Marks, Heath Named USATF-Minnesota Athletes of the Month

Triple jumper Shani Marks and distance runner Elliott Heath were named USA Track & Field Minnesota's Athletes of the Month for March.

Marks, a former Apple Valley High School and Minnesota Golden Gopher standout, is recognized for winning the triple jump title at the AT&T USA Indoor Championships in Boston in February. Marks jumped 44 feet, 6 inches for the victory. Marks won the 2006 USA Outdoor title in the event as well.

Heath, a Winona Senior High School senior, is recognized for his surprise victory in the junior men’s division at the USA Cross Country Championships in Boulder, Colorado last month. Heath ran 26 minutes, 7 seconds over the muddy 8K course. With the victory he earned the right to compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya.

USA Track & Field Minnesota selects Athletes of the Month to honor excellence in track and field and its related sports in Minnesota.

(Disclosure: Pete Miller and I serve, along with Kevin Moorhead, on the USATF-Minnesota Athlete of the Month committee.)