University of Minnesota Athletics
Ski-U-Mah Life
Ski-U-Mah Life is a new weekly feature from GopherSports.com that will highlight some of the more than 750 Minnesota student-athletes outside of their athletic accomplishments.
 |
The Hammer - June 6 If you dust off your old “intro to psychology” textbook you might find Abraham Maslow’s iconic statement that, “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” |
|
|
|
 |
Storming Norman - May 16 Making its eighth NCAA appearance under Geoff Young this past weekend, the Gophers were looking for icing on the cake of another outstanding season. |
|
|
|
 |
Baseball & Fishing - April 19 Baseball is a sport with plenty of down time. Rain delays, batting practices and long road trips are among the many occasions when a college player finds himself looking to occupy the time between at-bats or appearances on the mound. |
|
|
|
 |
Rachel Rowland - March 9 Rachel Rowland thought she knew pressure. Many times, the Parker, Colo., native found herself ready to compete with the outcome of her gymnastics meet on the line. A teammate before her may have fallen, or a high score needed to secure the win. |
|
|
|
 |
Tyler Nanne - February 21 Tyler Nanne was a little kid when Xcel Energy Center first opened in 2000, and can recall the first time he had the chance to skate on its sheet of ice. |
|
|
|
 |
Jake Short - December 5 Wrestling is a tradition in Jake Short's family, so much so that his grandparents, father and uncles received an award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a family. |
|
|
|
 |
Bello Twins - November 17 They sometimes will finish each other's sentences, but ask them a question and you'll often get wildly different answers. |
|
|
|
 |
Eitan Yudashkin - November 9 Eitan Yudashkin knew he wanted to compete in Division I swimming. He just had to wait longer than the typical high school athlete for that dream to become reality. |
|
|
|
 |
Jackson Allen - November 2 Freshman Jackson Allen grew up in an athletic family, and when it came time to make his college choice he was getting plenty of advice. |
|
|
|
 |
Sydney Baldwin - October 26 Watching "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice" and "ER" on TV, Sydney Baldwin thought she might like to emulate the characters in those shows. |
|
|
|
 |
David Plummer - October 18 Top five answers on the board -- name a Gopher alum who appeared on primetime television recently. |
|
|
|
 |
Hamza Ali - October 11 "I was craving something at some point, and my mom didn't want to go buy it," Hamza Ali said. "So I was like, `I'll just look up how to make it and do it myself.'" |
|
|
|
 |
Women's Golf - October 4 Beyond its first three tournaments, the Minnesota women’s golf team has gained plenty of valuable experience off the course. The Gophers had their focus on helping those in need recently while hosting their annual Minnesota Invitational. |
|
|
|
 |
Gophers Honor Military, Champions - September 27 People often use similar vocabulary to describe football and the military -- sometimes with real-life examples. Not far removed from the glory of winning the 1967 Big Ten championship, team captain-turned-infantryman Tom Sakal found himself in waist-deep mud in the sweltering jungles of Vietnam. |
|
|
|
 |
Rachel Wians - September 21 Rachel Wians hated going to the dentist as a kid. Growing up in Middleton, Wis., she never looked forward to her semi-annual checkups. It then may have come to a surprise to her parents when early in her college career, she decided to pursue a career in the dental field. |
|
|
|
 |
Campbell Fisher - September 12 Campbell Fisher was a little boy when four plane crashes shook the nation on Sept. 11, 2001. Still, the TV news footage of the terrorist attacks and their aftermath made an impression on him. Amid images of tragedy were examples of courage, and ubiquitous American flags. |
|
|
|
 |
State Fair - September 5 Nearly two million people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds from the Land of 10,000 Lakes and beyond converge just outside the gates of the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus for the Great Minnesota Get-Together. |
|
|
|
 |
Alice Zeimann - August 29 Alice Zeimann is 8,400 miles away from home, in the opposite hemisphere, in a country where "colour" and "favourite" drop their u's. All these differences were part of the deal with the New Zealander's longtime goal of playing collegiate volleyball in the United States. |
|
|
|
 |
Tori Burnett - August 23 On the shores of Lake Powell in Utah this summer, Tori Burnett was enjoying another blissful night on the road, setting up camp with her brother Derrick following another day of exploring North America's natural wonders. |
Dan Reisig is an associate director of athletic communications at the University of Minnesota, and a contributing writer to GopherSports.com and Ski-U-Mah Magazine.
Justine Buerkle is an assistant director of athletic communications at the University of Minnesota, and a contributing writer to GopherSports.com and Ski-U-Mah Magazine.