Days before the opening of training camp, the Lynx hired assistant coach Elaine Powell and video coordinator Michael Wexler, Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve announced Wednesday.

Most recently an assistant coach at Georgia Southern, Powell also has head coaching experience at Langston University and stints as an assistant at Grambling State, Ohio University and Alabama A&M.

Drafted out of LSU, Powell played 11 seasons in the WNBA and was a part of three WNBA title teams in Detroit, where she played with current Lynx associate head coach Katie Smith and for Reeve, a Detroit Shock assistant on two of those title teams.

Powell replaces Kristin Haynie, who left her position last week to become head coach at Central Michigan University.

A Plymouth native, Wexler most recently served as a video associate for the Houston Rockets, where he was also an assistant to the Rockets' head of player personnel.

KENT YOUNGBLOOD

U golfers make regional

Gophers freshmen Isabella McCauley and Luisamariana Mesones have been chosen to compete in an NCAA women's golf regional championship May 8-10 in Westfield, Ind. It will mark the first time in nine years a Gophers player has reached regional play.

McCauley, a Simley graduate, is a Big Ten Conference second-team selection with a second-place finish at the conference tournament. Mesones, of Peru, is a two-time Big Ten player of the week and has four top-10 finishes this season.

Etc.

  • The Vikings hired Mike Parson as director of equipment services, replacing their longtime equipment manager Dennis Ryan, who retired recently after more than 40 years in the job. Parson, who was with the Texans from 2008 to 2020, is only the third head equipment manager in franchise history.
  • Brady Counsell homered, doubled and drove in four runs to lead the Gophers baseball team (11-28) past St. Thomas 9-4 at Siebert Field. Dylan O'Connell tripled and drove in a run for the Tommies (5-24).