the no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon, the event featured personal stories from children and families served through resources at Amplatz. Participants dancing in the marathon earned pledges for their dance time. The annual event aims to unite the campus and the entire student-body to impact the lives of patients. Participation more than tripled in 2014, with 750 attendees, compared with 220 in 2012. The 2013-14 campaign marked the first time Unlimited and Gopher Athletics combined forces. The University of Minnesota Dance Marathon raised a combined $13,800 during 2011-12 and 2012-13 combined before raising nearly $84,000 this year through cash and in-kind gifts. Prior to the event on Feb. 22-23, students and studentathletes volunteered at various Gopher athletic events to raise monetary donations. The volunteers collected money last fall in football tailgating lots before raising funds at other on-campus athletic events, from men's and women's hockey to the Cheerleading Championships this winter. In all, patrons at 14 events donated money to Unlimited in an effort to redesign the Teen Room at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. In-kind contributions for the prize drawings included a free semester of textbooks from the University of Minnesota Bookstore, Sun Country Airlines round-trip tickets, Gopher Athletics gift baskets, and a Kaplan Test Prep online course. Additional in-kind donations included the Mariucci Arena ice covering, all-night DJ entertainment from Fulton Productions and food from University Dining Services for all the participants. Unlimited and Gopher Athletics would like to thank the following sponsors: AMC Theatres Advanced Technology Systems Aramark Coca-Cola Contract Administration (University of Minnesota) Domino's Pizza Fulton Productions General Mills Gopher Sports Properties Insomnia Cookies Kaplan Kellogg's McGough Construction Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota Twins Minnesota Wild Old Dutch

Ordway Center for Performing Arts Papa John's Pizza Party City Raising Canes Starbucks Sting St. Jude Medical Foundation Sun Country Airlines Tony's Diner The Commons Hotel University of Minnesota Athletic Facilities University of Minnesota Police Department University of Minnesota Bookstores University of Minnesota Dining Services

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 19

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

20 / SKI-U-MAH / DECEMBER 2013

FAR FROM

TYPICAL

JOSE MENDEZ ISN’T ONLY MAKING AN IMPACT ON MINNESOTA GOLF, HE’S CHANGING HOW AN ENTIRE COUNTRY VIEWS THE SPORT. By Jake Ricker ach year, Minnesotans visit Costa Rica to experience its white sand beaches, mist-shrouded mountain tops and thick, primeval rainforests. Making that trip in reverse is less typical. For Jose Mendez however, life isn’t a typical experience. Mendez, a freshman on the Golden Gopher men’s golf team, is a sensation in his home country. After winning the 2013 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships at Torrey Pines in California, Mendez was named Costa Rica’s “Athlete of the Year” by leading Costa Rican newspaper Al Dia. That’s athlete of the year for the entire country. At age 18. “Costa Rica is really a small place,” said Mendez. “If you win a tournament … everyone knows what you did. It’s kind of fun.” Though the Callaway tournament may be the largest Mendez has won to-date, it’s certainly not his only title. During his junior career, Mendez won four consecutive Central America Junior Championships, the Bob Jones Junior Championship in the U.S. and The Junior Open Championship in Scotland. He wasn’t simply the best among junior golfers in Costa Rica either. He defeated an all-age field to win the Costa Rica Match Play Championship in both 2011 and 2012. In a country where soccer dominates sports coverage and golf is often an afterthought, Mendez’s accomplishments as a junior golfer weren’t always front page news. “The newspapers do not pay much attention to golf. You probably see one post about golf in two months, so it’s not big. But if you win a tournament, the newspapers are like ‘Oh my God, we have to put this in.’” While Costa Rican media may not have paid much attention to his accomplishments early on, his abilities captured the attention of the Gopher men’s golf program – in particular head coach John Carlson and assistant coach Tyler Stith. “Coach Stith and I use the World Amateur Golf Rankings (when recruiting),” said Carlson. “We saw Jose was ranked about 680 at the time. We went down and

watched him at the Polo Junior Golf Classic. I heard him hit his first shot and it sounded like a professional’s golf shot. Within 10 shots I knew. I didn’t even have to see (his shots). You can hear it.” Identifying Mendez as a top-tier prospect was straightforward. Reaching him to discuss attending the University of Minnesota and playing for the Golden Gophers was more complicated. “Because of NCAA rules … we had to go through his golf professional over there. We also had to speak to some of the members of the National Golf Committee (in Costa Rica). Then they would transfer the message back to Jose and then Jose and Hazel, his mother, would call,” explained Carlson. Recruiting Mendez meant convincing the Mendez family that Minnesota was the right place. “We just explained how safe Minnesota was, what a great city Minneapolis/St. Paul was. The University of Minnesota offers so many great academic programs and that academic part really struck a chord with the Mendez family,” Carlson recalled. “I got offers to play at different colleges. When I came here, people treated me like a son,” said Mendez. “The other part, why I chose Minnesota, is because of the academics. If I don’t go professional, I still have a diploma.” Academics are a point of emphasis in the Mendez family. If that wasn’t made obvious during the recruiting process, Mendez’s approach to academics since getting to Minneapolis has made that very clear. “We require our freshman to have six hours of study each week. Jose puts in between 15 and 25 study hours a week, on top of the golf that we ask, which is about 20 hours of golf and strength and conditioning, and then his classes,” said Carlson. “(That) comes from his family. It comes from the school that he was at over there. It also comes from the people who have mentored him throughout this process.”

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 21

PHOTOS: ERIC MILLER

> Mendez won the 2013 Callaway World Junior Championship in Torrey Pines, Calif. He is the first Costa Rican to win the prestigious tournament.

“Jose is a lot of fun to work with,” said Chelsie Schafer, became the first Costa Rican to ever win the Callaway World the academic counselor to the men’s golf team. “Everybody Junior Golf Championships. There has never been a PGA knows he’s going to be a top-notch golfer. Hopefully he goes Tour golfer from Costa Rica. Mendez wants to change that. pro and he’s making a ton of money doing that … but it was “I hope to go professional. I hope to play on the PGA clear talking to his parents, especially his mom, and talking Tour,” said Mendez. to Jose, (that) he needs to have a backup plan. I think he Mendez’s talent and accomplishments to this point cerknows he needs to have something in place and that’s why tainly fit the resume of a future professional. He has skills that he’s taking his school work seriously, which is really importranslate to the pro game and his head coach points out that tant.” some of those skills draw the attention of his peers. While Mendez was assured that he’d find a superior ac“He has soft hands and he’s a great ball-striker. You see it ademic experience at Minnesota, one thing he didn’t fully around the greens,” noted Carlson. “Even our seniors are realize before arriving in Minneapolis was how passionate watching him.” Minnesotans are about golf. Senior Jon Trasamar, the team’s captain, agrees that “(Coach Carlson) didn’t tell me about how big the golf Mendez brings abilities beyond most freshmen. community is here. I know there are a lot of golfers because “He ups the level of competitiveness on the team,” said – Head Coach John Carlson when we fly and people see our backpacks they all say, ‘Oh Trasamar. “He’s 18 years old and he’s shooting good scores yeah, I play golf,’ so I know it’s big.” and he’s hitting great shots. He brought it right away. From the That passion and the accessibility of golf are among the first tournaments of the year he was bringing his game. We all major diﬀerences Mendez has noticed between Costa Rica and Minnesota. knew he was a great player but he’s showing as time goes on that he really is a great “We basically have like 12 golf courses (in Costa Rica). It’s a small country and player.” (golf) is not as big as here. (In Minneapolis) we’ve got like 15 golf courses within As he was with his friends last winter in Costa Rica, Mendez is happy to share 10 miles.” his approach with his teammates in Minnesota. Mendez would like to be a part of building the sport of golf back home in Costa “He cares about the other players,” said Carlson. “He’s got such a big personRica. ality. He doesn’t just hang out with freshmen, which is what you see sometimes. “I love to help people. I love to help young kids. When I went home in the win- He’s drawn everyone in.” ter, some friends were like ‘Can you help me with this?’ and I said ‘I would love to “He’s a great kid. He’s always got a good attitude and he’s always happy-gohelp you’ because I want to help my country to be recognized for golf. It’s not big lucky,” added Trasamar. “He gets along great with the guys.” (right now) but when I won the Callaway in July, I think that was huge to make Those relationships are important to Mendez as he faces the challenges of ackids more interested in golf.” climating to the life of a student-athlete so far from home. Fellow freshman Daniel Luftspring recalls meeting his future roommate Mendez for the first time. Costa Rica doesn’t have a strong history of golf on the world stage. Mendez “We first met on a golf course. We went out to play Windsong Farm in prepa-

“I heard him hit his first shot and it sounded like a professional’s golf shot. Within 10 shots I knew. I didn’t even have to see (his shots). You can hear it.”

22 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

ration for the Gopher (Invitational). We shook hands and played that whole day and that was basically the beginning. We didn’t talk a whole lot during that round. We were still getting to know each other but we are great friends now.” “It’s been a steep learning curve for Jose but he’s handling it pretty well,” said Luftspring. “You just try to make yourself available … you just sort of help when he has questions.” “The thing I wasn’t expecting … I had to do laundry alone. I had to cook myself. I had to do everything by myself,” said Mendez. “But you have to do that once. You have to live (away from your family) to find yourself. It’s kind of hard, but right now it’s really good.

I have my roommate, who is a really nice person, and my teammates, so it’s not hard. They made it a nice and easy experience for me.” “People back home and here (in Minnesota) want you to succeed. People are really nice. If you need help, they’re going to help you.” Acclimating to college life by meeting new people, figuring out how to handle demanding coursework and asking others for help are common challenges for typical freshmen. But few leave behind tropical panoramas and travel 2,500 miles to pursue their dream, and certainly none do so as the face and great hope of a growing sport in their home country. To be typical is to be average. Jose Mendez has never been typical.

WORLDWIDE PROGRAM

The Gopher men’s golf program has traditionally relied on a blend of international and homegrown talent in becoming one of the Midwest’s top collegiate program. Since winning the NCAA Championship in 2002, here’s a look at the players that have earned All-Big Ten honors and their hometowns. Of the top 13 career scoring record leaders, seven hail from international lands, including all-time career scoring leader James McLean (Australia) while six are from the United States. Name Victor Almstrom Matt Anderson Ben Greve Donald Constable Bronson La’Cassie David Morgan Simon Nash Josh Persons Ben Pisani Clayton Rask Wilhelm Schauman Justin Smith Niall Turner Erik Van Rooyen

Years 2008 2003 2004 2011 2004-07 2005 2002-03 2005 2009-10 2008 2001-02 2003-04 2007 2012-13

Hometown Vallingby, Sweden Edina, Minnesota Annandale, Minnesota Deephaven, Minnesota Brisbane, Australia Rochester, Minnesota Pullenvale, Australia Fargo, North Dakota Brisbane, Australia Otsego, Minnesota Djursholm, Sweden Moon Township, Pennsylvania Cork, Ireland Oudtshoorn, South Africa

The Gophers’ roster has also featured student-athletes from Canada, China, Finland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland and Spain during the same time period.

PHOTOS: ERIC MILLER

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 23

30 Years

AHEAD OF HER TIME

Sprinter Erin Hawkins has the left knee of someone approaching early retirement, but she’s just getting started. BY RICK MOORE he Drake Relays are the dates to circle on the calendar for track and field athletes in the Upper Midwest. For Erin Hawkins, a redshirt freshman sprinter on the Gopher women’s track team, the memories from that particular meet in 2012 are a mixed bag, at best. Hawkins, then a senior star for Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, was set to run four events on a chilly day in May, and she was staying loose before the first—a heat of the 100-meter dash. “I was ready to run, in my sweatpants behind the blocks, and I was jumping up and down just to keep warm,” she said. “And I then I just felt a pop in my knee. My knee just popped and I don’t have any clue why.” Whether you’re a pitcher in baseball or a sprinter in track, you never want to be saying, “I just felt a pop.” She ran her heat and limped a bit afterward, but competed in the rest of her events. The next day her left knee was swollen and stiﬀ, and the athletic trainers oﬀered a sobering guess—a torn ACL—but told her it wouldn’t get any worse by running that day. So she and her teammates got ready for the finale—the 4 x 100 relay.

PHOTO: ERIC MILLER

24 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

Said Hawkins: “I ran it and we set [an Iowa state] record and it was awesome!” The news from her doctor wasn’t nearly as awesome. Hawkins had indeed torn her anterior cruciate ligament and ruptured a meniscus, as well. She underwent reconstructive surgery the following month. “I didn’t want to crutch across the stage [for graduation], so I waited,” she joked.

‘You have the knee of a 50-year-old’ Hawkins caught the eye of Matt Bingle, director of women’s track & field/cross country at the U, well before her injury, and she had signed with the Gophers in February 2012. “Going into that recruiting year, in my mind she was one of the better sprinters in the Midwest,” he said. “We had a good connection and she liked it up here.”

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 25

PHOTO: BECKY MILLER

But when she arrived on campus the following September, she had a long road to recovery. She spent the entire fall rehabbing, and subsequently had a setback in the spring when, as she said, “I just had this nagging pain.” So she had a second surgery on the knee in which the doctor took out a screw from the first procedure, repaired the meniscus again, and cleaned up some scar tissue. Again, she was in recovery mode. According to Bingle, Hawkins has been told by doctors and trainers, “Okay, this is it. We can’t do anything more for it. You’ve got the knee of a 50-year-old man and this is pretty much going to be up to your (pain) tolerance. … The only thing we can do for the knee is make sure the muscles, ligaments, and tendons are strong around it, but it is what it is.” Hawkins tells the same story, only with the appropriate gender modification. “I have an old-lady knee,” she laughed. “That’s what the trainer Cole (Peterson) calls it—an old-lady knee.” This year, as she continues to recover and rejuvenate, the 19-year-old Hawkins still faces limits with lifting and training, including how many days she can run. Her workouts are highly modified, geared toward making her stronger without stressing the knee too much. “It’s tolerable and I can run through it or take an Advil before practice and I’ll be fine,” she said. “We’re getting there.” She’s finally competing again this spring and notched respectable times in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes at the Big Ten indoor. “I actually never really expected to come into college and be dominating. I could have gone to a school where I would have been the best, like a Division II or Division III, but I don’t want to be like that. “My thing was, I don’t want to be better than everyone because everyone is worse than me,” she said. “I want to be better because I’m better than them. “It’s definitely diﬀerent.” But she has competed in national meets all along. “So I knew that there were a lot of girls out there that were faster than me, and I knew I had to work, and I knew that I was in Iowa and Iowans aren’t as fast as people from Texas and Louisiana. So it’s definitely a jump but I think I was mentally prepared for not being the best. “In high school it was great that feeling of ‘Oh, I won again,’ but now I have something to work towards. … Now I have to work for it.”

A foot on the accelerator

“Obviously, she’s very hungry. She’s a fighter.”

26 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

Fortunately for Hawkins, there’s no question about her desire, energy, and competitiveness. “I’m pretty competitive, in everything; it’s kind of a problem,” she joked. “It’s like, ‘You don’t know I’m racing you to that light pole right there, but I’m going to race you to the light pole.’” “Obviously, she’s very hungry. She’s a fighter,” said Bingle. “Practically before the (Big Ten) meet was over, I was saying, ‘We’ve got a long list of things to do, so you’re not going to like me much for the rest of the year.’ That’s the way I like to coach, and that’s the way she likes to be coached. I’m excited to work with her and really get it going. “She’s a fireball—a total fireball,” added Bingle. “I’d like a hundred of those kids. I like it when they’ve got big attitudes.” She has big goals as well, both on and oﬀ the track. Hawkins is a kinesiology major, and in addition to becoming a personal trainer would some day like to open up a gym or weight-loss center. “I’d love to do that, but I feel like opening up a business is kind of hard sometimes,” she said. “So I’m kind of teeter-tottering on that. Do I want to focus on personal training and then open a business from that, or do I want to focus on a diﬀerent kinesiology subplan?” In the meantime, Bingle is excited to see how far Hawkins can go, and how fast. “The girl didn’t sprint for a year and a half, almost,” said Bingle, somewhat incredulously. “It’s like your car. If you don’t run it hard for a year and a half and all of a sudden you slam (on) the accelerator, it’s gonna sputter a little bit.”

RACHEL DRAKE: OXFORD MATERIAL enior cross country and track runner Rachel Drake has had an unexpectedly magical year. Last fall she was nominated by the U to become a Rhodes Scholar— an honor given to a select few students to study at the University of Oxford in England. Drake wound up being one of 11 interviewees for two scholarships from District 11 (comprised of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa). The U helped her set up practice interviews so that she could be well-versed in her areas of interest—medicine, medical devices, and bioethics—and she traveled to Chicago to be grilled by a panel of eight Rhodes Scholars–Elect. “It was the same weekend as the national cross country meet, so it was kind of a bummer that I didn’t get to go to that,” Drake said. Ultimately, she wasn’t chosen for the scholarship, but it wasn’t for lack of academic prowess… or preparation. The interview, she said, was “a million times easier than any of the ones I had at the U,” and overall “it was really cool just to be among that great of company.” Bingle would suggest that she belongs squarely in the middle of that company. “She’s an awesome young lady. She has been able to balance a Division I athletics life with high academics and also being able to volunteer,” he said. “She’s had a huge impact on the community and the team. She’s the complete package. And everybody loves her.” Drake did wind up getting into the University of Oxford, but is choosing to stay stateside for the next step in her educational journey. She plans to pursue a joint M.D. and Ph.D. at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland. She’s hoping to become a physician-scientist in cardiovascular medicine and research. In that perfect world, she’d spend a day or two per week in the clinic seeing patients, and the rest of the time performing research “that will hopefully translate to the kinds of problems you’re seeing in the clinic.” No Rhodes? For Drake, that’s not much of a problem.

He laughs at the analogy. But in this case, Hawkins seems fine with the sputtering, insomuch as that word can describe a time in the 200 that most of us could only dream of, she knows that there are better days ahead. And Hawkins loves to put the pedal to

the metal. “It’s pretty much my comfort zone,” she said of her sprinting. “Not being able to run for a year sucked a lot. I feel like it helps me let oﬀ some steam. You just run really fast and you can’t be angry anymore.”

PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: ERIC MILLER; TOP RIGHT: CHRISTOPHER MITCHELL

THE PUCK IS LIVE answers from page 43

Rick Moore is a writer and editor in University Relations and a long-time follower of Gopher Athletics. Contact him at moore112@umn.edu.

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 27

recognizing EXCELLENCE Deb orah O lson i s k nown for h er support of G opher soccer, b ut her ad vocacy for w om en’s at hl et i cs h as i n fl uenced m any G oph er t eam s. he name Elizabeth Lyle Robbie spreads out in beautifully uniform “When I realized (Minnesota) couldn’t get it done for what the legislature maroon letters across the press box towering over the home field was giving us and what I had committed, I committed more. I did it in honor of of the Golden Gopher women’s soccer team, but the person whose my mother,” said Olson. “(Soccer) was something that she just loved and, for support made the nationally-recognized facility possible is actually me, it was a way of recognizing and honoring her because, quite frankly, women Deborah Olson. When oﬀered the opportunity to name the facility aren’t always recognized and honored.” prior to its 1999 opening in recognition of her tireless eﬀorts and generous gift While Olson is closely associated with a single sport at the U, her love for to get it built, Olson opted to name it after her mother. Advocating and supportsports and student-athletes spills far beyond the confines of the soccer field. ing extraordinary women is at the core of who she is and has been for decades. “Initially, I was helping to fundraise in general for women’s athletics,” but Olson, who graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., was a foe that has spread to include Olympic sports as well. Olson also regularly attends of the U before she was a friend… in the athletic arena, at least. both men’s basketball and football games. “I actually competed against the University of Minnesota in volleyball and “There was a day, I think it was last season when, because we were hosting softball back in the early 1970s when there were no conferences,” said Olson. NCAA (women’s) volleyball (tournament games), I had tickets to five events,” She even played against the legendary Jean Freeman though not in either of the chuckled Olson. “Everyone knows me as the big patron of the soccer team, sports with which the two are so closely associated. “My freshman and sophowhich I am thrilled to be. I love it … but, you know, I played basketball, I love more years we were competing against each other in volleyball.” basketball. I played volleyball, I love volleyball. I didn’t play soccer, I love socOlson’s connection to the U developed after graduation, when she was apcer.” proached to help with a fundraiser for the women’s athletic department. Olson holds season tickets to several Gopher sports. What that all means to “(I was) asked to help with what was originally the her is support. “I want to support the University of MinMiss Gopher Golf event, which was a fundraiser for “My passion comes from nesota,” she said. women’s scholarships. I got more involved and stayed inOlson has continued to do that well beyond the day having been an athlete Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium was dedicated, and in volved because I loved the fact that the University was giving women student-athletes opportunities and were and wishing I had better many ways in addition to attending an incredible number so supportive. I did it as a pre-Title IX athlete who wanted Gopher athletic events. opportunities and more of Golden to support the growth of student-athletes and athletics.” Olson served on the ice hockey task force that aided opportunities.” Though Olson’s personal connection to women’s aththe start of Minnesota’s elite women’s hockey program, letics is apparent from her own athletic background, her worked with the group that helped build Ridder Arena connection to soccer is less direct, unless you know a bit more about her mother. and the Baseline Tennis Center, spearheaded a private fundraising campaign to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie was the first woman to own an American sports franbuild the Minnesota Boathouse for the women’s rowing team, and has endowed chise, a distinction that came along with purchasing the Miami Toros of the multiple scholarships to support student-athletes. North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1973. The sale kept the team afloat “I became kind of the person to go to for facilities,” said Olson. “That just amidst financial hardships. kind of became my niche and I was happy to do it because if there aren’t people “I played basketball, volleyball and softball,” in high school, said Olson. who step up, things like that just don’t get done.” “Those were the sports that were available to me. Soccer wasn’t played back then. Olson has stepped up repeatedly. Her critical support to those facilities projI knew nothing about soccer when my mother got involved.” ects has benefitted hundreds of Gopher student-athletes across multiple varsity Appropriately, it was her mother who instilled the love of soccer that Olson programs and thousands of additional amateur student-athletes throughout the has so passionately embraced and shared for the past 20 years as the matriarch state of Minnesota who use those venues for practice, games and tournaments. of women’s soccer at Minnesota. When the school considered starting the soccer Supporting all athletes fits with who Olson is. “My passion comes from having program, which began play in 1993, Olson was among the first people contacted. been an athlete and wishing I had better opportunities and more opportunities.” “(Minnesota) started talking about adding soccer and found out about my Her mother’s name, not her own, is the most permanent reminder of Debomother’s connection,” said Olson. “At the time, the legislature was helping the rah Olson’s connection to Gopher Athletics, stretching prominently across the University to get up to speed with women’s athletics, so we lobbied for some St. Paul sky at every Gopher soccer match. That highlights the ironic aspect of money to work on building a soccer stadium and improving the softball staher drive to recognize strong women and excellence in student athletics – she dium.” craves little recognition for herself. Her ongoing contributions to the success of Olson had worked in politics for years, “so that was the perfect venue for me Gopher Athletics make avoiding that recognition almost impossible, however, to be involved.” While that lobbying delivered funding for the soccer stadium positioning her name next to her mother’s when appreciating the opportunities project and Olson had agreed to an initial gift to supplement that amount, it female student-athletes have at the University of Minnesota. wasn’t enough.

28 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

PHOTO: JERRY LEE

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 29

PHOTO: JIM ROSVOLD

HANGING WITH

THE GREATEST

NEARLY 60 YEARS AFTER HIS LAST GAME FOR THE GOLDEN GOPHERS, JOHN MAYASICH STILL HOLDS AN UNMATCHED SPOT IN THE TEAM’S HISTORY. By Jake Ricker Banners hailing the accomplishments of Golden Gopher men’s hockey crowd the rafters of Mariucci Arena. There are far too many to list each one individually – the five NCAA National Championships, six runner-up finishes and dozens of conference crowns. Those banners recognize the program’s greatest teams, which featured many of the sport’s most legendary figures. Their names are still spoken in reverent tones when discussing Minnesota’s hockey history. Yet among all those banners, only one recognizes an individual, immortalizing him as the greatest in Golden Gopher history. John Mayasich took command of virtually every available men’s hockey record during his time in the Maroon and Gold (1951-1955), control of which many great Gopher players have been unable to wrestle away from him for nearly 60 years. His No. 8 hangs as the only retired number in the program’s proud history. Born to Croatian immigrants, the younger years of Mayasich’s life bear the hallmark of many great American success stories, which is to say that it was largely pedestrian. Growing up in Eveleth, Minn., a mining town located on Minnesota’s Iron Range in the state’s northeastern corner, Mayasich, along with ten brothers and sisters, blended into the culture of his 30 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

hometown. Their father worked in the underground mines, a common occupation for many men in Eveleth. The Mayasich family had similar financial means to others in town and the Mayasich children enjoyed time spent outdoors with other kids. “Back then, there was no television, no computers, we didn’t have a car, so what do you do?” Mayasich said. “You come from school and you’re out on the playground or on the street. And it wasn’t just hockey. I loved baseball, basketball, football, all of the other sports.” When it came to sports, Mayasich no longer blended in. He was a five-sport letterman at Eveleth High School (football, baseball, track, tennis and hockey). While he’s quick to point out his love for all sports, hockey was Eveleth’s collective passion. Mayasich recalls when he first began to sense he could be a special player. “On the rink, you’d have maybe 20 kids of diﬀerent ages, anywhere for seven or eight up to 15 or 16. You had one ball or a puck or chunk of ice, and it was like “keep away.” You had to keep your head up and you had to be able to stickhandle.” It was during these games at the rink that Mayasich sensed his potential. “I got a feeling I could be as good as the next guy.”

Mayasich began playing varsity hockey at Eveleth High as a freshman. The team won its opening game that season, the first in an incredible 69-0 run that produced four consecutive state championships. Mayasich never lost a game in an Eveleth hockey sweater. “We had great kids. We were dominating. It was assumed you were going to win. You were afraid like hell that you wouldn’t win.” Eveleth often dominated opponents during its historic run, but one close call still sticks with Mayasich. “There was one that scared the heck out of me. We were playing Williams my junior year. We were tied (late in the third period) and I got a penalty. I’m thinking ‘If they score and we lose, it’s my fault.’ But I came out of the box and scored the winning goal (with 20 seconds remaining), so it worked out.” Things seemed to frequently work out for Mayasich on the rink. He still holds several eye-popping records at the Minnesota State Boys’ Hockey Tournament, the most prestigious prep tournament in the nation. Most notable among these are his seven tournament hat tricks and 36 tournament goals, accomplished in just 12 career games. Looking at the Minnesota men’s hockey program today, it seems natural that Mayasich would make the three-hour trip to Minneapolis to play for the Golden Gophers, considering so many of those championship banners were raised thanks to great Minnesota-born players. Yet, in the early 1950s, that wasn’t a given. “Michigan had hockey scholarships but Minnesota had nothing at the time,” Mayasich recalled. “I went over (to Ann Arbor) for a visit and it was assumed I would be there in the fall… but I was going steady then. That might have been an influence.” Chuckling, Mayasich added “It was (her) that was really the influence.” Mayasich and that woman, Carol Doheny (later Carol Mayasich), married in 1955 and raised five children together. She passed away in 2009. “I had a football scholarship (to Minnesota), so that made it possible to come down,” said Mayasich. Despite the football team paying his way, Mayasich never played a down on the gridiron for the Gophers. “Marooch (Men’s Hockey Head Coach John Mariucci) wouldn’t let me. But (Football Head Coach Wes) Fesler came to the locker room one day and suggested that I come out, maybe be a good defensive back, but Marooch said no.” Mayasich, who played his high school hockey in the famous Hippodrome in Eveleth, remembers playing his collegiate games in Williams Arena in the space now occupied by the Sports Pavilion. “It was a brand new facility and a great sheet of ice. A big ice surface with a lot of room behind the nets. At the time, it was probably one of the best facilities in the country.” Asked to compare the arena he once called home to present-day Mariucci Arena, Mayasich noted, “Well, there’s twice as many people (in Mariucci Arena). But it’s beautiful. It’s one of a kind. The locker room, the facilities, the band, just the atmosphere.” The current home of Gopher men’s hockey bears the name of the man who coached Mayasich for three seasons at the U, John Mariucci. Mariucci, also an

Eveleth native, was a role model for Mayasich and other young hockey players growing up on the Range. “You wanted to play for him and give all you had. He was right in the game with you. He was a part of the team. He loved to win. Look what he did with Minnesota kids, where the program evolved and where it is today. Everybody here was lucky.” In addition to what he learned from Mariucci, Mayasich gives a great deal of credit for his development to Elwin “Doc” Romnes, who was the Golden Gopher head coach during Mayasich’s freshman season. “I remember, in the fall before we had ice, (Doc) had us in the football stadium, in the concourse, stickhandling pucks on concrete. The guy was a great coach as somebody that didn’t only tell you how to do it, he could show you how. That was Doc Romnes. I was fortunate to have Doc for one year, and everybody on the team was.” Though he benefitted from the knowledge of two great coaches, Mayasich’s motivation came from within, a drive which demanded focus and dedication. “My philosophy, individually, was I always wanted to be better than myself in whatever I did. That’s what pushed me. It still does,” said Mayasich. “You really have to have passion. You have to want to do it – practice, work hard, train.” Between playing hockey, a steady girlfriend, ROTC commitments and his class schedule, Mayasich didn’t have much free time while he was on campus but, not surprisingly, the available time he did find was usually spent playing sports. “We played intramural. We had All-American basketball players Charley Mencel and (Dick) Garmaker. We had a softball team, a baseball team, a touch football team. We were probably more active in all of those than we were in our varsity sport, and we took it seriously.” Like the banners that hang in the Mariucci Arena rafters, Mayasich’s individual accomplishments playing hockey at the U of M are too many to list in full. In 111 career games, Mayasich scored 144 goals, a record that stands to this day. Mayasich also set up teammates at a remarkable rate, recording 154 career assists, a record that has since been broken. His 298 career points, which he accumulated at an almostunimaginable pace of 2.7 per game, is still the most in Gopher men’s hockey history, 29 more than second-place Pat Micheletti generated while playing 51 more career games than Mayasich. He was an AllAmerican in each of his four seasons with the Gophers. He was a three-time conference scoring champion and three-time First Team All-Conference selection. The only major accomplishment that eluded Mayasich during his collegiate career was the National Championship. In both Mayasich’s sophomore and junior seasons, Minnesota reached the championship game, but came up short in both eﬀorts, losing to Michigan in 1953 and then falling to Rensselaer in overtime in 1954. Mayasich often stole the show during those tournament runs, including an NCAA Frozen Four record seven-point game against Boston College in 1954, but individual accolades rarely mattered to Mayasich if the team didn’t succeed.

NEARLY 60 YEARS LATER, MAYASICH STILL HOLDS MINNESOTA’S SEASON AND CAREER RECORDS FOR POINTS AND GOALS.

MAYASICH PICTURED WITH JOHN MARIUCCI, WHO COACHED MAYASICH FOR THREE SEASONS AT THE U OF M AND IN THE 1956 OLYMPIC GAMES. APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 31

The Curious Case of John Mayasich and the National Hockey League

32 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

PHOTO: JIM ROSVOLD

Backed by scores of high school, collegiate and international records, John Mayasich stand outs as one of the greatest Americanborn hockey players of all-time. While those accomplishments demand attention, there’s one thing not accomplished that piques curiosity. Mayasich never played a single minute of a professional hockey game. The idea defies logic when reviewing his accolades but, for a man that defied so many norms of hockey in his time, he was no different than the vast majority of American hockey players in this regard. “I never really went to a (professional) training camp,” said Mayasich before he laughed and added, “I was never invited. … I don’t think there were many” Americans getting chances to play in the NHL. In Mayasich’s era, the National Hockey League included only the league’s original six franchises. Team management and coaching staffs of the time were almost exclusively Canadian. Non-Canadian players were largely dismissed as inferior by these decision-makers. This stigma hung particularly strong on American collegiate players. It wasn’t unprecedented to see an American play in the NHL at the time, but it was rare. Approximately 97 percent of professional players in the 1950s and 60s were Canadian, while Americans were a mere two percent. In any given year, they could literally be counted on one hand. Mayasich certainly had the credentials to break through barriers facing Americans in the NHL. There were times when Mayasich thought he may play professionally but, for a variety of reasons, those opportunities never materialized. “Some claim that (Mariucci) had a contract for me from the Blackhawks but I never saw it, so we don’t know about that,” Mayasich said with a chuckle. By that time, Mayasich had spent two years in the service and had a third child on the way. “I really didn’t have any interest in giving pro hockey a try… the money wasn’t there.” If known for nothing else, Mayasich is a competitive person. Whether it was keep away on the rinks when he was eight or curling now at age 80, Mayasich wants to compete. Decades after his last competitive game, Mayasich may still wonder what could have been if he were given his chance to play in the NHL, but he’s learned to tame his curiosity, preferring to focus on what was. “I traveled the world and represented my country with national teams, (including) two of the Olympics,” said Mayasich. “I was fortunate.” Succinctly summarizing his career, Mayasich added, “No regrets.”

DURING MAYASICH’S VISIT TO MARIUCCI ARENA ON FEBRUARY 14, HE JOINED THE GOPHER RADIO NETWORK BROADCAST TEAM OF WALLY SHAVER AND FRANK MAZZOCCO.

“Against Michigan one night I had four goals and four assists. They say ‘Is that a big game?’ and I think ‘I don’t know. The next day we lost.’” Mayasich isn’t one who takes losing lightly. “Winning is fun and I still feel that way. Don’t give me that stuﬀ about go out and have fun. No. You go out to win.” After graduating in 1955, Mayasich took that philosophy with him to the U.S. Men’s Hockey National Team as it prepared to travel to Italy for the 1956 Winter Olympics. Mayasich had been so extraordinary at Minnesota, he wasn’t surprised when he was named to the American team for ’56. “Marooch was the coach so it was assumed that many of us were on the team if we were available,” said Mayasich. “I was playing with ( John) Matchefts from Eveleth, (Willard) Ikola was our goaltender. (Dick) Dougherty, (Gene) Campbell, (Bill) Cleary, Minnesota kids. (Dan) McKinnon, (Gordon) Christian, we had about 10 Minnesotans with Marooch and Bob Ridder as the managers. It was a talented team.” Though a strong squad, the U.S. had never defeated Canada in international competition and that ’56 team figured to be the latest to fall to the Canadians. “When you played Canada, it was like them playing us in baseball. You won’t beat them or you shouldn’t beat them. I think they had the attitude and they looked right by us,” said Mayasich. “We knew Marooch played against the Canadians and he wanted the win more than any of us.” “In Cortina, Italy, we played on outdoor ice and it was just like we played all our life in Eveleth. You had flood lights but it was black (beyond the reach of those lights),” said

Mayasich. “We got off to a good start. I had flipped (the puck) into the air (off the faceoff) and nobody knew where it was. I used to do that on faceoffs. It had gone higher than the lights. It went up and over the blue line, hit the goalie and went in. (It was) a fluke, but that started us off.” “We were ahead 2-1 after the first period and I go into the locker room and I really feel nauseated. I said, ‘Boy, I just don’t feel good,’ so I told John and he had an Italian doctor come over. John didn’t know what the hell to do. I always said there were 11 Mayasichs, so if you lose one, what the hell, they’d never know the difference. So I went out and played probably the best game I ever had.” That U.S. team earned a landmark 4-1 victory over Canada that day, but a loss to the Soviet Union relegated the Americans to silver in 1956. Four years later, Mayasich made an unexpected return to the National Team for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif. “Well, (1960) was totally different than the ‘56 scenario where I knew I was going to try out and play. I had not intended to play in ’60. I was playing and coaching in Green Bay and we had a schedule. The U.S. team came down for an exhibition game and I think we beat ‘em 5-2. ( Jack) Riley, the coach, said, ‘Would you want to join the team?’ and I said ‘I can’t leave this.’” “Our last game was in Rochester maybe two days before the Games started out in Squaw Valley. So after that game, the season’s over and we’re dead tired and I said ‘What the hell am I doing going out there? Are we going to get a bronze?’ but I went.” Occasionally referred to as the “Forgotten Miracle,” the 1960 team

went 7-0 in the tournament, defeating Canada 2-1, the Soviet Union 32 and Czechoslovakia 9-4 in its final three games to capture the first gold medal in the history of USA Hockey. “Beating Canada told us ‘Boy, we have a chance.’ And the Russian game, of course, was unbelievable. I think the big wins, the ones you remember, are the ones where you’re really an underdog. We were expected to lose.” “What do you call it?” Mayasich asked. “Yeah, it’s a miracle. Somebody coined it already.” While it would be easy to assume that unexpected victory, especially on U.S. soil, would elicit wild celebrations, that wasn’t the case. “(When) we won it, they had a little ceremony and our captain went up, got our medals, gave us the medals and we all went home. I went (back) to Green Bay and I was working the next morning.” Celebrating a gold medal victory by flying home to his family and showing up ready to work the next morning fits Mayasich. It’s the lasting eﬀect of a childhood spent playing pick-up games with other kids in a small Minnesota town as their fathers toiled in the underground mines just a few miles away. Today, fans dressed in maroon and gold crowd the concourse at Mariucci Arena at every home game. From that vantage point, the banners celebrating the rich history of success for Gopher men’s hockey are just above eye-level, easily visible when looking out over the arena. The names of the players whose performances earned those banners echo in conversations throughout the building but, of all these greats, the banners recognize only one individual – No. 8 John Mayasich – the greatest Golden Gopher.

One Day in the Life of Kevin Kray, varsity pitcher, student teacher and muskie fisherman

RENAISSANCE Man

BY JOHN ROSENGREN 34 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

A typical day for Kevin Kray begins at 5:00 a.m. By 6:30, he has driven across the metro area from his parents’ home in Maple Grove, where he’s living to save money, to Eastview High School, where he’s student teaching. After school, he heads to the U for his own classes, from 4:307:30, then rushes to baseball practice, which lasts until 9:00 p.m. He sticks around to lift for half an hour—since his teammates do, he feels obligated to as well— then drives back to Maple Grove for dinner, often his parents’ leftovers. Around 10:30 p.m., he begins his homework. Finally, around 1:00 a.m., he collapses into bed. Until the alarm rings at 5:00 a.m., and he repeats the routine. That’s a day in the life of a varsity pitcher carrying 28 credits to complete his master’s degree in education this spring. Remarkably, Kray, playing his final year of eligibility, has a 3.8 GPA and has not allowed a hit in four and a third innings of relief work through the Gophers’s first nine games. He exhibits a maturity beyond his 23 years, able to manage his time and maintain a perspective belying his youth.

In his freshman year as a Gopher, the righthander appeared in eight games, winning two, and redshirted his sophomore year to work on studying the game, realizing he could no longer blow his mid-80s fastball by hitters the way he had in high school. Despite his success on the mound, Kray would rather be fishing. “That’s my true passion,” he said. Winter or summer, doesn’t matter, he grabs any chance to throw a line in the water. “I caught my first muskie when I was nine or ten years old,” he said. “I’ve been addicted ever since.” At 12, he got his boater’s license and spent summer days on the lake, fishing with a buddy. In 2011, the summer after his redshirt season, he won the Metro Muskie Tournament, and people started calling him to ask for fishing advice. So he started a business as a muskie guide (http://www.primetimemuskies.com), taking out anglers twice a week. It would have been more but he was also taking five days of summer classes. After last season, he bowed out of summer baseball

KRAY APPEARED IN 41 GAMES ENTERING HIS SENIOR SEASON WITH A 4-2 RECORD, EIGHT SAVES AND AN EARNED RUN AVERAGE OF 4.17.

On a windy February afternoon when he has a rare tournaments so he could fish. “I did my rehab on my arm day off from student teaching, Kevin fills his off time casts,” he said. “The coaches are well aware that fishing “He’s one of those guys with talking to a reporter in the Bierman Field Athletic is my greater passion.” you could drop off over Building. He’s a week or two overdue for a haircut, his He ended up catching the largest muskie of his life, a 53blond hair creeping out from under a Bass Pro Shop incher, on Lake Minnetonka. the Himalayan mountains cap and over his maroon Gophers sweatshirt. He Maybe it’s the patience inherent in fishermen that’s helpwith a parachute and a wears his beard scruffy. His eyes under the brim of his ing him take the long view of his current grind. Sometimes cap are clear blue. He reflects upon how unusual it is backpack of supplies who he crashes after dinner before he’s able to do his homework. for him to be where he is. would survive. He’s very Other times, when it seems he’s finally getting caught up, he For starters, he wanted to be a hockey player. He looks at his planner and feels like he’s going backward. “It’s self-sufficient.” lettered three years at Osseo High as a left wing and been hell,” he said, “but I’m willing to give up one year of my – PITCHING COACH TODD OAKES made it clear to his summer Legion coaches that life so I can get 50 years of summers off to be able to fish and hockey came first, skipping baseball practices to play enjoy what I’m doing.” AAA hockey games. But by junior year he realized his He has no illusions about playing professional baseball. chances of playing Division I athletics lay not in in hockey but baseball. “I never The thought of teaching physical education (his bachelor’s degree is in kinesiolknew I was good at it (baseball) until the U contacted me,” he said. “Baseball was ogy), coaching baseball (he will coach the Osseo Legion team this summer) and just something I did in the spring.” fishing satisfies him. Along with the married life.

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 35

As if he’s not busy enough, Kray is also planning a wedding. Well, sort of. Engaged to his high school sweetheart of the past eight years, Ariel Browne (Carlson School, ’13), and he have set a September 6 wedding date. Kray has done menu tastings and offered suggestions, but he has conceded the major planning to his fiancée. “I hear there is wedding planning going on,” he joked, “but she is very organized and understanding. I just told her, ‘Whatever you think is best.’” He sometimes barely has time to practice, let alone hire a wedding photographer. Todd Oakes, his pitching coach, described one evening when Kray ran onto the practice field two hours late, played catch with Oakes for 15 minutes, then ran off to move his car before it got ticketed or towed. Yet his performance has not suffered. “He’s one of those guys you could drop off over the Himalayan mountains with a parachute and a backpack of supplies who would survive,” Oakes said. “He’s very self-sufficient.” That may come from his mother, whom Kray calls his idol. While his father stayed home with their three children (Kevin is the oldest), Ann supported the family with her pay as a cost estimator at Honeywell, somehow scrimping enough to get by but never making the kids feel they were missing out. Kevin had a boat when he was 12, and each kid got a car to drive. “It’s mind blowing what she was able to do,” he said. Kray has been able to endure not

only the rigors of his schedule but the pressure of his position. Losses get pinned on pitchers, and none are worse than the one given up by a reliever who comes in with a lead, yet he has faced that with equanimity. Not that he isn’t competitive, but he is able to keep baseball in perspective. “It’s just a game,” he said. “It doesn’t define you as a person. I know at the end of the game my fiancée and family will love me no matter what. There’s no stress on the baseball field.” While that might sound like a stock response from some athletes, coming from Kray it’s sincere. He points to a friend with a malignant brain tumor going through chemotherapy and his fiancée whose father died of a heart attack last year. “That’s stress,” he said. He has tapped his maturity and perspective to help younger players. For instance, the previous weekend in Fort Myers, he pulled aside a freshman pitcher and told him, “You’ve got an overpowering fastball, but if that’s all you throw, it’s not going to look so fast anymore.” He suggested the younger pitcher mix in changeups and breaking balls, which is what Kray learned to do to become successful on the field, and to remember it’s only a game. “I’ve learned a lot from this program,” Kray said. “Coach Anderson always says they’re preparing us not just for this year but for the next 30 years.” That’s a lesson Kray has taken to heart.

John Rosengren is the author of The Fight of their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption. APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 37

where are they now

CINDY McCOLLUM Former Gopher swimming All-American Cindy McCollum is a supervisor for the Hennepin County public defenderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office.

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indy McCollum joined the University of Minnesota women’s swimming and diving team in 1976 as an unheralded walk-on from Minnetonka, Minn. Originally a backstroker, McCollum worked on her freestyle and eventually became a part of the Gopher’s 200-yard freestyle relay team. That team captured the Big Ten Championship her senior year, 1979-80, and McCollum was named an All-American (along with her three teammates). She and her relay teammates were among the

Q: You took an unconventional route to joining the Gopher women’s swimming and diving team – how did you end up in the pool? A: My family moved up here in 1973 when I was in high school. I went to Minnetonka where I swam and ran track. Jean (Freeman) had only been at the U for maybe three or four years. She actually was recruiting someone else from my high school team and I just sort of tagged along. So, I was not actively recruited. Then I wasn’t going to swim. I was more of a track runner. Someone I ran track with and swam with at Minnetonka found out I was at the U and told my RA, ‘Hey, get Cindy to swim practice.’ (The RA) knocked on my door and said ‘C’mon, we’re going to practice.’ I was a little too intimidated to say anything so I thought, ‘Well, I might as well try it.’ And you know, it just worked out. It was a great experience. Q: Talk a little bit about what it was like to be on the women’s swim team in the late 1970s. A: It was different. There was a big difference between men’s swimming and women’s swimming. The men would fly to Nebraska, we would take the bus. The men would have two people in a (hotel) room, and many years we had four in a room. The men would sometimes get breakfast and we would have donuts and Kool-Aid. Things got much better my junior and senior years. I remember we flew to a couple meets. And back then, really no one was on scholarships. A couple of people got grants, maybe for books and a little bit of money but, by my senior year, I got a scholarship and a couple other people got scholarships. So things were starting to turn around. By my senior year I think we had one or two people on the team, as incoming freshmen, who had almost full rides. That was a big deal. Q: That’s a lot of progress in just three years. A: Yeah, it did change a lot. By my senior year they were focused on getting us to meets and we had a travel squad, which was different from when I was a freshman or a sophomore. I think there was more money in the budget. We had breakfast and lunches. The focus was on us as athletes, which was a nice. There was just a little more recognition. Q: And the timing couldn’t have been better for you. Your senior season – 1979-80 – was your best season. A: Yeah, that was the year. That was my best season. Q: You guys won the 200 freestyle relay at the Big Ten Championship that year, right? A: We set pool records almost everywhere we went. We set a Big Ten record and we set a pool record at Big Tens. We were undefeated going into Nationals. (At Nationals) we swam against the American record-holders.

first women swimmers to earn that honor at Minnesota. After graduating in 1980 with a double major in English and Psychology, McCollum worked for a few years before attending law school, earning her J.D. in 1985. For nearly 30 years since, McCollum has put that law degree to use with the public defender’s office of Hennepin County, where she currently serves as a senior attorney. In addition to her day job, McCollum also teaches as an adjunct professor at both William-Mitchell College of Law and Hamline School of Law.

McCollum enjoyed an incredible senior season in 1979-80. She swam the lead leg of the 200 freestyle relay that won the Big Ten title and set a new conference record before finishing 14th at the AIAW national championships. McCollum also competed on the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relays that qualified for the national championships. She also scored in three individual events at the Big Ten championships.

I was always the start, because Jean worried about me jumping, which was a true fear. The second swimmer got out (of the pool after swimming) and she said, ‘Cindy, I’ve never had to swim in a wave before’ because we were always in the lead. I said ‘We’re swimming against the American record holders! I think she might beat me to the wall.’ But it was an exciting relay. We did well. Q: Did you only swim freestyle at the U? A: Mostly sprint free but also backstroke. I swam the 50, 100, 200 (yard) back. I really didn’t start swimming the relays until my junior year. In fact, it was one of my teammates who, at the end of sophomore year, said, ‘You know Cindy, you should work on your freestyle. You could get on that relay.’ She encouraged me. I mentioned it to one of the assistant coaches and he was like ‘No no no, stick with your backstroke.’ I remember being so mad about that and thinking ‘I’m going to show him. I can do freestyle.’ I started really working the freestyle sets a lot more and sort of lobbying to swim it. So I started out as a backstroker, but a lot of backstrokers can swim decent freestyle. Q: You had the privilege of swimming for the legendary Jean Freeman. What do you remember about her? A: Jean was a visionary. She really treated us like athletes. She taught us to think like athletes and trained us like athletes. I know a couple years before me, before Jean was there, (the team) wouldn’t even practice six days a week. They’d practice like three times a week. They would treat it like a club team. Jean knew how to train us. She was always at the forefront of a lot of those changes for how women were treated and respected as athletes. Jean treated everyone the same, whether you

came in as the superstar or you were a walk-on like me. She was amazing. Q: What do you do in your current position with the public defender’s office? A: I’m what’s called a senior attorney, which means I’m a supervisor. Right now, I run the division called the Conflicts Division, so it’s conflicts and complex crime. I and the lawyers I supervise handle cases that involve some kind of conflict or co-defendants. We tend to do a lot of homicides, burglaries, robberies, crimes that people do with their “friends.” I’ve been a supervisor in the public defender’s office since 1996. In the past I’ve done all three courts – misdemeanor, juvenile and felony – and I’ve supervised lawyers who did all three courts. Q: What’s your normal day, if there is such a thing? A: This week I had several sentencings where people pled guilty. One of my clients recently testified at a homicide trial. I have a hearing tomorrow afternoon, it’s called a Rasmussen, where the officer is supposed to come in and testify about why he pulled my client over. So I’ll have hearings that are pretty much pre-trial, sentencing, pleas or trials. Every day is a little different. Q: Do you feel like your athletic experience at the U prepared you for the life you’ve led since graduation? A: Being in competitive athletics really prepares you for working in advocacy because you sort of understand that mentality of hard work and discipline. I think sports prepares people well for a lot of professions. Swimming was the best thing that ever happened to me in undergrad.

interview by Jake Ricker

APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 39

BEHIND THE SCENES ATHLETIC TRAINER KATE TABER Kate Taber’s journey to becoming an athletic trainer at the University of Minnesota began with her love of sports. An athlete that dreamed of working in the health-care field, Taber pursued her degree in athletic training while playing soccer at the University of Iowa. After two seasons on the pitch, injuries forced her to the sidelines, which is where she now shines as the athletic trainer for the Gopher women’s basketball team. Q: When did you decide that you wanted to pursue a career in athletic training? A: I played a lot of sports growing up and I always wanted to go into the health care field. I found out in high school that athletic training was the best mix of solely working with the athlete population and still being in the health care field. So, I initially got interested in high school and then pursued it as a major in college. Q: Was there a specific moment in which you knew you wanted to be an athletic trainer? A: I don’t think that it really hit me until I was a freshman in college. I was at a football game and I saw the athletic trainers on the sideline helping a player that had a pretty bad injury, and that was when I realized this was what I wanted to do. To me, it wasn’t gruesome, it wasn’t freaky and I didn’t turn away. I really wanted to be down there helping and I wanted to know what was going on from the beginning to the end. Q: You played soccer at the University of Iowa. What was it like balancing being a Division I student-athlete and being an athletic training student? A: I only played soccer my first two years of college. I actually had to stop playing for medical reasons, so it kind of fit into what I wanted to do. I delayed the start of the program to finish out my second year of soccer, so there wasn’t that much of a balancing act that I had to do. Q: Did you have to rehab your own injury? A: It really wasn’t a rehab-able injury. It was a combination of concussions and an electrolyte imbalance. My body couldn’t absorb electrolytes very well, so I got a lot of dizzy and fainting spells. I would be in the middle of a game doing just fine and then all of a sudden I would drop. So, obviously it wasn’t safe for me to keep playing, which was frustrating. But, I think it makes my job now a lot easier as far as seeing the frustration that goes along with an injury that we 40 / SKI-U-MAH / APRIL 2014

may not know a lot of information about and trying to help our athletes through that. Now I can say, “Look, I’ve been there. We know so much more now than when I was in that position.” Q: Did being in the athletic training program ease the transition out of being a student-athlete? A: Yes, definitely. It was hard being in the training room with my soccer teammates, because I just wanted to be out there with them. But, it definitely put my mind at ease knowing that I was still a part of it. I was just helping out on the other end and hoping that I could help someone in my place continue with their career instead of having to end it like I did. Q: Do you think it makes your job easier having been a student-athlete yourself? A: Definitely. I think I understand the demands that school is putting on the student-athletes. Their personal life, their sport, their coaches and athletic trainers, etc., are all very demanding. I think it’s easier for my athletes to know that I’ve been in their shoes and know what they are going through. I think to some degree they like that, because they know that I’m not trying to ask something of them that can’t be done. At the same time, I can relate to them when they are struggling to find their balance. Then, I can come up with some options for them that are more realistic. Q: Talk about your journey to Minnesota? A: When I graduated college, I moved back to Chicago and worked a year at a high school and a physical therapy clinic. About a week before my first day on the job, my now-husband, Brett, proposed to me. At the time, he lived in Minnesota, so from then on I was trying to find a job there. I thought about going back to grad school a lot, and thought this was a good opportunity. I ended up getting a graduate assistant position working with the Gopher baseball team for two years. Once I graduated, my boss, Moira Novak, decided to step away from

The Taber File Started career as a graduate assistant athletic trainer in 2009. Hired full-time in 2011 as the athletic trainer for women’s basketball. Hometown: Wheaton, Illinois Alma Mater: Iowa, 2008 (B.S. in Athletic Training) Minnesota, 2011 (M.S. in Applied Kinesiology) Family: Husband: Brett

working with the women’s basketball team and needed someone to fill her spot. I had done a lot of coverage with the women’s basketball team the final year she was with them and got to know the coaches and the players, and basketball was definitely a sport that I wanted to work with, so it fit perfectly into my plans to stay in Minnesota.” Q: Describe what a typical day looks like for you? A: I wake up in the morning and I may or may not already have numerous text messages from coaches or anyone assisting in the student-athletes’ care. When I arrive at work, I answer emails and spend a few hours working on paperwork and injury documentation. I make sure the coaches are aware of any issues that may come up with athletes - and all of this happens before 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning. The girls have a rigid class schedule, so they don’t get into my oﬃce until an hour or an hour and a half before practice. These few hours are our most hectic hours as we look to get everyone taped, rehabbed, and treated. If players are healthy, practice time is usually my down-time where I can sit and enjoy the practice while also learning more about the sport. If we do have an injury such as an ACL rehab, then I would be working with that rehab process during practice. I like to keep the athletes as involved with practice as possible, so even if they can’t participate in a drill, I still look to keep them busy with less intense activities. I believe this really helps them with their recovery process. After practice is when we finish up the

treatments for the day. We’ll set up the ice tubs to get their legs feeling fresh and ready to go for the next day. My evening finishes up with finalizing paperwork and then heading home. The days can get a little bit longer too depending on if the student-athletes have doctor’s appointments before or after practice. Q: What are some of the most rewarding aspects of your job? A: The most rewarding part of my job is seeing an athlete who has been injured, especially a severe injury, and is able to come back and play. I don’t care about getting thanks or appreciation, just so long as they can get out on the court and get back to where they were physically before the injury. It makes all of the long days and diﬃcult rehab activities worth it. I enjoy seeing them healthy and playing in the sport that they love. Q: What are some of the biggest diﬃculties you face in your job? A: It feels as though there are never enough hours in the day. If the student-athletes aren’t in practice, they’re studying, working with tutors, going to class or doing treatments with me. If an athlete gets hurt in practice and then has class and studying afterwards, it’s hard to figure out how to get them the correct treatment without sacrificing the rest of their schedule. They are students first, so we often need to find a way to balance their schedules so that they can play and be healthy, while also going to class and staying on track to graduate.

Q: Do people have a misconception of what you do for a career? A: Yes, when people ask me what I do for a living I tell them that I do athletic training at the university. About 90 percent of the time, their immediate reaction is to assume that I work out all of the time and that I get the players in shape and organize their nutrition. So, I’ve ended up changing my answer by saying that I work in sports medicine. This seems to clarify the issue, but I hope down the road we can help people understand what exactly athletic trainers do. Q: You’ve dealt with multiple injuries during your career. Is there one that sticks out in your mind? A: In my first year working with the baseball team, our starting catcher, who had great professional prospects, ended up having to have bilateral hip surgery. It had the potential to take him out for most of the year. The hardest part was seeing how much the injury took out of him. It was the most devastating injury that I have seen, but perhaps one of the most rewarding injuries I’ve worked with because he came back better than ever. He had a great senior season and was eventually drafted by the Twins. He’s on his way up the ranks and it’s shown me how injuries don’t have to always end an athletic career. Q: What do you like to do during your free time? A: I love playing sports whenever I get the chance. I also love going on trips with my husband and take any opportunity I can get to slow down for a little while. interview by Sarah Turcotte APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 41

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THE PUCK IS LIVE by George Barany

ACROSS 1 Benefactor of Cowles Softball Stadium at 18-Across, and her wise-sounding namesakes 6 Break in the action 10 Muscle feeling for each of the 3-Down after double-overtime on March 16, 2013 14 Source of some food poisoning 15 Food that became kosher in 1998 16 What fans' spirits do at 3-Down hockey games 17 Online news community and discussion board 18 Word spelled out in 3-Down's Rouser 20 Tripeptide (abbr.), the discovery and synthesis of which led to bitter rivals Schally and Guillemin sharing the 1977 Nobel Prize in Medicine 21 Some like it hot, others iced 23 ___ good example 24 How the starters are introduced before each 3-Down hockey game 27 "Sophie's Choice" narrator 31 Bar or bat mitzvah, e.g. 32 Be a snob 34 Reaction to 3-Down's amazing accomplishment 36 1963 movie role for Shirley 37 Go bad 38 Prefix with centric or thermal 39 What Coach Brad Frost expects his players to do, with respect to their opponents 42 Literary monogram 43 Common street or tree 44 High time 45 Pallid 47 It has its ups and downs 50 Popular shirt label 51 Napa neighbor 52 Many Dolphins' fans 56 Words before expert or fool 58 Eavesdropper in the news: Abbr. 59 Hawaiian acacia tree 60 State whose team lost to 3-Down seven times during the streak, including the 2011/12 national championship 64 Portable players for 3-Down players 66 Fortuneteller's opening or psychiatrist's response 67 "Vogue" rival 68 Some Art Deco works 69 Goalies mind these 70 Way out 71 "Are you ___ for some great hockey" DOWN 1 Small brawl 2 Squirrel's stash 3 Hockey team with 5-Down 60-Down streak, from 2/18/2012 to 11/16/2013 4 Two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning 5 Number of games of longest 60-Down streak in hockey (almost triple the previous record) 6 Miller's salesman Willy 7 Sch. with a campus in Providence

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Eye piece Figure in a flag flown at the Texas Bowl Lambaste Bill's partner in love ___ trick This passed Congress the same year as Title IX, but was never ratified: Abbr. Singer James or Jones Hiring policy at the U Introduction to chemistry? "Stuck song syndrome," more informally 3-Down rival that bracketed the 5-Down 60-Down streak Title IX made simple: What's good for the gander is good for the ___ On a recurring basis "Let's get the show on the road!" Convex moldings Conversation starter

36 Langston Hughes poem with the line "They send me to eat in the kitchen" 40 Like many who play in rinks rather than on ponds 41 Prestigious award, for which all three 2012/13 finalists were 3-Down 46 ___-disant (self-styled): Fr. 48 Alto, tenor, and bass, e.g. 49 Bullets, etc. 50 ___ in "ice" 53 Word before tube or circle 54 Having bumps 55 Hardly respectful 57 Capital on a fjord 60 See 3- 5-, and 28-Down 61 Expert ending? 62 Match unit at the Baseline Center 63 World workers grp. 65 ___-game warm ups

answers on page 27 APRIL 2014 / SKI-U-MAH / 43

FASTEST MAN IN THE BIG TEN DEREK TOOMEY PREPARES FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL OF THE 50 FREESTYLE AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS. TOOMEY TIED THE BIG TEN RECORD WITH A TIME OF 19.05. PHOTO TAKEN ON FEBRUARY 27, 2014 AT MICHIGAN’S CANHAM NATATORIUM. PHOTO BY WALT MIDDLETON