Gophers track and field athlete charged with raping woman in her campus apartment

Editor’s note: Kevin Nedrick was acquitted of these charges at a 2021 trial. Read the update here.

A University of Minnesota student-athlete was charged Tuesday with raping a woman in her campus apartment during a late-night gathering.

Kevin Nedrick, 21, a member of the track and field team, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with allegations that the shot-putter overpowered the woman Saturday and assaulted her.

Nedrick was arrested in the hall outside the apartment, appeared in court Wednesday and remained jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail. A message was left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

According to a statement from the university, Nedrick is suspended from team activity, and “federal and state laws that govern private student information prevent the University from sharing further details at this time.”

According to the criminal complaint:

Campus police were called about 1:15 a.m. about a sexual assault in the apartment, where the woman told officers that she was there celebrating her roommate’s 21st birthday with friends the previous night.

Nedrick got on top of her as she said, “I don’t want to do this,” the complaint read. She estimated his weight at 300 pounds and suspected he “had a lot to drink.”

The alleged assault continued until he let her check on her ailing roommate.

A building security agent came into the apartment, and the woman told her what happened.

Upon Nedrick’s arrest, physical evidence was collected from his mouth and hands.

The woman underwent a sexual assault examination at a hospital, where she “provided a consistent account” to the nurse, the charging document read.

Nedrick attended high school in Jamaica before competing at Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kan. He later transferred to the University of Minnesota.