2012

2012 was the year of the London Olympics and the Benghazi terrorist attack. The yin and the yang of life.

The Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey team won its fourth national championship. It was coach Brad Frost’s first title in his fifth season as head coach. The Gophers beat arch-rival Wisconsin 4-2 in the NCAA final. Megan Bozek, a defenseman from Illinois, earned all-America honors.

• Adrian Peterson ran for a near-record 2,097 yards for the Minnesota Vikings and was named MFL MVP. The Vikings were 10-6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs at Green Bay.

#17 (tie) Athlete

Adrian Peterson

Running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings ran for an astounding 2,097 yards, third best in NFL history, yet the Vikings could do more than get a wild card playoff spot and a first round loss to the Green Bay Packers, 24-10. 

Peterson joined the Vikings in 2007 after a three-year career at Oklahoma, where he gained more than 4,000 yards rushing and became the first freshman to finish as runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting. At least one analyst said he was one of the top three players in the 2007 draft, and maybe the best. But, his draft position was impacted by injuries suffered at Oklahoma, where he started just 22 of 31 games. The Vikings benefitted because he remained available when their pick, the #7 pick, came up, and they grabbed him.

As a rookie, he ran for 224 and then an NFL record 296 yards and a total of 1,341 yards, and was named offensive rookie of the year. He led the NFL in rushing in his second season with 1,760 yards, though he fumbled nine times. In 2009, playing alongside Brett Favre, Peterson’s rushing yardage declined to 1,383 but he scored a career high 18 touchdowns. He also lost a career high six fumbles. He significantly reduced his fumbling through the rest of his career, but he did not match his top rushing total again until 2012.

In 2012, Peterson ran wild, for a total of 2,097 yards, second best in NFL history, just nine yards short of Eric Dickerson’s record. He also ran for a career high of six yards per carry, and caught a career second-best 40 passes. He made his fifth Pro Bowl in six years, and was named first team all-pro for the third time.

In 2014, Peterson was charged with reckless or negligent injury to a child, entered into a plea deal and was suspended after playing just one game. He returned in 2015 to run for more than 1,400 yards, but suffered a knee injury in the third game of the 2016 season. He left the Vikings as a free agent after the 2016 season, but gained more than 1,000 yards for the eighth time with the Washington Redskins in 2018. He is now (after the 2019 season) #5 all-time with 14,216 yards rushing. Among the top 25, only Jim Brown and Barry Sanders gained more yards per carry. But, the Vikings won only one playoff game in the Peterson era. 

• The Minnesota Lynx returned to the WNBA finals, but lost to the Indiana Fever, three games to one.

• The Gopher volleyball team went 27-8 and made it to the Elite Eight in Hugh McCutcheon’s first year as coach. McCutcheon joined the Gophers after coaching the U.S. national team to gold medals in the 2010 and 2011 world championships and the 2012 Olympics. Concordia (St. Paul) won its sixth straight D2 volleyball title, while the St. Thomas volleyball team won the D3 national championship. 

• It was a great year for the Tommies. In addition to its championship volleyball team, the St. Thomas football teamfinished second nationally and the St. Thomas women’s basketball team went to the Final Four before losing. Football coach Glen Caruso was the D3 coach of the year for the third straight year.

• In the high school ranks, Osseo beat Hopkins in a thrilling 87-76, three overtime semi-final to deny the Royals a possible fourth straight title. 

Year	Athlete of the Year	Team of the Year	Coach of the Year	Event of the Year
2012	1. Peterson 2 (tie). Siemone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota Lynx  3. Megan Bozek, Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey	1. Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey (21-5-2, NCAA champion) 2 (tie). Concordia (St. Paul) volleyball St. Thomas volleyball (NCAA D2 and D3 champions) 3. Minnesota Lynx (32-11 including playoffs, Division and Conference champions)	1. Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota Gopher volleyball 2. Frost 3 (tie). Glen Caruso, St. Thomas football Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women’s basketball Thanh Pham, St. Thomas volleyball  (all MIAC champions)	1. The Minnesota Gophers beat Wisconsin 4-2 to win the NCAA women’s hockey championship. 2. Osseo beat Hopkins 87-86 in 3OT to deny Hopkins a 4thstraight state basketball title. 3. Mount Union beat St. Thomas 28-10 to win the NCAA D3 football title.