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AUG. 11: 6 from U featured in Playboy's 'Girls of the Big 10'

Austin Voltin, third from left

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: September 23, 2008 - 8:13 AM

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Playboy magazine's October issue features women from Big Ten schools, including six from the University of Minnesota, and it hits newsstands Friday.

Listed in a Playboy news release as representing the U in the "Girls of the Big 10" nude pictorial are: Chelsie Rae, Abby Leigh, Austin Thompson, Lisa Marie, Missy Tarrington and Chloe Allen. A Playboy spokeswoman said that the six chose "published names" but confirmed that they are current students or were students when the pictorial was shot last fall.

"I'm pretty reserved, and most people wouldn't expect me to do this," said Austin Voltin, a 22-year-old U senior and former Gophers cheerleader who chose "Austin Thompson" as her magazine name.

Voltin, a Blaine High School graduate who is studying nutrition and Spanish, said there was "initial shock" when her parents learned that their daughter would soon be in Playboy, but "anything that makes me happy, makes them happy."

Tarrington, who preferred to keep her real last name to herself, said being in Playboy "was always in the back of my mind," and when she saw the notice for the audition, I thought, "Wow, I feel like this is something I could do."

The 24-year-old Minnetonka native graduated from the U last spring after attending Hopkins High School, where she was a varsity softball pitcher.

She said she was nervous telling her father about being in Playboy, but "I hope that it will open some doors" as she tries to advance her modeling career and potentially move into the entertainment television industry. "But either way, I'm happy I did it."

For the past 32 years, college pictorials have been one of the most talked-about and popular features in the iconic men's magazine.

A total of 48 women from the Big Ten's 11 campuses are featured. Playboy photographers auditioned hundreds of women for the magazine.

In celebration of the issue, Playboy is embarking on a two-week tour of Big 10 schools hosting parties and autograph sessions with several of the women featured. Minnesota is not on the itinerary.

The tour starts Friday at Iowa and continues to Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana and Purdue.

Oddly enough, the on the cover of the issue is Kelly Carrington of the University of Florida. Carrington won the cover spot, despite not being from the Big Ten, because she is Playboy's "Miss October" playmate.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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