Minnesota Scene: Gophers' Ellenson to transfer to Marquette

Former Gophers basketball player and track and field star Wally Ellenson will transfer to Marquette this fall. His mother, Holly, tweeted the news on Wednesday afternoon.

"It is official Wally is part of the Marquette Basketball Family," she wrote, along with a picture of her son signing his letter of intent.

Ellenson will continue his dual-sport campaign with the Golden Eagles, high jumping and joining the roster of first-year basketball coach Steve Wojciechowski.

Ellenson, originally recruited by former Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith, played at Minnesota for two years — averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 6.9 minutes a game last season — before opting to leave the team in February.

The 6-6 junior is a two-time first-team All America high jumper. Last month he was the national runner-up in the high jump at the NCAA Division I championships in Eugene, Ore.

AMELIA RAYNO

The Wild signed veteran minor league forward Joel Rechlicz to a two-way contract Wednesday. Rechlicz, 27, had one goal and 87 penalty minutes in 25 games with the Hershey Bears of the AHL last season.

Plagued by recent injuries, the St. Paul Saints added three players to their roster on Wednesday. They traded with the Southern Illinois Miners for infielder Jared McDonald for a player to be named later and signed two free agents, first baseman Keith Brachold and pitcher Mackenzie King, who played with them briefly last season.

In other moves, the Saints placed pitcher Robert Cole on the disabled list (side) and released pitcher Cole Nelson (2-4, 4.95).

• The Saints resumed Wednesday night's game with Fargo-Moorhead — suspended with two outs in the bottom of the ninth because of a power failure — before their regularly scheduled game on Thursday and the score stayed the same. The RedHawks won 10-5.

• Only 500 spots remain for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 5. The field is capped at 12,200. Registration details are available at tcmevents.org.

• Three Minnesotans were named to the under-18 U.S. hockey team which will compete in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup from Aug. 11-16 in Breclav, Czech Republic, Piestany, Slovakia. They are forwards Brock Boeser of Burnsville and Nicholas Swaney of Lakeville, and defenseman Jacob Olson of Woodbury. Also on the team is St. Thomas Academy forward Thomas Novak, who lives in River Falls, Wis.

• Gideon Louw, a two-time Olympian for South Africa, was named a Gophers' assistant swimming coach. He was ninth in the 50-meter freestyle in the 2012 London Olympics and also swam on the fifth-place 400 freestyle relay.