Jessie Diggins places 15th in 15k race at Nordic world ski championships

For the second race in a row, Jessie Diggins got the effort she wanted but not the result. The Afton skier finished 15th in Saturday's 15-kilometer skiathlon at the Nordic world ski championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, a placing she called "super disappointing" given her preparation.

Diggins was the top American finisher. Her time of 40 minutes, 35 seconds for the race — which combines a 7.5k classic and a 7.5k freestyle — was 1:59.5 behind winner Therese Johaug of Norway.

The weather was unusually warm again, with temperatures in the 40s creating challenging conditions for athletes and for the technicians who wax the skis.

Said Diggins, who doused herself with bottles of water and chewed on ice before the race to stay cool: "It's super disappointing when you dream big, and you know you're capable of more. Out of the things that are within my control,

"I went so hard, and I never stopped fighting. I never gave up. I'm really proud of that."

Her next race at the world championships will be Tuesday's 10k freestyle.

Rachel Blount

The No. 24 Gophers softball team lost to Ohio State 2-1 in 11 innings in the first game of a doubleheader but won the second game 8-0 in the Sleepy Hollow Complex in Leesburg, Fla.

In the loss, ace Amber Fiser pitched a four-hitter for Minnesota, striking out five and walking none. Both teams scored a run in the 10th, the Gophers on Katelyn Kemmetmueller's single.

The Gophers (2-2) scrapped for all those runs in the second game. Kemmetmueller had a two-run double and MaKenna Partain an RBI single, but the other runs came home on Sydney Strelow's sacrifice fly, two bases-loaded walks, a wild pitch and an error.

Jacob Knuth, a 6-4, 200-pound dual-threat quarterback for Harrisburg (S.D.) High School, committed to the Gophers on Twitter for the fall of 2022. As a junior, he passed for 2,403 yards and 28 touchdowns and had a 64.3 completion percentage. He also ran for 463 yards and four touchdowns for a team was the Class 11 AAA state runner-up.

The host Gophers finished in sixth place in the Big Ten women's swimming and diving meet with 555 points. Ohio State easily won the team title with 1,139.5 points, nearly 250 ahead of Michigan.

Minnesota did not compete in diving, which is being held at Purdue, on the last day of the meet. The Gophers had one confirmed COVID-19 case in its Tier 1 contingent and, out of an abundance of caution, withheld all their divers from competing.

Minnesota State Mankato won its fourth NSIC women's indoor track and field title in its home building. The Mavericks totaled 178 team points to finish 23 points ahead of second-place Augustana. The MSU men's team won its 10th consecutive conference title Friday.

The Gophers women's golf team was in 12th place with a score of 616 after the second round of the Florida State Match-up in Tallahassee. Sophomore Grace Curran was Minnesota's top individual, tied for 13th after shooting a par-72 for a 148 total.