Gopher wrestling coach J Robinson and his three longtime assistants returned eight all-Americans to the 10-man defending NCAA championship team for this season. They were heavy favorites to repeat their title, but plenty of big preseason favorites fold under the pressure of expectations. Robinson’s demanding workouts and tough personal presence made sure that didn’t happen, however. He also took advantage of the one moment when the team wrestled poorly, the early season Midlands Tournament, to drive home his message about hard work. "It’s almost like you need something to shake you up," Robinson says. "It helps you clear your head and get your priorities straight. . . . When you’re at the top, you have a tendency to believe that you don’t need to do that little bit more that got you to the top in the first place. You forget there are a lot of hungry people below you."

In some ways, the 2001–02 team outdid last year’s, winning every dual meet, setting a national dual-meet attendance record, taking the Big Ten title by a wide margin over Iowa while winning half of the individual titles, and again qualifying all 10 wrestlers for the 2002 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The Gophers won the NCAA team title again, led by three juniors: Jared Lawrence of Sandpoint, Idaho, who won the 149-pound division; 157-pound champion Luke Becker of Cambridge, Minnesota; and Ryan Lewis of Vernal, Utah, who was second at 133 pounds. This year marks the first time in Gopher history two wrestlers have won national titles, while having three finalists equals the best showing ever. The Gophers return five all-Americans in Lawrence, Becker, Lewis, 184-pound sophomore Damion Hahn of Lakewood, New Jersey, and sophomore heavyweight Garrett Lowney of Freedom, Wisconsin. The team’s three departing seniors have seven all-American citations among them. With nine-year head assistant coach Marty Morgan and seven-year assistants Joe Russell and Mark Schwab, the Gophers have

The Gopher men’s hockey team celebrated after winning the NCAA title, the program’s fourth, but the first since 1979. Photo by Jerry Lee

an experienced staff to develop replacements in their search for some way to top another record year.

Men’s Hockey
Although ranked among the nation’s best teams all winter, it wasn’t until March that the excitement really began to build around the Gopher men’s hockey team. In April the Gophers won their fourth NCAA title, their first since 1979. Solid late-season performances heralded things to come. The Gophers reached the 2002 WCHA Final Five championship game to earn a first-round 2002 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship tournament bye. They got to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1995 and the finals for the first time since 1989, when they lost to Harvard in overtime. This year they beat Maine 4–3 in overtime.

Steady and sometimes spectacular goaltending by four-year starter Adam Hauser of Bovey, Minnesota, backed up the stellar play of senior Jordan Leopold, a defender from Golden Valley, Minnesota, who won the Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey’s best player and sportsman. Senior all-American John Pohl of Red Wing, Minnesota, and junior Jeff Taffe, of Hastings, Minnesota, led one of the country’s best offenses. Sophomore Grant Potulny of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was the offensive hero of the Frozen Four, however. He scored twice against Michigan in the semifinal and put in the game-winner against Maine.

"It’s an unbelievable feeling," third-year head coach Don Lucia said after the game. "This is for all of those players since 1979 who’ve worked so hard and our fans who have been with us all these years. I’m so proud of our players. Their dream was to hang a banner and they hung the big one tonight."

Women’s Hockey
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, a chance to see what it was like to be the underdog for a change. But a pair of standout young goalies, an offensive star who switched to defense, and a team that wouldn’t quit made the Gopher women’s hockey team almost as big a surprise as their basketball counterparts.

Gopher women’s hockey coach Laura Halldorson gave her surprising squad warm-up instructions before a recent game. Photo by Eric Miller

They overpowered defending national champion and heavy favorite Minnesota-Duluth for the WCHA title, ran off a record 24 consecutive games without a loss, and held the top spot in national polls from January into March. They finished 28–4–6, tied for third in the nation.

Junior Ronda Curtain of Roseville, Minnesota, one of the team’s most prolific scorers, agreed to switch to defense at the start of the season. She ended up leading the league in scoring with 11 goals and 33 assists and earning WCHA Player of the Year and first-team all-American honors. Laura Halldorson, named the American Hockey Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the second time in her five years at Minnesota, also got terrific play from frosh goalies Jody Horak of Blaine, Minnesota, who earned first-team all-conference honors, and Brenda Reinen of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, who was named to the WCHA all-tournament team. "We’re young, but we’re very mature," Halldorson explained before her team went to the four-team NCAA tournament. "We had no ego problems, never got complacent, and were mentally strong all year. We just have a great blend of personalities. I can’t explain team chemistry, but we have it."

Gymnastics
The women’s gymnastics team made a return trip to the 12-team NCAA meet this year after narrowly missing last year. Senior MaryAnne Kelley of Barrington, Illinois, capped her career by being named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. Kelley holds school records for all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise. Co–head coaches Jim and Meg Stephenson were named Big Ten Coaches of the Year. During vault competition at the UCLA Invitational on March 3, both senior Courtney Norman of Minneapolis and freshman Carolyn Yernberg of Blaine, Minnesota, scored perfect 10s, the only ones awarded in school history.

The men’s team reached the NCAA’s 12-team preliminary round, while junior Clay Strother of Jasper, Texas, won the national titles for pommel horse and floor exercise, giving him four NCAA titles

Junior Clay Strother is a four-time NCAA event champion, winning two each in the floor exercise and the pommel horse. Photo by Michelle King

in the past two years. Guillermo Alvarez of Denver, Colorado, was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was an all-American.

Women’s Basketball
The remarkable one-year turnaround (from 8–20, 1–15 in the Big Ten, to 22–8, 11–5 Big Ten) earned the Gophers several awards: Big Ten Player of the Year for Lindsay Whalen, a sophomore from Hutchinson, Minnesota; Big Ten Freshman of the Year for Janelle McCarville of Stevens Point, Wisconsin; and both Big Ten and Associated Press coach of the year honors for Brenda Oldfield. Although Oldfield has moved on to the University of Maryland, the Gophers’ seven main players return. The new coach will also regain two 2000–01 starters who were out with knee surgery and add two Minnesota high-school all-stars. A search for a new coach was under way at press time.

Quotebook
"Going into the last hiring it was like, we’ll take whoever we can take. This time, there are expectations—not only from us but from the community and the state in general." —Gopher women’s basketball star Lindsay Whalen, this season’s Big Ten Player of the Year, commenting on the search for a replacement for Brenda Oldfield, who coached the Gophers to one of their finest seasons but left after one season to take a job at the University of Maryland.

Indoor Track and Field
Sophomore Tahesia Harrigan of Tortola, Virgin Islands, took second in the 60-meter dash at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, equaling Minnesota’s best indoor placing ever and resetting her own school record.

The men’s team was on the verge of winning the Big Ten indoor title when the meet was canceled after the death of Penn State pole vaulter Kevin Dare. The Gophers showed off their depth two weeks later, however, by earning eight all-America citations in the two relay events at the NCAA meet.

Swimming and Diving
The men’s team earned its second Big Ten title in a row, then finished eighth in the NCAA meet for a third consecutive

Big Ten Player of the Year Lindsay Whalen, a sophomore, got a pat on the back from former head coach Brenda Oldfield on one of the rare occasions Whalen went to the bench. Photo by Eric Miller

top-10 finish. First-team individual all-American honors went to junior Jeff Hackler of Alpharetta, Georgia (third in the 100-yard breaststroke; fifth, 200-yard breaststroke), junior Todd Smolinski of St. John, Indiana (fifth, 100-yard backstroke), sophomore Justin Mortimer of Milton, Massachusetts (fifth, 500-yard freestyle; third, 1,650-yard freestyle), and freshman Terry Silkatis of Skokie, Illinois (seventh, 200-yard freestyle).

On the women’s team, junior Keri Hehn of Fargo, North Dakota, was an all-American, finishing eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Academics
While accomplishments on the field attract the most attention, the University of Minnesota also honors student athletes for excellence in the classroom.

The top five women’s and men’s student athletes for 2001–02 are (all seniors unless noted):
o Catie Christensen, Columbus, Ohio; gymnastics, kinesiology major
o Michaela Havelkova, junior, Liberec, Czech Republic; tennis, international business
o Shelley Miller, Brookfield, Wisconsin; rowing, finance
o Andrea Rose, North Vancouver, British Columbia; tennis, biology and neuroscience
o Karyn Stordahl, junior, Owatonna, Minnesota; golf, marketing
o Justin Conner, Dallas; gymnastics, finance
o Harsh Mankad, junior, Mumbai, India; tennis, economics
o Michael Melrose, junior, Eau Claire, Wisconsin; swimming and diving, management information systems
o Andrew Tank, Des Moines, Iowa; golf, accounting and finance
o C.J. Woodrow, junior, Plymouth, Minnesota; baseball, finance

The Outstanding Achievement Award for excellence in leadership, academics, volunteerism, and athletics went to:
o Lindsey Berg, Honolulu; marketing major and three-time all–Big Ten volleyball setter
o Owen Elzen, Eyota, Minnesota; health and wellness major and two-time all-American wrestler

Team Community Service Awards went to:
o Men’s basketball
o Women’s track and field/cross-country