June 20, 2017 by Philip Lewenstein

Opportunities Lead to Success for Gopher Women’s Teams

When I was growing up, few opportunities existed for women in athletics. I wondered which of my female classmates would have excelled in sports. Covering sports for the Minnesota Daily in the late 1960s, we rarely reported on female athletes because women’s teams did not exist.

Much has changed in the past 45 years since Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 was enacted into law on June 23, 1972. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in educational programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance and requires women and men to be provided equitable opportunities to participate in sports. Title IX does not, however, require institutions to offer identical sports, only equal opportunities to play.

In 2016-2017, the University of Minnesota offered 11 team sports for men and 12 for women. Women’s teams are volleyball, hockey, softball, soccer, swimming and diving, track and field, golf, tennis, gymnastics, basketball, cross country, and rowing.

The impact of Title IX goes far beyond college sports. It starts with increased opportunities for girls in youth sports and high school sports. My daughters, for example, had opportunities to participate in a variety of sports—opportunities that were nonexistent for my female counterparts in high school and college.

One of the biggest untold sports stories in 2016-2017 is the collective success of Gopher women’s teams. The women’s volleyball and hockey teams advanced to the NCAA Final Four while the softball and soccer teams qualified for NCAA tournaments. The other women’s teams had mixed success.

The success of the volleyball, hockey, softball, and soccer teams is highlighted in the summer 2017 Minnesota Alumni magazine article, “Ski-U-Ma’am!” by Pat Borzi. She concludes that these four sports have in common “dynamic coaches who root for each other to succeed, recruit high achievers, and demand excellence in competition and the classroom. And student athletes, in turn, who do not take the privilege of competing at the Division I level for granted and who support each other in large and small ways.”

The volleyball team finished its season with a 29-5 record and 17-3 in the Big Ten conference, tied for second in the Big Ten conference with Wisconsin behind champion Nebraska. The Gophers were 17-0 at home, extending their winning streak to 36 consecutive over three seasons. Advancing to the NCAA Final Four for the second straight year and fifth time in school history, the team lost 3-1 to eventual champion Stanford in the semifinals. For the second straight year, Minnesota held the second seed in the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile, the women’s hockey team finished 26-8-5, advancing to its sixth straight NCAA Women’s Frozen Four, losing to eventual champion Clarkson in the semifinals. The Gophers were seeking their third straight NCAA title, having won four of the last six national championships and seven titles overall. The team finished second in the WCHA with a 19-4-5 record, second to Wisconsin.

Most recently, the Gopher softball team compiled a 56-5 record, winning more games than any other softball team in Gopher history. The 56 wins are seven more than the previous high for wins in a season. The team won its first Big Ten regular season title since 1991 with a 22-1 record and won its third Big Ten tournament championship in four years. The Gophers entered their fifth straight NCAA regional tournament on a 25-game winning streak. Sent to the Tuscaloosa regional despite first and third place rankings in national polls, the team failed to advance with two one-run losses to Alabama.

The soccer team had one of its best seasons with a 16-3-4 record. For the first time, the Gophers won both Big Ten regular season and Big Ten conference tournament crowns. Going 7-1-3 in the Big Ten, the team tied for first with Northwestern and Penn State. The Gophers won the Big Ten tournament for the first time since 1995 but suffered a shoot-out loss to North Carolina State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The women’s swimming and diving team also was successful, finishing 10^th nationally with 14 all-American performers. The team was 8-1 in dual meets and was fourth in the Big Ten championships.

In track and field, the team finished second in the Big Ten outdoor championships and fourth in the indoor championships. Six Gopher women advanced to the NCAA outdoor championships. Last fall, the women’s cross country team placed fourth in the Big Ten championships.

Other women’s teams were less successful. The tennis team finished 13-12 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten, and fell in the first round of the conference tournament. The golf team finished eighth in the Big Ten championships. The rowing team was seventh in the Big Ten championships. The gymnastics team was eighth in the Big Ten championships and fourth in the NCAA regional tournament.

Of some concern is the basketball team. In Coach Marlene Stollings’s third season, the team finished 5-11 for tenth place in the Big Ten and 15-16 overall after going 23-10 in 2014-15 and 20-12 in 2015-16.

Despite significant progress and improvements in women’s sports since Title IX, the women’s teams receive much less media coverage than men’s teams. None of the Gopher hockey team’s championship games were televised—fans had to watch them on their computers. Some games have been televised on the Big Ten Network, and some NCAA tournament games have been featured on ESPN; but most events are under the radar.

The collective success of Gopher teams in 2016-17 may accelerate the focus on women’s sports. Clearly, the championships by Gopher women are a welcome achievement in a state where men’s titles are few and far between.