Edina Boys Featured in RT

Running Times feature explores the Edina team's win at NXN Region Meet and the long wait to the finals in December HERE.  Also of interest for the college crowd there is a feature on the course where the DI NCAA XC Championships will be held this weekend  HERE.

Bates and Grove-McDonough Receive National Honors

The USTFCCCA Division I Regional Athletes and Coaches of the year announced.  Two of the honorees have Minnesota ties. Elk River High School grad Emma Bates, who runs for Boise State, was named West Region Woman's XC Athlete of the Year, and Gopher grad Andrea Grove-McDonough, who coaches at Iowa State, was named Midwest Region Women's Coach of the Year.

Grove-McDonough's bio is HERE, Bates' HERE.  Full list of USTFCCCA Award winners is HERE.

News Bits

Minnesota Daily story on NCAA Midwest Region meet is HERE.

Interviews on Minnesota participants in .US National Road Race Championships are (Joe Moore HERE, (Kelly Brinkman) HERE, (Mike Reneau) HERE, and (Ben Sathre) HERE.

Medtronic TC 10 Mile women's champ Laura Paulson was ninth at the Big Sur Half Marathon on Sunday.  Results are HERE. Pictures HERE.

Shakopee Valley News story on Trent Lusignan, a Shakopee HS grad who became the first SDSU runner to qualify for NCAA DI nationals since the NCAA competition was divided into Divisions I, II, and III.  Lusignan was second overall in the Midwest Region meet last weekend in Iowa. The story is HERE. And Maria Hauger helped her Virginia team qualify for NCAA DI team competition.  Shakopee Valley News story is HERE. Daily Progress story on the Virginia teams and Hauger is HERE. Hauger was selected as ACC Woman's Freshman of the Year in XC. Pictures of Hauger and the rest of the Virginia team are HERE on the Virginia site. Stats on Lusignan are HERE. SDSU SID story on the team's performance at NCAA Regions is HERE.

Elk River HS grad Emma Bates, running for Boise State, also made "the Big Dance" NCAA DI Nationals by winning the women's individual title in the West Region meet. Boise State SID report on the race is HERE. September Running Times interview with Bates is HERE.

USTFCCCA final DIII National Rankings are HERE. DI Rankings HERE.

NCAA DIII National Championship Qualifiers Announced

The list of teams and individuals who have qualified for the NCAA DIII National XC Championships is HERE.

.US National Road Race Championships 12K Summary

By Sam Rush

It was warm and humid in Alexandria, Virginia, even at 7 AM, for the start of the .US National Road Racing Championships 12K. There was moisture on the streets, making the course slippery in spots, but  pre-race favorites Shalane Flanagan and Molly Huddle shot to the front from the start of the women's race(which started 15 minutes before the men) and never looked back. 

By 5K they had a 30 second lead on the field. The two worked together and when  Flanagan stumbled on a slick spot around the the 180 degree turn between miles four and five, Huddle slowed to allow Shalane to catch up. By five miles the pair had stretched their lead over third place finisher, Laura Thweatt to 71 seconds. They passed the 10K together in 31:38. 

Huddle made her move with about one kilometer to go, opening a gap between her and Flanagan while saving a little for a kick because: "Shalane's strength in the longer distances," Huddle said.  In never came to that as Huddle held onto her lead to cross the finish line in a new world record of 37:50 with Flanagan eight seconds back, followed by Thweatt nearly a minute and a half later.

Team USA Minnesota's Meghan Peyton and Minnesota R.E.D's Kelly Brinkman finished in 40:32 for ninth  and 41:31 for 18th, respectively. Former Team USA Minnesota runner, Anne Bersagel, winner of the 2013 USA Marathon Championships at the Medtronic Twin Cities Mararthon, finished eighth, five seconds ahead of Peyton.

The men's race was a bit more chaotic at the start, as the elites lined up in front of the rest of the men's Masters and  community race participants. Two older men went down within the first 100 meters. The men's elite field started with 24 runners and a  pack of about 13 went through the first mile in 4:44. The group was headed by Aaron Braun and Abdi Abdirahman with Team USA Minnesota's Minnesotan Ben Sathre in ninth place. 

That group remained together through 5K, timed in 14:29. Sathre fell off the back of the lead pack and ran with Twin Cities Track Club's Mike Reneau for a while. The front group had started to separate around a 180 degree turn  near the  4.5 mile mark.  Abdi, Shadrack Biowott, Christopher Landry, Tyler Pennel, and Aaron Braun led a breakaway group of five. 

Around a bridge, approximately 10K into the race, Abdi was trying to pass Landry and hit a slick spot, becoming airborne.  He fell  hard and was unable to continue. He suffered visible cuts on both his face and right leg, but his main complaint was damage to his right wrist.  

Braun, who had been the agressor most of the race, broke away from the remaning three runners in the pack and cruised to victory, missing the American Record, held by Steve Spence, by two seconds. He might have broken it had he not slowed,  waving to the crowd down the finish straight. The Twin Cities Track Club's Joe Moore finished tenth in 35:08, followed by Reneau in 15th (36:23) and  Sathre in 21st (38:30). 

“The record wasn’t on my mind," said Braun. " The win was number one priority. Hindsight is 20/20. I could have kicked a little harder but I’m just so happy to have my first national title. That was what was most important today."

USATF photo album is HERE.  Photos by Shalane Flanagan's mom, Cheryl Treworgy, former member of the Hamline U faculty back in the 1970s)

.US Road Racing Champs Results

Anne Bersagel(40:27)  was eighth, Meghan Peyton(40:32)  ninth, and Kelly Brinkman(41:31) 18th at the .US Road Racing Championships 12K in Virginia on Sunday.  For the men, Joe Moore(35:08) was tenth, Mike Reneau(36:23) 15th, and Ben Sathre(38:30) 21st. Top 25 results are HERE(you have to select men's or women's race and click on 50 for the number of results to get the complete listings).  USATF race summary is HERE. More to come...

NCAA DI Midwest Region Photo Album by Gene Niemi

John Simons(175)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Derek Storkel(177)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Andrew Larson(172)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Gopher women at the start.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Molly Kayfes(656)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Maggie Bollig(651) and Laura Docherty(653).
Photo by Gene Niemi

Johnson Runs Away With Women's Race; Horton Holds Off Wintheiser

Frontrunners prevailed in the individual races at the NCAA DIII Central Region Championships on Saturday.  Both St. Scholastica's Chelsea Johnson and Central College's Eli Horton put down the challenge from the start.  Both expected challenges.  Both prevailed.

Johnson has lost only one race all year, on September 21 at the St. Olaf Invitational to St. Olaf's Noelle Olson and UMD's Briana Colbenson(a DII athlete), who were first and second at that meet, on the same course as the DIII nationals.  She couldn't match the two freshman phenoms who ran 21:34 and 21:48 to Johnson's 21:57.

Chelsea Johnson heads heading
for victory.  Photo by Gene Niemi

A week later Johnson turned the tables on Olson, winning the Griak Maroon III race with her lead from the gun style and hasn't looked back.  On Saturday, she bettered her September time on the St. Olaf course by nearly 40 seconds and was in command from the beginning.  She had anticipated a challenge from Luther's Tricia Serres, who also likes to go out hard, and Olson, but neither was able to really challenge her.

When asked if she had thought ahead to next weekend's NCAA DIII  Championships in Hanover, Indiana. "No, I guess I'll have to do some studying," she said.  It's more likely that the other women in the race will be studying her.  From the times at the other Region meets, Johnson will not be alone in the front in Indiana.  Could be a minimum of a half dozen other women able to handle her pace, but none of them with a time that indicates a single front runner for the DIII title.

But times mean less in cross country than they do in track where the "course" is pretty much the same.  Heading into Saturday's men's race St. Olaf's Grant Wintheiser would have been the favorite "on paper."  He'd beaten all of his potential challengers and was the defending champion, but Eli Horton took a chance and it paid off.  He blasted the first mile in 4:46 and shed the other members of the Central top three trio of himself, Austin O'Brien, and Cole Decker as he kept up the pace.

Eli Horton
Photo by Gene Niemi

"At about 5K I realized that he probably wasn't coming back," said Wintheiser, who had expected the trio to go out hard, but was surprised that one of them was able to hold the torrid early tempo.  Wintheiser was able to slowly reduce the gap that Horton had built up, but ended up about three seconds short of catching him.  Spent from the effort, which was the second fastest time he's run in cross country, Wintheiser laid down on his knees and elbows, head in hands, in the finish chute for a short time to recover.  The experience of having to chase down an opponent fresh in his mind.

It was good experience for the upcoming Nationals, he said.  As he may encounter a similar situation there, he's learned a bit about what not to do it faced with this kind of challenge again. Horton, who has been improving as the season has progressed, was energized by the outcome and will be hoping he can do it again next weekend.

Grant Wintheiser
Photo by Gene Niemi

NCAA DIII Central Region Photo Album

Large crowd surrounding leaving the finish area after the women's race.
Photo by Jim Ferstle

Luther, St. John's and Wartburg "cheer squads" on
the course. Photo by Jim Ferstle

Warm-booded, body-painted, elevated Wartburg
cheer squad
Photo by Jim Ferstle

Pack running early in the race.
Photo by Jim Ferstle

The Johnnie cheer squad waiting for their
runners to pass. Photo by Jim Ferstle

The runners gather in the finish chute. Wintheiser(240),
Phillip Meyer(238), Calvin Lehn(236), Frank Canady(102),
Jonah Barry(41). Photo by Jim Ferstle

NCAA DIII Central Region Results

Start of the men's race in the NCAA DIII Central Region Championships
Photo by Jim Ferstle

St. Olaf and Wartburg captured the team titles, while St. Scholastica's Chelsea Johnson won the women's individual championship and Central College's  Eli Horton won the men's at the NCAA Central Region Championships Saturday in Northfield.

Chelsea Johnson
Photo by Gene Niemi

Mild temperatures, overcast skies, and thick air greeted the women as they embarked on their 6K journey over the St. Olaf cross country course.  As she has all season, Johnson, a senior, set the pace with the rest of the women attempting to stick with her.  None could, as she won in 21:10.99, almost 20 seconds faster than runner-up Noelle Olson, a St. Olaf freshman, who ran 21:30.79 in second.

Noelle Olson
Photo by Gene Niemi

The women's team race was equally convincing as Wartburg seniors Sammi Bruett(22:13.29) and Haddie Vawter(22:22.94) finished sixth and seventh to lead them to the team title.  Wartburg's 86 points was 18 less than Carleton, which was led by a pack of three runners--sophomore Ruth Steinke(11th/22:35.14), freshman Winona Rachel(14th/22:37.09), and junior Colette Celichowski(15th/22:48.59)--who with junior Sally Donovan(21st/23:10.29) and freshman Kazia Mermel(43rd/23:43.64) scored 104 points.

The St. Olaf women finished third with 131 points and are likely to get an at large nomination for a spot in the NCAA DIII Championships.  The Ole men got one of the two guaranteed spots in the NCAA Championships by winning a battle with runner-up Central College.  Led by runner-up Grant Wintheiser(24:39.62), third-place finisher Jake Brown(24:47.17) and sixth placer, senior Brian Saksa(25:06.17) to a team score of 51 points, edging runner up Central by ten points.

Grant Wintheiser(240) and
Jake Brown(231)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Men's results are HERE. Women's are HERE.  More later....

.US Road Racing Championships Set for Sunday

By Sam Rush

The .US National Road Racing Championships are the brainchild of Creigh Kelly and Jim Estes as USATF's first season-ending US National Road Racing Championship race. Elite runners from the USARC series, who have qualified through series events, will compete to win the overall series championship. The event also attempts to connect the professional runners with the community. 

Athens Olympic bronze medallist in the marathon, Deena  Kastor, spoke at the opening press conference today in Virginia, noting that "the event is more than crowing the king and queen of the 2013 road racing circuit, but about the connecting the running community. . .inspiring the youth. . .the Olympians of tomorrow." She will be cheering and encouraging 30 girls from Mount Vernon Elementary School as they run the 5K. Overall there will be more than 1,200 runners participating in either the 5K or championship race 12K.

The 12Kcaps off the USA Road Circuit, a series of championship races ranging from the mile to marathon. Sunday's winners will win $20,000 with a bonus of $25,000 going to the winners(male and female) of the circuit.

Minnesota has sent five runners, USA 25K champion Meghan Peyton, USA Half Marathon 3rd place finisher Kelly Brinkman, Joe Moore, Mike Reneau, and Ben Sathre. Meghan is the top scoring Minnesotan in the circuit in sixth place with 25 points, 22 points out of first. With triple points available in .US Championship race Peyton has the opportunity to win the women's series.

Gopher Women Second, Men Sixth at NCAA DI Midwest Region Meet

Gopher women finished second and the men sixth at the NCAA DI Midwest Region Meet on Friday in Iowa.  Host Iowa State won the women's team race with 39 points, Minnesota scored 59. The top two teams in the Region earned automatic qualifying berths for the NCAA Championships. In the men's race Oklahoma State won with 45 points to 57 for runner-up Tulsa with Minnesota tied for fifth with Kansas, as each had 157 points(Kansas wins the tie breaker, which, according to NCAA rules is the team that has the majority of the winning places--i.e. If Kansas number one man is 12 and Minnesota's is 18, Kansas wins the place. Kansas won four of the five "races" between the teams' top five runners).

Junior Molly Kayfes ran a career-best 20:20.9 to finish second in the women's individual race. Minnesota had three finishers in the top ten and four Gopher women ran season-best times for 6K. Maggie Bollig, a senior,  improved by over 20 seconds to finish eighth in 20:35.4.  Senior Laura Docherty was ninth in a season-best 20:37.3. Redshirt sophomore Becca Dyson (20:58.3) was 19th and senior Katie Moraczewski (21:06.2) finished 23nd. Redshirt sophomore Liz Berkholtz was 34th in 21:21.9, and senior Kelli Budd shaved 5.1 seconds off her season-best in a time of 21:26.5.  

Senior Andrew Larsen led the men in 18th place in 30:51.6, followed by seniors Derek Storkel(23/31:02.7) and John Simons(31/31:10.2), sophomore Adam Zutz(42/31:19.2), junior Marcus Paulson(43/31:19.6).  Sophomore Christian Skaret was 87th in 32:16.9 and sophomore Alex Brend in 89th in 32:19.6.

“Overall, I was very pleased with our performance today. Our team was competitive, and I was happy to see the guys fight to the finish,” Minnesota men’s director of track & field and cross country Steve Plasencia said. “I thought our seniors put us in a good position, and I was very proud of the way they competed today.”

Results are HERE. 

Of the 62 teams(31 each for men and women) who qualified for the NCAA Championships in Indiana, Former U of M coach Gary Wilson notes on his Facebook page: "There are 31 women's) teams going to the Big Dance and three of those teams are coached by our U of Minnesota alums. Sarah Hopkins-Minnesota; Andrea Grove McDonough-Iowa State; Beth Alford-Sullivan- Penn State. Way to go women. Very proud of you!!!!"

List of qualifying teams is HERE.

News Bits

Minnesota Daily story on NCAA DI Region Meet is HERE.

MileSplit boy's team rankings HERE.

St Paul Pioneer Press article on St Paul City Council debate over complaints about race related disruptions in areas of the city is HERE

Worthington Daily Globe story on Worthington High grad Mubarik Musa, now running for the University of South Dakota is HERE.

Stillwater Gazette story on the team's performance at the NXN Heartland Regional Meet is HERE.

Perham Focus story on Perham team at the NXN Heartland Regional Meet is HERE.

MIAC Student Athlete Spotlight on St. Kate's Shannon Strickland is HERE.

Meghan Peyton blogs about "the trickle down economics of running" HERE.

Bersagel, Peterson USATF MN Athletes of the Month for October

USATF Minnesota named Annie Bersagel and Jonathan Peterson as Athletes of the Month for October 2013.

Bersagel, who grew up in Apple Valley and whose parents live in Victoria (where she claimed residence for the race), won the Twin Cities Marathon and captured the US Marathon Championship October 6. Bersagel, a former member of Team USA Minnesota, ran a PR of 2:30:52 and qualified for the 2016 US Olympic Trials. She currently lives and trains in Norway.

Peterson, of St. Paul, led from the gun to win the Twin Cities 10 Mile, also on October 6. The Team USA Minnesota member ran 49:02.

News Clips

Short Q & A with Meghan Peyton prior to the .US Road Championships is HERE.

Minnesota Daily feature on gopher senior Laura Docherty and her family is HERE.

Stillwater Gazette on Stillwater grad, current Gopher, Wayde Hall is HERE.

USTFCCCA NCAA DII Region awards honor U-Mary's Jennifer Agnew and UMD's Joanna Warmington HERE. DII national rankings are HERE.

MileSplit girl's team rankings are HERE, boy's individual is  HERE. girl's individual is HERE.

Pick Ten: DI/DIII Regionals

Our 2013 Down the Backstretch fantasy contests are coming to a close.  We'll wrap up the Pick Ten competition this week with a contest featuring the Division I and Division III Regional races.  Next week, the Yes/No game will conclude with a question relating to the collegiate National Cross Country Meets.

Entering the final weekend, the Pick Ten contest is tight.  Here are the current leaders:

Mike Henderson - 191

Bryan Tolcser - 178

Patrick Eastman - 174
Rich Cowles - 173
Daniel Gerber - 172

The University of Minnesota Gophers will run in the Midwest Regional on Friday, while Elk River's Emma Bates and her Boise State squad will compete in the West Regional on the same day.  Over in Division III, the MIAC and UMAC teams are all heading to Northfield, where St. Olaf will host the Central Regional on Saturday.

Pick Ten has a simple concept: predict the finish place for each of 10 Minnesota athletes at this weekends competitions. You will score points for each athlete who scores at or above the finish place you predict for them, following the 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.

For example: If you pick Laura Docherty to place first in the Midwest Regional race, and she places first, you get 10 points. If you pick Docherty to place first and she finishes second, you get zero points. If you pick Docherty to finish third in the race and she places first, second or third, you get 8 points by the scoring system above, since she placed at least as high as you predicted.

To play Pick Ten, cut and paste the list of names/events below into an e-mail and add your place predictions -- 1st or 2nd or 3rd...8th. Send your predictions by 11:30 A.M. CST on Friday, November 15th to DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com. Make sure your full name is in the e-mail. As with our Yes/No contests, we don't offer any prizes, so no one needs to fear running afoul of NCAA or other anti-gambling regulations.

We'll announce the winner of this week's contest and compile results of all of the year's Pick Ten contests to name a grand champion for 2013.

Pick 10 ... NCAA Regional Races:

Emma Bates - Boise State:
Laura Docherty - University of Minnesota:
Molly Kayfes - University of Minnesota:
University of Minnesota Men:
University of Minnesota Women:
Ailee Larson - St. Catherine
Brian Saksa - St. Olaf:
Matt Berens - Bethel:
St. Scholastica Women:
Carleton Men:

Here is some information to help you with your picks:

• 2013 Big Ten Championship (Men/Women)
• 2013 MIAC Championship (Men/Women)
• 2013 UMAC Championship (Men/Women)
• 2013 Mountain West Championship (Women)
• 2012 Division I Midwest Regional
• 2012 Division I West Regional (Women)
• 2012 Division III Central Regional (Men/Women)
• Current Division I Regional team rankings
• Current Division III Regional team ranking

The question in last week's Yes/No Contest was: Will two or more teams from Minnesota automatically qualify for the Division II National Meet?  The answer was yes -- UMD women and Winona State women both qualified for the National Meet.  UMD won the meet and Winona State finished fourth.  Ten players answered correctly this week and Dimitri Drekonja and Pat Foley joined Lori Anne Schwiesow in first place with 23 points.  Daniel Gerber, Chris Lundberg and Mary Varney have 21 points.

PHOTO ID:

Photo from the collection
of Gene Niemi

The fellow pictured here is an Olympian, a Minneapolis native, and Washburn High grad.  You might still see him at track meets in the area.  Who is he and where was the picture taken?

Eight individuals correctly identified the University of Minnesota assistant track coach Steve White in last week's Photo ID contest:  Dylan Dragswiek, Jesse Schoen, Bill Miles, Mike Henderson, Toby Hatlevig, Daniel Gerber, Pat Foley and Bryan Tolcser.  Bill Miles came through with the first correct answer.

Good luck!

For full standings of both contests, please visit DtB Fantasy Corner.

Gopher Grad Jack Szmanda Aims High

TCTC's Jack Szmanda doing one of his ten events.  Notice that there are
three hurdlers in this picture.  The guy in the middle being almost
totally blocked from view by Szmanda. Photo courtesy of Minnesota
Sports Guides

The Twin Cities Track Club's latest Alex Kurt interview is with decathlete Jack Szmanda HERE. Other than how to pronounce his last name--Sa man da--the interview is an introduction to the Gopher grad ten eventer. He talks about his matriculation from football to decathlon, Ashton Eaton, and the planning for the Brits "Pub Vault."

News Bits

Milesplit NXN Heartland Region boys' race story is HERE, girls' is HERE.

Photo collections from the NXN Heartland Region Meet are HERE.

Sun Sailor story on Wayzata teams' performances at MSHSL XC Championships is HERE.

Sun Current article on Richfield's Obsa Ali is HERE.

Worthington Daily Globe story on the history of the MSHSL XC Championships is HERE.

Minnesota Daily's pre Rocky's Run story is HERE, race story is HERE.

MIAC press release on the conference's Elite 22 Award to St Olaf's Grant Wintheiser and St Mary's Katherine Stoltz is HERE.

NSIC weekly wrap up, including summary of NCAA DII Regional results for each team is HERE

Gopher press release on the men's Fall Finale at St. John's is HERE. Press release for Rocky's Run is HERE

NCAA DII XC All Region honorees listed HERE..

Rochester Post Bulletin story on the Gamehaven True XC 5-Mile is HERE.

Sathre and Peyton Win Rocky's Run

Ben Sathre on his way to a win at Rocky's Run.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Team USA Minnesota's Ben Sathre won the men's race and Meghan Peyton the women's at Rocky's Run 6K on Sunday.  Sathre ran 18:38, Peyton 21:10.

Full results are HERE.

Meghan Peyton
Photo by Gene Niemi

Lars Mattison(1470) battles Otto Renner(1463).
Photo by Gene Niemi

The pack comes down the hill led by Michael Mack(1465) and
Johnny Davis(1300)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Minnesota Teams Take the Top Two Places at NXN Heartland Region's Boys and Girls Competition

Edina won the boys' team title and Wayzata the girls' at the NXN Heartland Region Meet in South Dakota on Sunday.  Wayzata was second in the boys' team race, and East Ridge was runner-up in the girls'.

Richfield's Obsa Ali was second in the boy's individual race in 15:11.6 to South Dakota's Addison DeHaven(15:08.9).  The Hasz twins from Alexandria were one, two in the girl's individual race.  Bethany ran 17:17.5, Meghan 17:21.5.  The twins broke away early, much as they had at the MSHL championships and extended their lead.  East Ridge came on in the last two miles to take the second automatic team qualifying spot.  Wayzata led the team race all the way.

For the boys everything was decided in the last mile.  Stillwater, who finished third, took it out in the first mile with Wayzata in third, and Edina in twelfth.  At mile two Wayzata had a narrow lead over both Stillwater and Edina, who continued to pick off runners in front of them on their way to the win. In the individual race, seven runners were within a second of each other with a mile and a tenth to go.

The top two teams plus the top five individuals not on either of those two teams qualify for the NXN Championship race December 7 in Portland.

Full results for the girls are HERE, boys are HERE  Milesplit photos and video interviews HERE.