Vikings sign defensive tackle Jullian Taylor

The Vikings signed Jullian Taylor, 27, a 6-5, 300-pound defensive tackle, the team announced Thursday.

He was drafted by San Francisco in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft out of Temple and played for the 49ers for two years, appearing in 12 games. He was on Tennessee's offseason roster in 2021.

The Vikings also announced the hiring of Uriah Myrie as head athletic trainer and Dan Ridenour as sports science coordinator/assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Myrie previously worked for the Houston Texans for five years. Ridenour was the assistant director of the Nebraska Athletic Performance Lab.

Fifth-year senior Lexy Ramler of the Gophers was named the NCAA Region 2 Gymnast of the Year for the third time in her career. Ramler, ranked No. 5 in the nation in the all-around, also received the honor in 2020 and 2019.

Minnesota coach Jenny Hansen was named Region 2 Co-Coach of the Year, while the members of her staff — Rich Stenger, Geralen Stack-Eaton and Kiki Parenteau — were named Co-Assistant Coaches of the Year.

Marc Ryan, the senior associate athletic director with oversight of gymnastics, was named Region 2 Co-Administrator of the Year.

The Gophers will compete in the NCAA national meet April 14-16 in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Auburn freshman Suni Lee, the Beijing Olympics gold medal winner in all-around, was named the Region 4 Gymnast of the Year. She is from St. Paul.

The Gophers baseball team plays its home Big Ten opener against Maryland at 3 p.m. Friday at Siebert Field.

John Anderson of Minnesota (8-18, 0-3 Big Ten) is two wins away from becoming the first conference coach with 600 league wins. The Terrapins (23-6, 2-1) are led by fifth-year coach Rob Vaughn, 34, the youngest Power 5 coach in the country

Maryland leads the all-time series 8-4. The Terrapins swept three games from Minnesota in College Park in 2021.

Rochester Mayo senior Ava Gustafson, who placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke in the Class 2A girls' swimming state meet last fall, has signed with the Gophers.

St. John's starter Casey Trapp was named to D3baseball.com's team of the week. The junior from Centennial struck out a career-high 13 batters in a 6-0 shutout of Concordia (Moorhead). Trapp allowed two hits and two walks.