The Gophers men's swimming and diving team opened the Big Ten Championships Wednesday in their pool by finishing in second place in the 200-yard medley relay. Minnesota's 800 freestyle relay was fifth in the second event of the meet.

The medley relay's time of 1 minute, 24:25 seconds was a program record and an NCAA meet qualifying time.

The four-day event continues Thursday with preliminaries at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.

Gophers defensive back to transfer

Ken Handy-Holly, a defensive back who played in eight games for the Gophers as a true freshman in 2017, was given his release from the program, a school spokesman confirmed. The Jackson, Ala., native, intends to transfer closer to home, Gopher Illustrated reported.

He had 12 tackles and forced a fumble and recovered another last season.

Randy Johnson

X Games coming back

The X Games, with skateboarding, biking and motocross events, will return July 19-22 to U.S. Bank Stadium after being held there last summer.

Skateboard and BMX Vert competitions will be free to the public the first day as will X Fest, beginning at 6 p.m. General admission tickets start at $20 per day, three-day passes at $50. They will go on sale Thursday.

U weight thrower honored

Senior Kaitlyn Long was named the Big Ten field athlete of the week after she broke her own program record in the weight throw at the Parents Day Invite last Saturday.

The senior from Cottage Grove, Wis., threw 75 feet, 11 inches — the longest weight throw in conference history.