Minnesota Scene: Two Gophers place high in NCAA women's swim meet

Gophers freshman Brooke Zeiger finished sixth in the 400-yard individual medley (4 minutes, 4.57 seconds) on Friday night at the NCAA women's swimming and diving meet in Greensboro, N.C. She is the Big Ten champion in that event and the program record holder.

Junior Kierra Smith was the seventh in the 100 breaststroke (59:02). Sophomore Yu Zhou was seventh, with 348.15 points, into the 3-meter diving finals late Friday.

The No. 15 Gophers routed host Illinois 14-2 on Friday in five innings in their Big Ten softball opener, scoring nine runs in the third inning, seven on three homers. Tyler Walker hit a two-run homer, winning pitcher Sara Groenewegen a three-run homer and Paige Palkovich another two-run shot.

Groenewegen hit a second three-run homer in the fourth inning — giving her six RBI — while Walker added a solo shot in the fifth for Minnesota (25-4), which has an 11-game winning streak.

In the circle, Groenewegen pitched only the first three innings, giving up three hits and striking out eight before Nikki Anderson relieved her.

The loss dropped the Illini to 8-17.

Hamline (14-10-4) will try to continue its storybook season in men's hockey when the Pipers play at Wisconsin-Stevens Point (21-6-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.

They also have a win over the Pointers, 5-4 on Jan. 10. Hamline, which is making its second appearance in the national tournament, scored three goals in the third period of that game.

The Pointers (21-6-1) are ranked No. 3 in the country in the D3hockey.com poll and were national runners-up a year ago.

• Steve DeBus, the women's hockey coach at Hamline, has resigned after five seasons. The Pipers were 6-17-2 this past season, 30-80-14 in DeBus' career at the school.

DeBus was a three-year starter for the Gophers from 1995-98 and afterward played pro hockey and was a St. Olaf hockey assistant.

• St. Thomas guard Jenna Dockter, a senior from Eastview, was named one of three finalists for the Division III national player of the year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She also is on the 10-player All-America team in her division.