Front row from left to right: Colleen Powers (Softball)and Kim Hanlon (Women’s Hockey). Back row from left to right: Aaron Buzard (Men’s Track), Mary Ann Weinzierl (Rowing), Kelly Roysland (Women’s Basketball), Leslie Knight (Women’s Basketball),and Luke Silovich (Men’s Track) all volunteered on Tuesday, August 22nd at Anna’s Bananas Childcare in Farmington, MN. The student-athletes read stories to the children, visited with them over a picnic lunch, and then played Red Rover.

Katie Meyer (Softball), Dagney Willey (Women’s Hockey), Mary Ann Weinzierl (Rowing), Luke Silovich (Men’s Track), Mike Linnemann (Men’s Track), Lisa Berg (Soccer), Kaitlin Neary (Soccer), Elise Bjerkenas (Soccer), Cindy Pavlowski (Academic Counselor) and Anissa Lightner (Life Skills) all volunteered at Camp Jornada in Rochester, MN on Wednesday, August 16th. Camp Jornada Foundation's mission is to provide free camp programs for children faced with cancer and a year-round support network for these children and their families. The theme of this year’s camp was sports related.

The Women’s Soccer team has been focusing on two-a-day practices but is also making time for their personal development. The team scheduled one of their personal development programs (PDP) on Tuesday, August 15th after they finished practice for the day. S.N.A.P. which stands for Student Network for Abuse Prevention presented an interactive program on alcohol education. S.N.A.P. is an extension of Boynton Health Services and uses peer educators to provide accurate information and dispel myths related to alcohol use and abuse.

Liz Alabi (Women’s Track), Mike Linnemann (Men’s Track) and Kaitlin Neary (Soccer) visited Union Gospel Mission Child Care Center in St. Paul on Friday, August 4th. The children had been focusing on perseverance as the topic for the week. Liz, Mike, and Kaitlin spoke on the importance of meeting challenges head on and doing what was necessary to persevere. They each shared personal stories from their lives and how they were able to overcome struggles.

June 22-24th, 2006
Student-athletes from Football, Men’s Gymnastics, Men’s Track, Women’s Hockey, Wrestling, Men’s Hockey, Women’s Track, Baseball, and Women’s Soccer took time on June 22nd -24th to visit Olympic Town and meet some of the Special Olympic Athletes.
http://www.specialolympicsminnesota.org/

_rightLadia Albertson-Junkans (Women’s Track & Cross Country) and Ryan Malmin ( Men’s Track & Cross Country) volunteered at Olson Elementary on Thursday, June 8th . These student-athletes read to four classes of 2nd graders as a summer kick-off event on the last of school.

17th Annual Scholar Athlete Awards Banquet

_leftThe University of Minnesota McNamara Academic Center has announced its Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2005-06 season. Over 370 scholar athletes were recognized on Monday, April 17th at the 17th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet tonight at the McNamara Alumni Center on the U of M campus.
The scholar-athlete award is in recognition of outstanding academic achievement while participating in intercollegiate athletics. To qualify for the award, student-athletes must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0. Of the Minnesota student- athletes, over half are scholar-athletes.

Say No to Tobacco

_rightStory By, Jennifer Warmington
Senior on the Women’s Swimming and Diving Team

To a student-athlete, not smoking may seem like common sense. If you smoke, you cannot breathe well when you work out. To other people, this may not be as common sense as you think.

The Tobacco Free is the Way to Be! program is a community outreach campaign that encourages children not to smoke. Several student-athletes volunteer and go through training that teaches them how to speak to people about not smoking. They also get personalized trading cards they can hand out at the places where they volunteer.

Spring Jam 2006

_rightPictured in photo:
Front: Mike Sherels – Football
2nd row: Dominic Jones – Football , Joel Maturi – Athletic Director, Andrea Nichols- Women’s Hockey, Jason Giannini – Football
3rd row – Anya Miller – Women’s Hockey, Eric Decker - Football, Ben Hanson – Men’s Track & Cross Country

Story by Jennifer Warmington
Senior on the Women’s Swimming and Diving Team

It makes sense that the University of Minnesota has an annual festival to celebrate spring. After a long Minnesota winter, the warm weather and sunshine is definitely welcome.

Boys and Girls Club - Kids in the City Event
April 10th, 2006

_leftApril 13, 2006 - Sixteen University of Minnesota student-athletes took part in the Kids in the City Event at the St. Paul RiverCentre on Monday, April 13th to help raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities. Golden Gopher student-athletes from football, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s hockey joined forces with other athletes and celebrities from Minnesota in a two hour sports pre-game function that included interactive games and activities with the kids. The pre-game function was followed by a dinner and live auction.