Athletics | 2022/06/22 07:44:00
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The University of Minnesota ended its 50th anniversary of women’s athletics with a meeting on Monday, June 21, 2022, at Athletes Village. During the 2021-22 season, Gopher Athletics highlighted the success of people and programs in the first 50 years of women in Gopher sports.
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Julie Manning, Deputy Director of Athletics and Women’s General Manager, kicked off the events and welcomed attendees, women’s gymnastics, women’s hockey and women’s basketball athletes, and sponsors from TruStone and Delta Dental. Mark Coyle, Director of Athletics and President of Joan Gabel University, also spoke about the importance of women in sports, as well as the outstanding women graduates of the University of Minnesota throughout its history. Gabel is also the first woman to be president of a university in the history of Minnesota. Manning also recognized four honorary committee members: Terry Ganley, Kathie Eiland-Madison, Dr. Liza Arendt, and Lea B Olsen.
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Ganley, Olsen, and Eiland-Madison were all former Gopher athletes, while Dr. Arendt has been a basic medical professional at the University of Minnesota as an orthopedic surgeon and has led our medical team for years. Her student, Dr. Kelsey Wise, also spoke to the participants, as she is the 50th woman to graduate from the orthopedic residency program.
Gopher Women’s Sports History & # xD;
The University of Minnesota officially approved women’s athletics in 1971 through the Department of Physical Education and was given a $ 5,000 budget from the Board of Regents’ reserve fund. From then on, swimming and diving were established as the first official women’s inter-university sport in 1971, followed by their first women’s coach, Jean Freeman, in 1973. The University of Minnesota officially established the Department of Women’s Athletics in July 1975.
