Matt Wilkinson’s jaw dropped when he finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in late June. He raised his arms and smiled from ear to ear as he earned a spot on the Team USA roster.

Not far from the finish line, Wilkinson’s brother, girlfriend and former Division III coach from Carleton College sat teary-eyed. 

“I knew I could do it,” Wilkinson said. “It was pure elation.”

Wilkinson was one of three runners competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase who punched their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics in Eugene, Oregon. But it was not until Wilkinson placed sixth at the 2023 USA Track & Field Championships that he considered competing for his country. 

“I realized I really should try to do this full time and really take a shot at making the Olympics,” Wilkinson said. 

The self-proclaimed “late-bloomer” improved every year. Rising University of Minnesota junior Leo Goodman spent two years with Wilkinson and saw the linear progression that earned Wilkinson the chance to make his Olympic debut.

“In college, he just got better and better,” Goodman said. “Then he makes it pro and he just gets better and better.”

Gopher’s Assistant Cross Country and Track & Field Coach Brad Wick saw Wilkinson’s hustle over the last year. 

“There’s only a couple Americans that had a resume better than Matt’s this season,” Wick said. “I knew it, all his close friends knew it, like Matt could do this.”

Goodman watched the trials on his phone at work because he did not want to miss the moment.

“I think I just started yelling,” Goodman said. “We all knew it was possible. Not shock, but amazement.” 

Goodman and Wick said Wilkinson’s Olympic appearance does wonders for the Gophers program. 

In Goodman’s case, it fuels his aspiration of making it as an Olympian. 

“He’s really good at not taking things too seriously, he knows how to have fun with it,” Goodman said. 

For Wick, Wilkinson’s name will be coming up in recruiting. 

“We absolutely bring it up,” Wick said. “Everything that comes across on social media, I repost it just to let everyone know we have a Gopher that is doing big, big things.”

Wilkinson jump-started his transition to being a professional runner with Wick after using all of his NCAA cross country eligibility. They used the fall to intensify training and participate in professional races. 

Wilkinson spent the past year as a professional with the Under Armour Mission Run Dark Sky. 

In Wilkinson’s final season with the Gophers, he posted a 3,000-meter steeplechase time of 8:26. During his first professional season he cut off 10 seconds, finishing with a lifetime best of 8:16.

Wilkinson now has three weeks until the Paris Olympics. His current training location is in Switzerland with the rest of the U.S. Track and Field team where the high altitude will be an adjustment.

Ever since the University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics team was forced out of their home gym in Cooke Hall, head coach Mike Burns and his crew started advocating.

Burns, gymnasts and parents sent several emails to the University’s Board of Regents. The men’s gymnastics team submitted a video to the Board for their June 14 meeting which was not reviewed or discussed publicly, but Regent Farnsworth said the Board surveyed it.

According to Regent Mary Turner, the emails, videos and requests to local media to share their story was a vastly different approach than the multitude of students who protested the University’s handling of the war in Gaza, which involved camping out on the Northrop lawn.

Few people outside the men’s gymnastics community were as vocal as Turner, who was the only regent to stand alongside them at their booth when the team explained their situation at the USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show.

“All they needed was to be heard,” Turner said. “It would have been closure.” 

Turner, with tears in her eyes, told rising junior gymnast Justin Lancisi how proud she was of the team in their respectful approach to the Board.

“You guys did everything right,” Turner said. “You didn’t camp out, you went through (Regent Chair) Janie Mayeron to ask permission, you did everything respectfully and they just showed you’re just going to be a student that gets brushed under the rug.” 

Turner said people associated with Israel and Palestine student groups are getting bi-weekly meetings with administrators, yet the gymnasts have had no in-person contact with the board. 

Turner told Lancisi the team should consider taking a more vocal approach, similar to the Israel and Palestine protesters, and create a “ruckus” by barging into a board meeting to speak to them directly.

“Maybe the people in tents have the right idea?” Turner said. “I know they do when you’re not being heard.”

The Minnesota Daily requested a statement from Mayeron via an email sent to University Spokesperson Jake Ricker on June 26. 

The Daily was met with a response from Ricker the next day including a statement, over two months old, in which Mayeron declined to speak with the team.

Burns said those who saw the booth were shocked at the Board’s handling of the situation. Several emails from parents to the Board were ignored. The few responses explained the Board’s procedures on virtual forum comments. 

Three years ago, the Minnesota men’s gymnastics team was dropped as a Division I program and as of June 29, 95% of the team’s gym equipment is stored in a trailer, while the rest is stored in the Bell Museum, according to Burns. 

Lancisi is not entirely sure what the future will look like for the team. 

“It’s going to be very hard to maintain championship status,” Lancisi said. “One of the biggest ways we could sell the program was you could walk five minutes from your class to practice.”

Despite the Board’s refusal to listen, others have. On June 23, Inside Gymnastics Magazine ranked it as the No. 4 item getting the gymnastics community “buzzing.”

Joey Ray was part of the team from 1981 to 1984. He was awarded membership to the University’s letterwinner organization — M Club — in 2015. During his time with the Gophers men’s gymnastics team, he won six individual Big Ten titles. 

Now, he does not feel like a Gopher. 

“I can’t even wear my letterman jacket to rake leaves,” Ray said. 

One gymnast parent Sheri Taylor said the consensus among the parents is that they want their boys to be heard, even if nothing changes. Taylor said the goal of attending the trade show was to get the word out and garner support to help the team find a new home. 

Dennis Ryan, the parent of the team’s co-captain Kellen Ryan, confirmed Taylor’s view. 

“If they get up there and speak for five minutes, whether that is going to change anything … they deserve a chance to tell their side of the story,” Ryan said. 

Ryan is frustrated that the board “won’t answer any questions.” 

He sent a list of questions to the Board which include:

• Was there a consideration to repurpose Peik Hall for the GymACT and Club teams (rather than tear it down) after the Women’s NCAA team moves into their brand new $16 million facility?
• Was there a consideration to convert Peik into a dryland diving facility so Cooke 302 could remain as the GymACT and Club team’s training facility?
• Was there a consideration to incorporate dryland diving equipment into the new women’s gym?

There have been no answers to these questions as of July 8. 

The team’s efforts at the National Congress and Trade Show meant Burns missed out on watching his former athlete Shane Wiskus earn a spot on Team USA as an alternate gymnast.

In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, two students were left needing partners for their computer programming class project. Little did anyone know, the strangers would build a program benefiting 30,000 college students across the country. 

At the end of their semester, co-founder Jared Waller asked his classmate and partner John Ritondo if he wanted to join him in launching a website for tickets. 

Waller saw how expensive sports tickets had become on Facebook after the COVID-19 pandemic and did not want others to worry about being scammed when attending college athletic events. 

Waller and Ritondo started Student Seats in 2020 for University of Alabama students to sell and buy tickets. Waller said in their first semester they sold seven tickets. Now, over three years later, Student Seats has expanded to 43 colleges across the nation, including the University of Minnesota. 

Student Seats has operated at Power Four schools like the University of Southern California, North Carolina, Duke and Florida and smaller schools like Cal Poly, North Dakota and Colorado State. 

The 2021 Alabama graduates, Waller and Ritondo, quit their jobs to put more time into Student Seats, according to Ritondo. 

Charlie Pietz, a 2024 University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate joined the Student Seats team as Chief Marketing Officer two years ago. He helped Student Seats grow to over 5,000 users in Wisconsin with his work on campus and social media. 

“When I first started I would do donut handouts,” Pietz said. “I would hand out free donuts and get people to sign up.”

Pietz said some schools do not require students to buy tickets for certain sporting events. Most Big Ten schools allow students to buy tickets for multiple sporting events, while most SEC schools only sell football tickets.

“Big Ten schools really provide more tickets to go around, that’s why we started targeting the Big Ten,” Pietz said.

Unlike programs like SeatGeek, which requires a 10% service fee to sell a ticket, Student Seats requires no fee to sell. 

“We had to add an incentive for (sellers) to list on Student Seats and have an incentive where they wouldn’t need to list it anywhere else,” Ritondo said. 

Like any start-up, Student Seats faced its setbacks. In the fall of 2021, PayPal banned Ritondo and Waller from using the platform. 

“PayPal locked up $30,000, and a lot of that money wasn’t ours,” Ritondo said. “I took out a loan and got a job working at a country club to pay off the (buyers) and sellers.”

Despite the challenges, they never quit. 

“We set out on a mission to solve (ticket scamming), and we knew there would be roadblocks,” Ritondo said. “Students were using it, frankly, they needed it.”

Ritondo and Waller pivoted to a new way to hold their seller and buyers’ money. They chose TrustAp, which allows money from the buyer to be held in a secure account until the ticket is received.

Student Seats has a tiered system for purchasing fees. The larger the ticket price, the larger the fee. 

For tickets under $25, there is a 0% charge and a $4.98 fee. $25 to $50 tickets have a 5% buyer’s charge with a $4.98 fee. For tickets over $50, there is a buyer’s charge of 8% and a $7.50 fee. 

As former college students, the Students Seats team understands that over-the-top fees are not always manageable. 

“We don’t want to be like these greedy, giant, monopoly ticket companies, so we wanted to make the fees low,” Waller said. “We know how much losing money on a ticket can suck.” 

If a buyer pays for a ticket and never receives it, they get all their money back, including the purchasing fee. 

“We only take a fee if the money is successfully protected and (the buyer) gets the ticket,” Waller said. 

The future goal of Student Seats is to expand to everyone regardless of whether you are in college or not. Waller said their projected goal is to launch Safe Seats in 2025 for anyone to use for any event.

After two days and eight rotations, the United States Olympic women’s artistic gymnastics team was announced at the Target Center Sunday night.

Headlining the team is Simone Biles, who earned her third Olympic berth in Minneapolis. Suni Lee from St. Paul, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey are joining her in Paris.

The United States is sending four of the same gymnasts from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team. The lone newcomer is Rivera. Chiles and Lee described the Paris games as a “redemption tour” after the four veterans did not perform to their liking in Tokyo. 

“We weren’t under the best circumstances,” Biles said about the team’s Tokyo performance. “We have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes.”

Biles withdrew from the competition after battling the “twisties,” which caused her to lose her sense of direction while airborne. Biles described the feeling as being “lost in the air.” 

Lee dealt with her own setbacks after winning three medals in Tokyo. She was diagnosed with a kidney disease early last year as well as imposter syndrome which, according to the National Cancer Institute, is a term used to “describe feelings of self-doubt or inadequacy often experienced by otherwise high-achieving individuals.”

As she pursued her Paris dreams, Lee competed in her home state. But despite the overwhelming cheers her way, she still felt pressure. 

“It’s hard when you have to go up and everyone is screaming your name,” Lee said. “I love it but I get so freaked out.”

Joining Lee in her second Olympic competition is Chiles, who helped Team USA win a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Even with the international experience under her belt, Chiles gave an emphatic “No!” when asked whether her second trials were easier than her first.  

“I can say yes when I was 19, I had somebody like Simone to guide me through that,” Chiles said. “Now I’m 23 and we are both able to guide our teammates, but it’s still stressful.” 

Carey is another competing in her second-ever Olympics. Like Chiles, she helped the team win its silver medal in Tokyo while earning herself a gold medal in the floor exercise. 

Carey was the last to compete on Sunday night at the trials. Her teammates lined the side of the competition floor mat to cheer her on. 

“They were so happy, telling me ‘good job,’ ‘congratulations,’ telling me all the hard work has paid off,” Carey said. “We are a really tight group of girls and to support each other like that at such a high-stress competition is really special.”

Rivera, 16, became the youngest 2024 Olympian in any sport as of June 30. She said she did not expect to head to Paris at her age and thought her Olympic debut would be in Los Angeles in 2028. 

“I thought this (competition) was a stepping stone for me to just get out there and do my job and see where it leads me,” Rivera said. “2028 was the goal, I was just trying to stay focused here because it’s all a part of the journey.” 

When asked about her reaction to earning a spot on Team USA, Rivera gave a wide-eyed look with her mouth wide open indicating a feeling of shock.

“That’s my reaction,” Rivera said.

Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson will travel to Paris with the five athletes as alternates for the team. Roberson was the 2023 U.S. vault champion and Wong was this year’s NCAA uneven bars champion.

Competition for women’s artistic gymnastics begins in Paris on July 28 at Bercy Arena.

Over 150 Gopher student-athletes earned a spot on the spring Academic All-Big Ten team, according to a press release on June 12. 

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten honors, a student-athlete must enroll full-time for 12 months at their University, be on the varsity team and carry a cumulative GPA above a 3.0.

Taylor Kreitinger, one of the University of Minnesota’s 4.0 track and field athletes, said the team prioritizes academics. 

“It’s always stressed that academics is our number one and obviously we are an athlete after that,” Kreitinger said.

Kreitinger added the team’s focus on school work makes her feel as though every teammate is an academic role model. 

Isaiah Schafer, another track and field athlete with a 4.0 GPA, said he had no issue balancing his time.

“In high school being in sports and having the school part kind of instills that discipline in you to manage your time well,” Schafer said. “Once I transitioned to college it was pretty smooth for me.”

To help Gophers maintain a high GPA, the University provides its student-athletes with tutors through the Lindahl Academic Center.

According to Lindahl’s website, some of its goals for student-athletes are to develop and maintain a high level of ­motivation and self-discipline and set appropriate academic goals.

Lindahl Director JT Bruett said the Academic Center also helps student-athletes with their future endeavors by providing advisors. 

“We work really closely with the college advisor that every student has on campus to map out progress with degrees, what classes they should take and assist with choosing a major,” Bruett said. 

Lindahl employed over 50 tutors for student-athletes to access, according to Bruett. The football team utilized the Lindahl Center the most due to the size of the team.

Among the few familiar faces for the Gophers men’s basketball team were a handful of transfers practicing in Dinkytown on Monday. 

Head coach Ben Johnson retained only five players from last season’s squad due to the transfer portal, graduation and the NBA draft. Johnson understands the program is starving for wins, so he recruited older and experienced players. 

“I like the fact that they have experience,” Johnson said about the new Gopher players. “They’ve been around the block, so although the way we do things might be different, at the end of the day they understand what goes into winning.”

Johnson added his six new rising seniors and one rising junior are not learning Division I basketball over again, rather they are learning Johnson’s system. 

The head coach holds high expectations for senior forward Dawson Garcia. From Savage, MN, Garcia averaged 17.6 points and 6.7 rebounds his junior season and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Second Team from the media and third team from conference coaches.

Johnson said the next step for Garcia is to win Big Ten Player of the Year. 

Garcia, who could have transferred or gone pro, said the decision to return was not easy. 

“You get things thrown at you all the time that are very tempting, but you have to stay true to your roots,” Garcia said. 

Garcia is entering his third season as a member of the Gophers. He only has two teammates remaining from his first season with the maroon and gold but has found ways to connect with the new transfers.

“Lu’Cye Patterson, a hometown kid, he’s never afraid of the moment,” Garica said. “Frank Mitchell is a really good passer, great rebounder. I’m excited about each and every (transfer).”

Mitchell, a rising junior, was a top-five rebounder in the nation last year, averaging 11.6 rebounds per game. 

Senior Mike Mitchell Jr., a top-three scorer for the Gophers last season, said he and Patterson need to play on the ball more after Elijah Hawkins transferred to Texas Tech. 

Mitchell Jr. spoke about the changing landscape of college basketball, with agencies affiliated with schools calling to recruit him nearly every day.

“(They can be) very aggressive, nonstop calls until the last day the portal is open,” Mitchell Jr. said. “I was probably getting five or six calls a week.”

Mitchell Jr. said he stayed because of his faith in the coaching staff and the opportunities he received as a transfer last year. 

The Gophers finished their last season with a 19-15 overall record. The team ended any hope of a Big Ten tournament run after a loss to Michigan State in the second round. The Gophers accepted their National Invitation Tournament bid and lost in the second round to Indiana State, ending their season. 

Gophers Roster as of June 18

00 – Frank Mitchell/Junior/Forward

1 – Isaac Asuma/Freshman/Guard

2 – Mike Mitchell Jr./Senior/Guard

3 – Dawson Garcia/Senior/Forward

4 – Kadyn Betts/RS-Sophomore/Forward

5 – Trey Edmonds/Senior/Forward-Center

6 – Caleb Williams/Senior/Guard

7 – Max Sheridan/Sophomore/Guard

10 – Grayson Grove/Freshman/Forward

11 – Femi Odukale/Senior/Guard

12 – Erick Reader/Sophomore/Forward

23 – Parker Fox/RS-Senior/Forward

24 – Brennan Rigsby/Senior/Guard

25 – Lu’Cye Patterson/Senior/Guard

54 – Lincoln Meister/Senior/Forward

Former Gophers Abigail Boreen, Madeline Wethington and Amanda Kessel were selected to play for Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) teams in the league’s second-ever draft Monday evening. 

167 women anxiously awaited to hear their name at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, but only 42 would step away as members of the PWHL.

As the first of three former Gophers drafted, Boreen heard her name in the third round going 17th overall to Montreal. 

Boreen won the Walter Cup with PWHL Minnesota last season but bypassed the inaugural draft and signed with the team as a reserve. She was crowned a champion while attending the University of Minnesota’s pharmacy school full-time. 

Boreen entered her name in the draft to play full-time next season. 

“It’s hard to leave a program you gave your heart and soul for, but I am really excited for this opportunity,” Boreen said, holding back tears.  

Four rounds after Boreen was called to the stage, PWHL Ottawa General Manager Mike Hirshfeld announced Wethington as the 38th overall pick.

The St. Paul crowd showered her with cheers.

The 2019 Blake High School graduate spent five years with the Gophers. Wethington tied the program record with 173 games played and helped lead the team to an NCAA Frozen Four in 2023. 

“Obviously (Minnesota is) the state of hockey,” Wethington said. “I’m excited for a new market. Ottawa seems like a great place.” 

The final Gopher drafted was 32-year-old Kessel. The Madison, Wisconsin native was part of the Gophers when they won three national titles. 

Rather than declare for the draft last year, Kessel worked as special assistant to the general manager of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Kessel was drafted 41st overall to PWHL Montreal and will bring her three Olympic medals to the team that finished with the second-best record last season. 

Former Gophers goaltender Lucy Morgan registered for the draft but was one of the 125 women who did not hear their names called.

The largely Minnesota crowd made their disappointment known with the PWHL’s decision to let their former Minnesota General Manager,  Natalie Darwitz, go. Boos from fans echoed in the auditorium as head coach Ken Klee took the stage with Billie Jean King for Minnesota’s first-round pick. 

Darwitz was a three-time Olympic medalist from Eagan and a former Gophers associate coach. She left her position with PWHL Minnesota after winning the inaugural championship.

“I am very proud of the team and organization that was built and the championship we brought home to this great State of Hockey,” Darwitz said in a public statement on Sunday. “At this time, I am not able to provide any details regarding my departure.”

Since there are no team owners, the PWHL operates every team, meaning league officials had the final decision over Darwitz’s job. 

PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford said the league reviewed the situation in Minnesota for months before deciding to let her go. 

“We completely recognize the iconic status of Natalie Darwitz in the state of Minnesota,” Hefford said for the AP. “Her incredible contributions to the PWHL, to building a championship team. Certainly, this was the last thing we wanted to happen. But our job is to also do what’s right for the league, and so that’s where we’re at today.”

Hefford said they looked around the league to make sure the current personnel would succeed, and they found no path forward with the current staff in Minnesota. 

PWHL Minnesota’s draft picks 

Round 1, Pick 3 – D, Claire Thompson (Team Sonnet/PWHPA)

Round 2, Pick 9 – F, Britta Curl (University of Wisconsin)

Round 3, Pick 15 – F, Klára Hymlárová (St. Cloud State University)

Round 4, Pick 21 – F, Brooke McQuigge (Clarkson University)

Round 5, Pick 27 – F, Dominique Petrie (Clarkson University)

Round 6, Pick 33 – D, Mae Batherson (St. Lawrence University)

Round 7, Pick 39 – F, Katy Knoll (Northeastern University)

The University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics club began moving out of their home gym in Cooke Hall on May 31, less than a month after winning a national title. 

The University’s Planning, Space and Real Estate (PRSE) service surveyed the team’s home on the third floor of Cooke Hall after several organizations requested to use the space, according to Regent Mary Turner.

PRSE recommended to Interim President Ettinger that the facility be used for the University’s diving team, kinesiology program and RecWell activities. Ettinger adopted PRSE’s recommendation leaving head gymnastics coach Mike Burns and his 23 athletes scrambling for a new home.

The team used Cooke Hall long before the Board of Regents voted to eliminate its Division I status in 2020. Since then, the group joined the Gymnastics Association of College Teams (GymACT).

The club’s athletes were vocal about being forced out. Team captain Kellen Ryan was part of the first freshman class after the discontinuation of their Division I status.

The Board denied Ryan’s request to speak on behalf of the team at their meeting on June 14. Parents showed their support by contacting the Board in hopes of having the moving decision reversed.

Burns said the team is pushing for an on-campus practice location even if it means sharing the space with another group. 

“Something magical happens in this space,” Burns said about Cooke Hall. “It’s sad we can’t find a way to coexist.”

Regent chair Janie Mayeron stated in an email obtained by the Minnesota Daily that the team cannot share Cooke Hall with the other groups because their equipment “cannot reasonably and safely be set up and taken down between each practice.” 

Mayeron then reaffirmed her denial of Ryan’s request to speak to the Board.

“RecWell confirmed that no sports clubs have dedicated practice space,” Mayeron said. “Some sports clubs opt to practice off campus for convenience or because there are off-campus spaces more suitable to their sport.”

Mayeron said the University’s new $15.5 million facility dedicated to the women’s gymnastics team could not accommodate the men.

Sophomore Ben Letvin said the constant refusal from the Board to listen to the team is frustrating because “it’s their job to listen to the students.”

“We’re not going to let the University just kind of kill our dreams like that, even though they don’t really support us at all,” Letvin added.

Regent Turner said the team deserved to be heard in more ways than just emails or videos despite being told there would be no changes. 

Turner added the board should emulate city councils and allow the public to speak in short intervals while also becoming a University system known for listening to its community.

“You still need to let everyone know just what it means to you,” Turner said. “We go on and have meeting after meeting about mission, and our mission is to students.”

According to Burns, the team has until June 16 to move out or they face moving fines. The University has offered the Bell Museum as a place to store the team’s equipment.

The club has been successful since joining GymACT, finishing fourth in the nation in 2022 and 2023. 

With the adversity stacked against the team in finding a new home, Ryan was certain the team would continue to execute success. 

“It’ll be a difficult change,” Ryan said. “Ultimately it’s not going to tear down our program, which is good.”

As of June 7, the team has been practicing at Mini-Hops Gymnastics, where former Gopher and 2020 Olympic competitor Shane Wiskus trained. The team also practices at both Twin Cities Twisters locations. 

Burns’ crew has not found a permanent home and there is no agreement between their temporary training locations for long-term use as of June 7.

Gophers women’s golf assistant coach Matt Higgins was promoted as the next head coach, agreeing on a three-year deal pending a background check, according to a press release.

Higgins spent the last three-and-a-half years under former head coach Rhyll Brinsmead before she announced her retirement on May 9.

Higgins, a Forest Lake native, joined the program in January 2021, the same time Brinsmead took over as head coach. 

“I’ve always admired the rich history of Gopher Athletics and the Gopher golf programs,” Higgins said. “From day one, I promise we will represent the Maroon and Gold, and this great state well.”

Higgins was the head coach of men’s and women’s golf at Regis University in Colorado for two years and Concordia-St. Paul for 14 years. He was also the women’s golf head coach for the University of Montana for two years.

While at Concordia-St. Paul, Higgins won two NSIC Women’s Golf Coach of the Year awards and led his team to two NCAA tournament appearances. His players had the highest grade point average in Division II golf in 2009, 2014 and 2015. 

Director of Athletics Mark Coyle said Higgins would excel in his new role given his ability to foster connections with student-athletes.

“I know (Higgins) will give his absolute best to our student-athletes and to the department in everything he does,” Coyle said. “Matt understands golf in Minnesota and is ready for this opportunity.”

As assistant coach, Higgins helped lead rising junior Isabella McCauley to a Big Ten title and two NCAA postseason appearances.

University of Minnesota women’s golf coach Rhyll Brinsmead announced she is retiring at the end of the 2024 NCAA Championships. 

After 21 years in coaching, Brinsmead said she wants to devote time to her family. 

“I want to thank the Minnesota golf community for embracing my vision and supporting me wholeheartedly,” Brinsmead said. 

Director of Athletics Mark Coyle said the program is “headed in the right direction,” citing Brinsmead’s passionate leadership.

“We wish Rhyll and her family nothing but the best moving forward,” Coyle said. “We will immediately start a national search for our next head coach.”

Before Brinsmead’s departure, sophomore Isabella McCauley will represent the Gophers in the NCAA Championships for the second time. Under Brinsmead, McCauley won the Big Ten Championship after sitting in 18th place heading into the final day.

Last season, Brinsmead led the Gophers to their best golf round in school history when the team placed second in the Evie Odom Invitational. The Gophers hit seventeen-under-par (263), and for the first time in school history, all five players shot par or better. 

“The athletes are truly the hardest people to leave,” Brinsmead said.

Prior to Minnesota, Brinsmead spent time at Kennesaw State as a head coach for 13 years, and two years at Iowa State as an assistant coach.