Gopher swimmers medal at Grand Prix

Last update: November 15, 2008 - 8:51 PM

Gopher Jillian Tyler took home gold in front of a home crowd Friday in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:01.17 at the Aquatic Center in the first day of the Minnesota Grand Prix.

American record-holder Mary Descenza earned double gold in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, while Olympian Ryan Lochte took home a gold and silver medal.

Descenza won the 200 free in 1:46.69. Athens Bulldog teammate Allison Schmitt came in at 1:47.31 for silver, and Gopher Yuen Kobayashi took third in 1:49.21.

Olympian and world record-holder Lochte swam to an easy victory in the men's 200 IM with a time of 1:45.59. Ian Clark finished at 1:49.19 for second, and Brian Kiel of Rochester, Minn., finished third in 1:50.12.

Lochte led the men's 100 breaststroke until the final turn when Matthew Lowe surged ahead to win at 54.15 followed by Lochte with a time of 55.04. Gopher Colin Lee-To won third with a time of 55.09.

Olympian Chloe Sutton picked up her first gold medal of the meet with a time of 9:39.26 in the 1,000 free. Fellow open-water veteran Kirsten Groome swam to a silver medal in 9:43.09, and Gopher Ashley Steenvoorden took third in 9:46.74.

MSU advances to soccer semifinals

Sophomore forward Laura Leber scored three goals as the No. 16 Minnesota State Mankato women's soccer team defeated Colorado School of the Mines 3-1 in the first round of the Division II NCAA tournament in Denver. Leber fell one goal short of tying the NCAA Division II record for goals in a match.

The Mavericks (16-3-2 overall, 10-2-1 final NSIC) advance to the semifinals of the Central Region. MSU will battle No. 5 Metro State on Sunday in Denver.

Gophers volleyball team rallies

Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer each had 16 kills to help the Gophers volleyball team rally for a 18-25, 25-18, 25-27,3 1-29, 19-17 victory over Wisconsin in Madison, Wis.

Kyla Roehrig added 10 kills for the No. 15 Gophers (21-6, 11-4 Big Ten). Christine Tan had 23 digs and Dieter had 21 digs for the Gophers. Rachel Hartmann contributed 52 assists and nine digs.

Brittany Dolgner led the Badgers (16-11, 6-9) with 27 kills. "One play here or there and that's our match," Badgers coach Pete Waite said.

D-III volleyball

St. Benedict advanced to the NCAA Division III regional final, beating Wisconsin-Eau Claire 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 28-26 at St. Thomas.

Emma Jaynes had 15 kills and 25 digs for St. Benedict (28-6), which advances to the regional final against fellow MIAC school Concordia (Moorhead) today. The Cobbers defeated Wisconsin-La Crosse 25-22, 25-16, 25-18.

The winner of the regional final advances to the national semifinals next weekend.

Etc.

• Former WWE star and NCAA wrestling champion Brock Lesnar will get a shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight title tonight in Las Vegas. The fight against current champ Randy Couture will be televised via Pay-Per-View.

• Jasmine Brown (Murrieta, Calif.), Janell Campbell (Germantown, Wis.), and Shannon Golich (Aurora, Ill.) have signed letters of intent to join the Gophers women's gymnastics program beginning next season.

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