Noora Raty set a single-season school record and three Gophers scored as the No. 4 U women's hockey team earned a 3-0 victory over Bemidji State on Saturday at Ridder Arena. Raty collected her ninth shutout of the season, while Sarah Erickson, Anne Schleper and Kelly Terry scored en route to the Gophers' 22nd victory of the season.
Erickson got the Gophers on the board when she scored on a breakaway at 6:22 in the first. Amanda Kessel had the puck along the boards and passed it to Erickson, who scored her 16th goal of the season.
Blankenship smashes school record Gophers senior Ben Blankenship broke the U record in the 3,000-meter run at the Washington Husky Classic in Seattle. He clocked an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 7 minutes, 52.52 seconds, bettering Chris Rombough's previous record of 7:54.57 from 2010. Hassan Mead, returning to competition after missing over 15 months because of health issues, ran the 3,000 in 8:07.47.
Ben Peterson highlighted the Gophers' performance at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, winning the title in the pole vault with a height of 17 feet, 9 inches.
Etc. • The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Swarm 12-10 at Blue Cross Arena.
• The Gophers softball team opened the 2011 season on with a 15-7 loss to New Mexico State at the Hotel Encanto Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M. The Gophers played Colorado State later Saturday.
• The Gophers women's gymnastics team earned its best score of the 2011 season with a 196.125 at the Best of Minnesota Meet.
• The Gophers men's golf team lost its first consolation match vs. Michigan but salvaged a win against Purdue to conclude the Big Ten Match Play Championship in seventh place.
