Friday, December 15, 2017

Ruby Stauber Transferring to the University of Oregon

Ruby Stauber
Photo by Gene Niemi
                                  Ruby Stauber is transferring to the University of Oregon.





Thursday, December 14, 2017

USATF MN November 2017 Athletes of the Month

November 2017 Athletes of the Month

   With a slew of championship races sprinkled throughout the month of November, high school, college, and post-college athletes saw lots of opportunities to show their fitness and end the year on a good note. Khalid Hussein and Tierney Wolfgram did just that in winning the Minnesota State High School League Cross Country Championships on November 4th, earning them each the title of USATF Minnesota’s November Athlete of the Month.

Khalid Hussein from Wayzata High School had showed he was one of the best, if not the best, high school cross country runners in the state of Minnesota all season long, consistently being ranked in the top five throughout the fall. At this year’s MSHSL State Cross Country Championships, Hussein proved just that by winning the state title in the Class AA race in a time of 15:22.6. This performance, along with his 3rd place finish at the Nike Heartland Regional Championship race on November 12th that qualified him for the Nike Nationals Championship race in Portland, Oregon, earns him the title of USATF Minnesota’s November Athlete of the Month.

Before his success this fall, Hussein was runner-up in last spring’s 1600m race at the MSHSL Track & Field Championships as well as runner-up at the 2016 MSHSL Cross Country Championships.

Tierney Wolfgram, Math & Science Academy freshman, continued her dominance in Class A competition by defending her title with a convincing win at the MSHSL State Cross Country Championships in a blazing fast time of 17:31.6. She again showed her strength at the Nike Heartland Regional Championship race on November 12th where she claimed victory and qualified for the Nike National Championship meet over the best high school runners from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin in an even faster time of 16:48.67. These performances have earned Wolfgram the honor of USATF Minnesota’s November Athlete of the Month.

Following her wins at the Minnesota State Championships and the Nike Heartland Regional Championships, Wolfgram went on to continue her hot streak with a 9th place finish in the Footlocker Cross Country Midwest Championship race, qualifying her for the prestigious Footlocker National Cross Country Championships in San Diego, California on December 9th.

Congratulations to both Khalid and Tierney on great cross-country seasons and good luck this Spring on the track!

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Sunday, December 10, 2017

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 2018 Minnesota Track & Field Coaches Association Clinic!  

Join us to hear world class coaches including Olympic Coaches Harry Marra and Lucky Huber, Olympians Derek Miles, Carrie Tollefson, Mechelle Freeman, AG Kruger and Andrew Rock!  Plus an excellent lineup of some of the best college and high school coaches in the country!  

The Minnesota Track & Field Coaches Association Clinic will be held on January 25-27, 2018 at the Bloomington DoubleTree Hotel.  For the $100 registration fee, coaches will receive over 45 hours of world class coaching instruction from some of the top track & field coaches in the world!  In addition, coaches will receive over 900 pages of notes from a compilation of each presenters session, two free socials and admission to the Minnesota Track & Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame Banquet.  Keynote speaker is Minnesota Olympian, Carrie Tollefson!  Over two dozen vendors will be on hand for coaches and many door prizes will be given.  Out of State and international coaches are WELCOME!

Here is the Registration Link:   https://mshsca17.cordonco.com

Book rooms by January 15th to receive Clinic Special rate!


Out of State coaches can register online at the website listed above.  Choose event registration and select Out of State on the pull down menu when they ask for your school.  Scroll down to the O’s and you will find it.  

International Coaches should contact me and I will email you a registration:   ncraignelson@hotmail.com

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or issues.

Minnesota Golden Gopher Women’s Track & Field 2018 Indoor Performance List

Minnesota Golden Gopher Women’s Track & Field 2018 Indoor Performance List HERE

Saturday, December 09, 2017

The Year of Maggie Ewen

                                                        The Year of Maggie Ewen HERE

Footlocker Nationals Results

 Footlocker Nationals Girl's Results HERE
Boy's results HERE

Updated:USATF Club Nationals XC Results

USATF Club Nationals XC Results Men's 10K Open Results HERE. Women 6K Open Results HERE
Biya Symbassa 5th in men's race.
Trent Lusignan 23rd
Kevin Lewis 35th
Ryan Rutherford 42nd
Danny Docherty 55th
Walter Bugler 72th
Calvin Lehn 113th
Paul Nordquist 134th

Breanna Sieracki 24th in Women's
Katy Moen 30th

Des Moines Register weekend Update

Sunday, December 03, 2017

US Marathon Championship Results

US Marathon Championships Results HERE

Men
Malcolm Richards 6th in 2:13.28
Eric Finan 15th in 2:16.42
Eric Loeffler 25th in 2:17.34
Jon Gray 45th 2:20.08
Ben Sathre 48th 2:21.00

Women
Meghan Peyton 14th in 2:37.33


Saturday, December 02, 2017

NXN Results

NXN Results HERE

Wayzata Girls 7th, Edina 11th at NXN

By Eric Jahn
Both Wayzata and Edina moved up the last mile to finish in the top half of final race of the 2017 cross country season.  Emma Atkinson lead Wayzata with 37th place, and Emily Kompelien was 39th for Edina.
Manlius was leaking points after halfway, and Naperville North closed to within 5 at the end.  Final score of 89 to 94 was among the closest in the history of the meet.
Katelyn Touhy, the sophomore out of New York, lead from wire to crush the field in 16:44.  Her 41 second margin of victory was unprecedented.

The top Minnesota individuals were Anna Fenske in 10th, and Lauren Ping 11th with the same time.
Wayzata girl's team

Wayzata Boys 11th, Hussein 10th at NXN

By Eric Jahn
There was no recall when multiple runners went down in the first few seconds of the boy’s race at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland.  Four of the Wayzata athletes were taken out, and two of their scorers were dead last before they knew it in the field of 199.  The only one with an unencumbered start was Khalid Hussein, who used perfect positioning and steady progression to end up tenth in 15:28.
Aidan Troutner from the Southwest Region was the individual champion in 15:03, nipping Brody Hasty for the title.  Louden Valley (VA) easily won the team title with 89 points over Manlius (NY) with 159.
The first unattached individual from Minnesota was Acer Iverson of Roseville who ended up 61st in 16:16.

It’s starting to sprinkle again as the girl’s race is set to start in 20 minutes.  Many of the corners of the course are severely chewed up at this point, and will soon get worse.
Wayzata boy's team

Wayzata Boys Prepare in Secret

by Eric Jahn
It was dusk on the track at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton.  Wayzata XC Club coach Jon Lambert chased everyone from the site, including the press.  They wanted some privacy for their setup workout before NXN.

“Get lost!” he barked.  “If this works, other teams are going to try it.”

From a distance, it looks like they did a set of 300s at race pace, followed by a few faster reps.  

The course run-through the next day was uneventful.  Unlike other years there was little mud and no standing water.  The athletes were kept off the actual competition course, and only allowed on the cart path until race time.  But rain is forecast from nightfall on Friday through Saturday afternoon, and spikes up to 1” will be common during the race.


The elite athlete panel on Friday featured Jager, Quigley, Rupp, Hassay, and Mead.  The questions and answers ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime.  The message from most included consistency of training over time, avoidance of injury, and cross training only when necessary.

Friday, December 01, 2017