Minnesota prep hockey fans who enjoy watching metro-area programs mix it up with their outstate counterparts — a staple of the state tournament's allure — won't have to wait until March.
The four-team "North-South Classic," with Eden Prairie, Benilde-St. Margaret's, Brainerd and Hermantown, will be held Dec. 8-9 at Eden Prairie. The Friday doubleheader will start with Benilde-St. Margaret's vs. Brainerd at 6 p.m. followed by Eden Prairie vs. Hermantown at 8 p.m.
On Saturday afternoon, Eden Prairie will play Brainerd at 12:15 p.m. and Benilde-St. Margaret's will meet Hermantown at 2:30 p.m.
Brainerd will host the tournament in December 2018.
U safety Travis to play in Senior Bowl
The Gophers will be represented at Saturday's Senior Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.
Safety Damarius Travis was a midweek roster addition to the Senior Bowl's South team. Travis made 13 of his 23 career starts last fall as a senior in the Gophers' 21st-ranked defense. The 6-2, 215-pound safety finished his final year with a career-best mark in tackles (83), including four for loss, and two interceptions.
Travis will be the fifth ex-Gophers player to take part in the Senior Bowl in the past four years, joining KJ Maye, Eric Murray, David Cobb and Ra'Shede Hageman.
Etc.
• Gophers sophomore Kiley Sabin, a shot putter from Slinger, Wis., was named the Big Ten women's indoor field athlete of the week. She threw the shot a program record 56 feet, 4 inches in a dual meet vs. Wisconsin. Sabin broke previous record — 54-4¾ set in 1999 by Aubrey Schmitt — three times in the meet.
