By: Jared Christensen

Gophers freshman pitcher Sara Groenewegen put her hands on her head, a look of disappointment on her face, as she watched her no-hitter come to an end just two outs short.

Groenewegen took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Ashley Van Zeeland put a blemish on the box score.

While she didn’t earn the no-hitter, Groenewegen was more than impressive Sunday, striking out nine Badgers en route to another win.

Her performance helped No. 14 Minnesota take the second game of a Sunday doubleheader against defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin.

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By: Jack Satzinger

The Gophers continued their tour of warmer climates over the weekend at the Boston Challenge.

Minnesota topped Dartmouth and Rutgers on Saturday in every race except the first varsity eight. The team followed up with a tough contest against Syracuse on Sunday, winning only two varsity races.

The Gophers made a personnel change in the first varsity eight just before leaving for Boston, and they didn’t have time to adjust their boat prior to race time. Because of that, senior Sarah Sobek was seated too high and had a difficult time making full strokes on the water.

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By: Megan Ryan

Minnesota’s women’s track and field head coach, Matt Bingle, said before the second meet of the outdoor season that his team wanted to shake off the rust.

It did much more than that.

The Gophers tallied 205 points and nine event titles over the weekend to blow past Kennesaw State (192), South Florida (159.5) and Cincinnati (113.5) at the South Florida Collegiate in Tampa, Fla.

Even better, Minnesota did it without its distance runners, who competed at the Stanford Invitational.

Bingle said he wasn’t surprised by his team’s results.

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By: David Nelson

On the biggest stage of the season, the Gophers women’s gymnastics team fell just short in its attempt to reach the NCAA championships.

Minnesota couldn’t match performances from Oklahoma and Illinois on Saturday as it finished third at the regional meet, one spot short of advancing as a team.

“We gave it 100 percent effort, and we came up a little bit short,” head coach Meg Stephenson said.

Though the team failed to advance, sophomores Lindsay Mable and Hanna Nordquist both qualified for the individual portion of the NCAA meet.

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By: Jace Frederick

No. 51 Minnesota (9-10, 3-4 Big Ten) faced a tough draw this weekend against a pair of top-25 opponents. And it only got tougher for the team, which was without junior Jack Hamburg — one of its top players.

The Gophers lost twice, falling 5-2 to No. 1 Ohio State on Friday and 4-1 to No. 24 Penn State on Sunday at Baseline Tennis Center.

Still, the team was far from discouraged.

“I think we’re really close,” junior Leandro Toledo said. “[This weekend] showed us that we’re right there. We just need a little game-changer.”

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By: Anne Millerbernd

The crowd was silent as the first ballet dancers gracefully shuffled across the stage in Northrop Auditorium on Friday.

After years of construction and $88.2 million spent, the iconic University of Minnesota structure celebrated its first day back in business.

The renovated building opened its doors again Friday with a performance from the American Ballet Theatre. The new facility boasts more stages with improved acoustics, new study areas and spaces dedicated for the College of Design, the Institute for Advanced Study and the University Honors Program.

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By: Roy Aker

Nestled under the snow, Kayla Altendorf’s pennycress plants were green and nearly ready for harvest when she tended to them Saturday afternoon.

University of Minnesota researchers like Altendorf, a graduate student in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, want to prove how plants like pennycress could thrive in the offseason, benefitting farmers and the state’s economy.

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By: Nicholas Studenski

As students flocked to Dinkytown on Friday night, their eager shouts and laughter were audible through the cracked window of what Daniel Farrar calls his office — a Ford Police Interceptor.

While University of Minnesota Police Department officers are allowed to listen to music when patrolling, Farrar said he prefers not to — so he can hear what’s going on outside.

A Minnesota Daily reporter and photographer rode along with Farrar on Friday night from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

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Above the threshold to Northrop Auditorium reads the script: “The University of Minnesota, founded in the faith that men are ennobled by understanding, dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth, devoted to the instruction of youth and the welfare of the state.” As a student, when I read these exalted words, I am reminded that the University’s great purpose is primarily to be a forum of knowledge. Its campus is a marketplace of free speech, shared ideas and open dialogue.

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As much as teachers and students at the University of Minnesota complain about Moodle’s finicky inefficiencies, there’s no doubt most classes would be worse off without it. Through Moodle, teachers are able to post reading assignments and various PDF files so students don’t have to pay for additional course materials.

Though updating Moodle may be a hassle, the system offers students the ability to track their progress and have precise knowledge about their grades.

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