Alexander Johnson of Minnetonka won the gold medal in the men's competition at the International Skating Union Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Johnson, a University of Minnesota freshman who represents the Braemar-City of Lakes Figure Skating Club, led the field by 5.44 points after the short program. He finished second in the free skate to Russia's Ivan Bariev, but his total score of 187.58 edged Bariev by .11 for the gold medal. The medal was the first in Junior Grand Prix competition for Johnson.
Etc. • The Gophers-Indiana football game at the Metrodome on Oct. 4 will kick off at 11 a.m. and be televised by the Big Ten Network.
• The Gophers volleyball team (10-2) dropped four spots to No. 12 in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25. Gophers libero Christine Tan was named Big Ten defensive player of the week for the second time this season.
• Gophers midfielder Kelsey Hood, a senior from Ankeny, Iowa, was Big Ten women's soccer defensive player of the week.
• The Gophers men's hockey team is ranked ninth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll. Boston College is the top-ranked team in the poll.
• One Minnesotan advanced and one was eliminated in the first round of match play at the USGA Women's Senior Amateur on Monday at the Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Claudia Pilot of Austin defeated Sue Raines of Florence, Ala., 5 and 4, while Mary Flynn of Eden Prairie lost to Carolyn Creekmore of Dallas 5 and 4.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
