No. 5: Timmy Allen

University of Utah basketball had a rough year, finishing 12-13 and posting their first losing record since 2013. Utah also let go of former head coach Larry Krystkowiak and lost Allen, Alfonso Plummer, Rylan Jones, Ian Martinez, Pelle Larsson, Mikael Jantunen and Jordan Kellier to the transfer portal.

Despite all the madness this season, Allen was able to shine. He led Utah in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Allen averaged 17.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals. He led the team in field goal attempts while shooting a sharp 47% from the floor. Allen’s impact on Utah’s games was immeasurable, and simply more than stats can show. His transfer to Texas will be difficult for the Utes, but hopes are still high for next season.

No. 4: Tristan Mandur

The University of Utah golf team has had a great season, finishing top 10 in every tournament but the Arizona Intercollegiate. The team placed ninth at the Pac-12 Championship and made it to the program’s first NCAA Regional appearance since 1992, marking just their third appearance in history.

Unfortunately, the team was unable to move on to the NCAA Championship, placing seventh at Regionals. Mandur was the only Utah golfer to move on to the Championship, qualifying as an individual. He went on to play great in the championship, shooting three over par to finish in a five-way tie for 17^th overall. He also placed in a tie for second out of players competing solely as individuals. His finish of 283 was a new career-low in a 72-hole tournament, as well as Utah’s lowest NCAA Championship score ever. Mandur is expected to return next season and his impact and leadership on the team will continue to grow.

No. 3: Tyler Bradbury

Although the University of Utah lacrosse team finished the season 4-7, Bradbury shined. He led the team in points with 39 — second place was Jordan Hyde with 24. He was second on the team in goals with 14 — Hyde was first with 20.

But assists were where Bradbury really showed his skill. He finished the season with 25 out of Utah’s 60 assists. He was far above the rest, with Hyde, Branden Wilson, and Samuel Cambere tying for second with four.

He really showed dominance in his field vision and playmaking this season. His 25 assists in a single season are tied for first since Utah Lacrosse joined Division 1 in 2019. The tie was with James Sexton who did it in 2019. The only difference between the two is that Sexton did it in 15 games while Bradbury did it in just 11. Bradbury still has a lot of time left with the Utes and will continue to lead the team for years.

No. 2: Poppy Tank

Tank, a senior long-distance runner, had an incredible season. Tank was the only Utah runner to qualify for the NCAA Championship. She became the sixth Ute to qualify for the NCAA Championship and only the second Utah runner to qualify in multiple events.

Tank ran in the 5k and 10k events at the championship, finishing 22^nd in the 5k and ninth in the 10k. 15 runners in the 10k event ran personal bests, Tank included. She gained an All-American Honorable Mention in the 5k, finishing with a time of 16:15.88, 43 seconds faster than any Ute to compete in the Championships.

In the 10k, Tank finished with a time of 32:50.57, her personal best as well as a program-best, earning her All-American Honors. Tank’s Utah career came to a close with her earning First-Team All-Pac-12 Honors in XC.

No. 1: Maile O’Keefe

The University of Utah gymnastics team had a fantastic year, placing third at the NCAA Championship. The Red Rocks finished with a score of 197.9875, not only their highest score of the season but also the program’s highest team score in a National Championship meet.

A large part of the Red Rocks’ success this season was due to O’Keefe. She has had quite an impressive season, finishing First Team All-American on bars and floor, as well as Second Team all around. O’Keefe was the NCAA champion in uneven bars and floor this year, as well as a four-time Pac-12 champion.

She finished the season as the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year and ranked No. 1 in the nation on beam, sixth in all-around, and 11^th on bars. O’Keefe is expected to return to Utah next year as the Red Rocks will have new additions of Grace McCallum and Kara Eaker, all of who are heading to the Tokyo Olympics. The Red Rocks have had a bright season and have an even brighter future.

s.overton@dailyutahchronicle.com

@SeanOverton3

The post Utah’s Top 5 Athletes of 2020 appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Gophers alum and recent 2021 graduate Shane Wiskus is heading to his first Olympic games. He will represent Team USA as an artistic gymnastics team member not even a full year after the University of Minnesota decided to cut the men’s gymnastics program starting next fall.

Over two days of competition and 12 apparatuses in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in St. Louis, Missouri, Wiskus totaled 168.150 points to finish in third place in the all-around competition.

“He’s got something going for him,” said Tim Daggett, a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic gymnastics gold medal team, during the Day One live broadcast. “He does not lack confidence. He never has. He shouldn’t because he has tremendous abilities, but there are guys in the biggest moments of their lives … they doubt themselves a little bit, and that is not Shane Wiskus. That’s not in his genes.”

Gophers men’s gymnastics head coach Mike Burns spoke to Wiskus last week before the trials began and told him it’s all about “what is.”

“I just told Shane this last week. I said just remember one thing: It’s all about ‘what is’ and not about ‘what if’ … That’s where the lack of focus comes from because you start to get ahead of yourself. You start to put the cart before the horse. So you just got to keep that horse moving one step at a time and realize it’s a process, and you got to kind of live in the moment of the process.”

At the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships earlier this month, Wiskus fell three times on the high bar. These falls caused him to fall from second to finish in ninth in the final round of the competition.

After the Olympic trials concluded, Burns spoke of Wiskus’ confidence leading up to the Olympic trials and was relieved that he did not suffer from any significant mistakes during the competition.

“Confidence is like a bank account. You got to keep putting deposits in, and every so often, you have a couple of withdrawals, and he had a few withdrawals at the NCAA’s on Day Two on vault and then on Day Two on high bar at the U.S. Nationals,” Burns said. “He was able in a short amount of time between the USA’s and trials to get the balance sheet in order and really get it back to where it needed to be. It was really great to see, and it’s just a testament to his determination, attitude and maturity.”

We are all channeling @shanewiskus1001 energy this summer. #GymTrials21 pic.twitter.com/mKQvUOVxAm

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) June 27, 2021

Wiskus earned his spot on the team alongside two-time Olympian and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center partner Sam Mikulak, who finished in fourth place with a total score of 166.750. The selection committee chose the two gymnasts to complete Team USA’s four-person roster.

“It seems like they’ve [Wiskus and Mikulak] really built up a good respect for each other and a friendship,” Burns said. “How cool is it that his new teammate at the training center is now a teammate on the Olympic team with him. I think that’s awesome.”

The other two gymnasts that will join Wiskus and Mikulak in Tokyo are Brody Malone and Yul Moldauer after they automatically qualified for the summer games in the trials. In addition, Alec Yoder will also compete for Team USA after individually qualifying on the pommel horse.

This is what dreams are made of. #GymTrials21 pic.twitter.com/jmGcWpEV4k

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) June 26, 2021

Malone, the all-around champion of the 2021 U.S. Championships and NCAA Championships, automatically qualified after winning the Olympic trials with a total score of 171.600.

Moldauer, the parallel bars champion of the 2021 U.S. Championships, punched his ticket to Tokyo after finishing in second place with a total score of 168.600 and placing in the top three across at least three apparatuses.

The following gymnasts will serve as alternates for Team USA: Cameron Bock, Allan Bower, Brandon Briones, Alex Diab and Akash Modi.

Wiskus shines on Day One – Thursday, June 24

On Day One’s competition, Wiskus totaled a whopping 84.300 points in the all-around to finish in second place, trailing Brody Malone by just 0.950.

The Spring Park, Minnesota, native started his Olympic trials debut on the vault, earning his best score of 14.600 points on Day One with an execution score of 9.400.

“At Forth Worth [during the U.S. Championships], he had some troubles on the vault,” Burns said. “So, he started on vault on Day One. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was holding my breath. And then he knocks out one of his best vaults he’s done all year, so it was really, really great to see that start.”

Wiskus’ second-best score of his Olympic debut came on his second apparatus of the day, the parallel bars, where he scored 14.500 points. He graciously flew back and forth on the bars and nearly stuck a perfect dismount to finish off a routine that scored higher than any other gymnasts’ in the apparatus.

All eyes were on Wiskus as he approached the high bar for his third apparatus. If he were to have another fall on the high bar during the trials, it would prove costly to his chances of making the Olympic team.

According to Daggett, during the Day One live broadcast, Wiskus removed the first major release that caused him to fall previously during the U.S. Championships. He noted that “[Shane] made a very smart decision” to take out his first major release during the broadcast.

Wiskus had a lower maximum score because of this decision, but the Gophers alum showed out on the high bar to score 13.800 points. Then, after perfectly sticking his landing, he turned to the crowd and shouted out an emphatic, “C’mon. Let’s go.”

We think @shanewiskus1001 is pretty happy with his high bar routine.#GymTrials21 | #TokyoOlympics

NBCSN/@peacockTV pic.twitter.com/LtTK2mzUVu

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) June 24, 2021

“It was so good to see how he [Wiskus] managed the adversity of that last [high bar] routine at U.S. Nationals in Fort Worth and came back from that because something like that can stay in your mind and mess with you,” Burns said.

To round out his apparatuses on Day One, Wiskus totaled 14.000 on the floor, 13.900 on the still rings and 13.500 on the pommel horse.

Wiskus becomes a first-time Olympian – Saturday, June 26

On Saturday, Wiskus punched his ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer after scoring 83.850 points on Day Two to finish in third place in the all-around with a total of 168.150. This total was enough for the selection committee to choose him to represent Team USA.

Wiskus’ first apparatus was the still rings. He scored 14.050 points after perfectly sticking his landing, bettering his Day One score by 0.150. However, he slipped down into third place behind Moldauer by 0.100.

Following up his start on the rings, Wiskus moved to the vault, an apparatus that generally sees high scores, for the second rotation. Then, he sprinted, flew into the air, spinning, twisting and landing with a slight gather step to complete his routine and earn 14.500 points.

Wiskus’ high-scoring apparatus in the vault sprung him back into second place, just 0.150 points ahead of Moldauer, giving him a chance toward automatic qualification.

Wiskus moved to the parallel bars, his second highest-scoring apparatus on Day One, looking to stay in second place. He followed his first routine up with another magnificent performance where he scored 14.350 points to grow his second-place lead over Moldauer by 0.350. The parallel bars on Day Two would also be his second-highest scoring apparatus.

After regaining the second-place position for two rotations, Wiskus fell back into third place behind Moldauer after his high bar apparatus, where he scored 13.600 points. But, just like on Day One, Wiskus was animated after completing his high bar routine with no falls, including a stuck landing.

The Gophers alum could not overtake Moldauer for the second-place position as they closed out their last two apparatuses. To round out his Olympic Trials debut, Wiskus scored 14.200 on the floor and 13.150 on the pommel horse.

What’s up next

The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games will take place from Friday, July 23, to Sunday, Aug. 8, as the artistic gymnastics competition kicks off on Saturday, July 24.

Facebook Marketplace buyers and sellers can now shop with peace of mind at the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office, where online trades can be monitored by officers and cameras.

The Sheriff’s Office encourages all sellers and buyers to “meet within a well lit area and to ensure that you are in a safe place before making a transaction.”

However, the Sheriff’s office has opened their own office to the community to ensure the safety of citizens, said Deputy Sheriff Julie Daughtry. These transactions can take place within the parking lot where it can be monitored by law enforcement as well as surrounding cameras to ensure someone’s safety.

“Facebook Marketplace can be a wonderful tool for individuals who want to buy or sell items,” said officer Daughtry. Although, being an online outlet, quite typically there are ‘scammers, stalkers, etc’. Daughtry said there have been numerous occasions where an individual had been the “victim of marketplace scams, resulting in several launched investigations.”

Additionally, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office is working to add to their Facebook page helpful guidelines and safety precautions to help those wishing to make these transactions within the near future.

Appademy Awards from Modo recognizes universities and colleges for app development, design and UX, and this year, new categories like virtual commencement to reflect how campuses have adjusted to the pandemic CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Modo Labs is the top no-code app building platform for higher education and enterprise, and today it published the winning college […]

SF Neo-Futurists’ ‘World Pride Wrench’ 2021 is quality, quick-witted and quintessentially queer 

SF Neo-Futurists /Courtesy

30 original plays in 60 minutes — that’s what the San Francisco Neo-Futurists have produced and performed on livestream every month since the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause on the group’s onstage productions. Their ambitious digital show, “The World Wide Wrench,” has undergone a rainbow makeover this June for the group’s annual Pride Month special, which follows the same structure with focuses on themes of “sexuality, identity, and community.” The 2021 “World Pride Wrench” was a hilarious, touching and incredibly queer theatrical success, filled with powerful storytelling, games and plenty of laughter. Plus, 50% of this year’s proceeds will benefit the Transgender Law Center, which supports and fights for the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.

The Neo-Futurists’ works are non-illusory, which means that they don’t ask their audiences to suspend their disbelief. They do not try to take viewers out of the time or location the performance literally takes place in, and actors only play themselves. These elements of the Neo-Futurist aesthetic enhanced the intimacy of the show and made the stories told in the Pride special particularly personal and effective. After each play, audience members randomly selected the play they wanted to see next from a master list, and each work began with a “go” and ended with a “curtain” in rapid succession.

This unique style allowed for comedic, more heavily produced works such as the sixth play, “Eat Yer Veggies,” in which troupe members sensually chomped on genitalia-suggestive vegetables. It also afforded candid, personal storytelling such as that of Play 26, “Is This the Moment I Finally Open This Box…,” in which Neo-Futurist Ezra explained their hesitancy to open a box of long sought-after testosterone. These wildly different tones were employed not only within the same show and the same hour, but often back-to-back. 

It was impossible to guess what the next play would be like, because none were the same and all defied expectations. From satirical works, to experimental plays, to guest artist drag queen Snaxx slaying a lip-syncing performance of Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman,” the audience never knew what to expect next. The scope of the Neo-Futurists’ creativity, artistic capabilities, and honesty was apparent in the show; no matter how unusual, out of the box or simple plays mayhave seemed, they were thoughtful, intentional and reflective of important aspects of timely, queer experiences.

Another commendable characteristic of the special was the Neo-Futurists’ remarkable ability to interact with the audience, a feat particularly impressive in a virtual setting. Besides allowing the audience to literally determine the course of the show, “The World Pride Wrench” also supported an audience chat feature and heavily relied on audience participation. In Play 12, “Queer Fantasy Line,” the entire two-minute runtime was set aside for the audience to call a given number and listen to recordings of cast members detailing their queer fantasies. You could choose which ones to listen to, but you couldn’t get through all of them, making each audience member’s experience different. Play 16, “Match That Nip,” called for an audience member to join the livestream and participate in a game, matching photos and drawings of nipples to their respective Neo-Futurist. 

The audience interaction kept viewers engaged throughout, bringing a much-missed liveliness into the digital show. While the transition of theater from onstage to online in the face of the pandemic is one that is difficult on paper and in practice, the SF Neo-Futurists seem to have figured out how to make the livestream format work for them.

“The World Pride Wrench” is everything right with queer performance art. The show was a celebration of thriving pride, and in turn, a righteous condemnation of everything that prevents this liberation. The SF Neo-Futurists show the world that queer individuals are smart, funny, creative and human, and their Pride special was both a beautiful demonstration of how far LGBTQ+ acceptance has come and a reminder of how much work is left to be done. Keep an eye out for “The World Pride Wrench” when it comes around next year — it will no doubt be different and transformed, but will certainly remain clever, entertaining and very, very queer.

Contact Joy Diamond at jdiamond@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

Appademy Awards from Modo recognizes universities and colleges for app development, design and UX, and this year, new categories like virtual commencement to reflect how campuses have adjusted to the pandemic

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Modo Labs is the top no-code app building platform for higher education and enterprise, and today it published the winning college apps in the annual Modo Appademy Awards. This juried award recognizes colleges and universities that have built exemplary digital experiences in apps built on the Modo platform.  Click to tweet this news.

“The Appademy Awards not only recognizes the dedicated and creative efforts of colleges using the Modo platform but it also is a glimpse into the priorities and needs of institutions of higher education,” said Matt Willmore, senior director of product marketing at Modo. “In this year’s entries, we saw excellent examples of the ways that college apps made tasks easier, such as registering for classes and paying fees, and also substituted for many in-person college experiences like orientation and graduation.”

One trend that was noted by judges is that while some app capabilities were created out of urgency due to the pandemic, these ended up being features colleges kept when it became clear that students and staff were comfortable using them. Features such as ticket requests for games, registration, and add/drop appointments are now permanent and available even as restrictions lift.

“It’s impressive to see the variation and creativity of the app development teams. We saw again and again in this year’s applicant pool that colleges did more than get tasks done, they created digital experiences and options for students to engage with their college in ways we’ve never seen before and in ways that kept college an engaging, immersive experience,” added Willmore.

The 2021 Appademy Awards include one overall Best Unified App and two categories for student engagement and app design, and winners came from every region including the Cayman Islands and Australia.

Best Overall

• Best Unified App – Winner: University of California, Merced

• Second Place: Vassar College

Best Apps for Student Engagement

• Best Health and Wellness App – Winner: Vassar College

• Second Place (TIE): University of California, Berkeley and University of Redlands

• Best Recruiting and Admissions – Winner: St Francis College

• Second Place: University of Rhode Island

• Best Commencement – Winner (TIE): University of Central Florida and University of Connecticut

• Second Place: Santa Monica College

• Best New Student Orientation – Winner: The George Washington University

• Second Place: Northern Arizona University

• Most Innovative App for Communication – Winner (TIE): California State University, San Bernardino and University of Houston

• Second Place (TIE) University of Texas Arlington and Assumption University

Best Apps for Design and Experience:

• Best Overall Design – Winner: Santa Monica College

• Second Place: California State University, Channel Islands

• Best Student-Driven App – Winner: Northern Arizona University

• Second Place: California State University, East Bay

• Best Marketplace – Winner: University of California, Berkeley

• Best App Personalization (XModule) – Winner: University of Houston

• Second Place: Carson-Newman University

• Best Desktop Experience – Winner: Humboldt State University

• Second Place: Penn State University

David Osburn, assistant director for communications and mobile strategy at Vassar College which won for Best Health and Wellness app said that the college redesigned the app this year giving special attention to helping their communities manage through the health crisis. “We’re thrilled that Vassar Mobile has been recognized with the 2021 Health and Wellness Appademy Award! This year has been a challenge for everyone’s mental and physical health and wellness. We’re proud of the work we’ve done to provide our audiences with quick and easy access to tools and resources that can help during such a trying time.”

Appademy Award winning designs and “plays” serve as leading practice examples and models for other institutions around the world including the more than 300 using the Modo no-code platform.

See a webinar announcing the winners here.

About Modo
Trusted by hundreds of the world’s most recognized universities and brands from around the world, the Modo no-code app platform offers enterprise-scale mobile engagement and communication capabilities that allow users to quickly and easily create unified mobile campus and workplace experiences that increase connectivity for employees, students, faculty, and guests. Using Modo, customers quickly unlock innovation and digitally transform their organizations by empowering the domain expertise of any person within their organization, regardless of technical skill set. For more information, visit modolabs.com, @ModoLabs

For the media: Find images of the winning apps here: http://prez.ly/lnGb

###

Media Contact:
Jennifer Harrison for Modo Labs
jennifer@PandoPublicRelations.com
+1-916-716-0636

When Capcom posted the first trailer for a sequel to “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” on the RE website earlier this year, fans of the survival game franchise were excited to learn that the previous installments’ protagonist Ethan Winters would return for another game.

The game was released last month on May 7 and is available to play on a variety of consoles, including Xbox, PlayStation and digital video game service Steam.

A New Resident Evil

The franchise’s website describes what players can expect from the game’s central storyline: “Set a few years after the horrifying events in the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7 biohazard, the all-new storyline begins with Ethan Winters and his wife Mia living peacefully in a new location, free from their past nightmares. Just as they are building their new life together, tragedy befalls them once again. When BSAA captain Chris Redfield attacks their home, Ethan must once again head into hell to get his kidnapped daughter.”

But Resident Evil 8 is something of a departure from the full-on horror elements that were present in RE7. There are still monsters — but they take the form of more fantastical creatures such as vampires, werewolves, possessed dolls and strange fish.

Each of the game’s four lords — Lady Dimitrescu, Karl Heisenberg, Donna Beneviento and Salvatore Moreau — exhibit and embody these fairytale-turned-nightmare elements within their character development and aesthetics perfectly. Their unique storylines and quests alone make the game worth a play-through — or two, especially if you miss out on some of the lore and background information the first time around. 

The mysterious character of Mother Miranda intrigued many players, because of her strange crow-like character design and the small glimpses that players were given of her in later trailers. 

It’s safe to say that the developers attracted attention with some of the four lords’ character designs as well. The internet was in a frenzy when it was announced that Lady Dimitrescu is 9’6 — and gamers were quick to do height comparisons and create memes featuring the character. 

Armed with all this in addition to the puzzles and first-person immersion that featured in the previous installment, RE8 has a lot to be proud of. 

RE in Review

I can’t claim to be a hardcore or even avid gamer, given that I mostly dabble in simulator and role-playing games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but RE8’s great mechanics and killer storyline kept me engaged all the way through. 

As someone who enjoyed RE7, I did find myself missing the more gritty horror aspects of the game and feeling a little conflicted about the departure from full-on horror to more adventure and fantasy. But RE8 provided dynamic and interesting characters just as RE7 did, and the game never had a dull moment.

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to try a game in the franchise but isn’t too sure about the survival horror genre or those who, like me, enjoy a good storyline and some engaging character development. 

I give “Resident Evil 8: Village” 4.5/5 stars.

b.fuller@dailyutahchronicle.com

@bri_fuller_

The post ‘Resident Evil 8: Village’ Is a Storyteller’s Take On Horror Gaming appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Today, we leave June behind. But that does not mean Pride has to stay behind with it.

Gophers women’s hockey’s Lauren Bench, Emily Brown and Olivia Knowles will return to Ridder Arena for the 2021-22 season after all accepting the additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are so excited to have these three super seniors back for another year,” Gophers head coach Brad Frost said in the email announcement. “They are wonderful hockey players and great representatives of our program.”

The Gophers will retain one of their co-captains in Brown, one of their assistant captains in Knowles and their starting goalie in Bench from last season.

Lauren Bench – Goaltender (Graduate Student)

Bench joined the Gophers last season after spending the majority of her collegiate goaltending career at Bemidji State.

In 2020-21, Bench appeared in 15 games for the Gophers, where she started in goal for 14 of them, posting an overall record of 9-5-0 with two shutouts.

The Eagan native’s .920 save percentage ranked third in the WCHA and her 2.26 goals-against average ranked fourth.

“Having the opportunity to play for the University of Minnesota this last year has been a dream come true,” Bench said in the email. “Support from Gopher fans near and far has made this experience one I will never forget and never want to end, which is why I am extremely grateful to rep the Maroon and Gold for another year.”

After a fantastic season, Bench earned a spot on the HCA Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award Watch List.

The Gophers goaltending veteran also played a magnificent month of hockey in November, posting an overall record of 3-1-0. She led all WCHA goaltenders with a 0.962 save percentage and 1.26 goals-against average, earning her National Goaltender of the Month and WCHA Goaltender of the Month.

Emily Brown – Defense (Fifth Year)

Brown led all Gophers defense in points with 12 (three goals, nine assists) in 20 games as a co-captain last season. Her 12 points ranked third among WCHA defense. She also tied for second on the team with 27 blocked shots.

“Being a Gophers women’s hockey player has been a dream of mine from the first time I had a stick in my hands,” Brown said in the email. “These last four years have been everything I could have hoped for and more. I have been challenged to become the best student, hockey player, and person I can be day in and day out. Throughout this process, I have gained a second family. I am so grateful to have received an additional year to wear the ‘M’ on my chest and live out my dream alongside my best friends.”

Last season, the Blaine native earned All-WCHA Second Team honors and tied for the most power-play points among WCHA defense with four.

Olivia Knowles – Defense (Fifth Year)

Serving as an assistant captain last season, Knowles tied for seventh among WCHA defense with nine points (four goals, five assists) as she also appeared in 20 games for the Gophers.

“The past four years have been nothing short of incredible. Being a Gopher is a privilege, and I would never take a moment for granted,” Knowles said in the email. “With that being said, I’m very blessed to be back for a fifth year in Minneapolis to play the sport I love with the people I love.”

The Gophers will get their blocked shots leader back in the Campbell River, British Columbia native after she led the Gophers with 33 blocked shots last season.

What’s up Next

The Gophers women’s hockey team will open their 2021-22 campaign against Ohio State University at Ridder Arena on Friday, Oct. 1 and Saturday, Oct. 2, as they search for the program’s eighth national title.

Since gaining internet notoriety in the early 2010’s, Tyler, the Creator has demonstrated very consistent and steady maturation in both his music and public persona. In the beginning of his career, Tyler languished in shock culture. He filled his first two albums — 2009’s “Bastard” and 2011’s “Goblin” — with threats and slurs, doubling down on his troublemaker persona whenever he was in front of a camera. He was strikingly chaotic and outspoken, yet still somehow managed to be charming at the same time. It was like someone had given Eminem a Twitter account during the “Marshall Mathers LP” years. 

As time passed, Tyler opened up. He maintained his general air of affability, but let go of the callous, internet troll persona he had built around himself, culminating in 2019’s “IGOR,” a gentle meditation on heartbreak and self-acceptance. 

Tyler’s newest offering, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST,” looks back at his career through the story of a world traveler who falls in love with his friend’s girlfriend. However, where Tyler’s last two albums explored a sound informed by pop music, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” takes the form of a Gangsta Grillz mixtape — complete with appearances by DJ Drama on almost every song. By choosing to revisit the internet mixtape format, Tyler puts his rapping back at the forefront of his music, while paying homage to Gangsta Grillz icons such as Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane and of course Pharrell. 

Those unfamiliar with DJ Drama and his lengthy Gangsta Grillz mixtape series are likely to find his presence on the album jarring upon first listen. Much like DJ Khaled, who got his start alongside Drama in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Drama’s main role on any of his projects is to provide adlibs, talking up the central artist. It’s a goofy concept, but Drama’s enthusiasm is infectious. 

On album opener “SIR BAUDELAIRE,” he pops up to offer interjections such as “Welcome to the disco” and “See, while y’all was in the house we was taking Rolls Royces to go see alligators.” On “HOT WIND BLOWS,” one can’t help but crack a smile as DJ Drama describes a scene where he’s on a yacht in Switzerland, being fed French vanilla ice cream. At no point is DJ Drama an unwelcome presence. His lighthearted taunts serve as an excellent foil to Tyler’s stone-faced braggadocio, providing the album with bubbling moments of humor and levity. 

From a production standpoint, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” feels like a collection of unreleased Tyler songs, pulled from the vault and reassembled for a more mature, forward-thinking sound. The song “MASSA” begins with growling synthesizers, clacking snares and eerie midi-keys, the core ingredients for the sound Tyler cultivated back on “Goblin.” However, around the two minute mark, electronic melodies begin to open the instrumental up, like a ray of sunshine breathing life into a dark basement. The track “SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” also mixes sonic elements used throughout Tyler’s career (albeit a bit more literally), as it features lyrical and musical interpolations of past songs, “F**KING YOUNG/PERFECT,” “GONE, GONE/THANK YOU” and “I Ain’t Got Time.” The song’s first part drips with post-Charlie Wilson funk and features slow, swinging drums, evocative of the early 2000’s R&B that “IGOR” derives its sound from. 

Tyler, the Creator performing at Øyafestenvalen in 2015. (Kim Erlandsen/NRK P3)

“CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” bolsters a litany of guest appearances outside of DJ Drama. Interestingly, the track “JUGGERNAUT” contains the album’s strongest and weakest features in the form of Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrell respectively. Uzi throws himself headfirst into the song’s trunk-rattling instrumental, delivering a verse that dazzles with inventive flows and buoyant, youthful charisma. It’s a standout moment on the album, unfairly tarnished by Pharrell’s subsequently lazy performance. He drops lyrical duds such as “I run them beats like you run in cleats” while his choppy delivery comes across as awkward and uncharacteristically amateur. That said, Uzi is not without competition for the title of “best feature.” 

On “WUSYANAME,” NBA YoungBoy provides mesmerizingly soulful vocals and Lil Wayne pops up on “HOT WIND BLOWS” with one of his best features since Solange’s “Mad.” As Wayne was arguably the defining artist of the Gangsta Grillz series and the golden mixtape era as a whole, he’s a welcome presence on the album and totes some of the project’s most memorable bars with lines like “Wind beneath my wings, desert eagle underneath my coat.” 

As far as Tyler’s rapping goes, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” offers a mixed bag. “WUSYANAME” sees him deftly rap with gentle sincerity without sounding corny or trite, while “MASSA” details a deeply personal look at his life as a closeted bisexual man in the early days of his career, stating “tug of war with X and Y felt like a custody battle.” 

At their best, Tyler’s lyrics are witty, personal and unorthodox. However, a lot of Tyler’s attempts at a more casual, punchline-heavy style fall flat, with prime offenders being “I love when she let me rub her like Michelin” and “Nobody is lyin’, hakuna matata.” In fact, the album’s greatest weakness comes in the form of the nine minute long “WILSHIRE,” where Tyler explicitly tells the story of falling in love with a girl who was dating his friend. While the story Tyler tells here is essential to the album’s larger narrative, the song is littered with clunky bars and moments of emotional turmoil that feel banal when observed closely (“I have everything I want at hand except you”). That said, Tyler’s lyricism never wavers for too long, and his raw charisma is often enough to pull the listener back in after a clumsy line or two.

On “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST,” Tyler, the Creator returns to his rap roots with open arms, and crafts an album that celebrates the genre while also detailing the personal growth that his success as a rapper has brought him. It’s a straightforward project, packed with references to the late 2000’s and early 2010’s hip-hop that informed his early work. Across the album’s 16 tracks, Tyler looks back at his 12 years in the spotlight, all while maintaining his place as one of rap’s most forward thinking figures.

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