Seaman, Michta Win USA 15K Race Walk

Two-time Olympian Tim Seaman and New York's Maria Michta won titles at Sunday's USA 15K Race Walk Championships in Minneapolis.

Seaman (pictured), the reigning USA 20K champion, walked the course is 1:11:17. Christopher Tegtmeier of Jansen, Nebraska was second in 1:13:49.

Michta walked the route in 1:16:07, ahead of Beavercreek, Ohio's Susan Randall who clocked 1:22:45.

The event also served as the USA 15K Junior Race Walking Championships, the USA vs. Canada Race Walk Junior Dual, and the World Master Athletics North America, Central America and Caribbean Region 15K Race Walking Championships.

Complete results can be found, HERE, and the Twin Cities Race Walkers web-site.

Gary Westland has a photo gallery from the event, HERE.

Photo by Gary Westland.

Seaman Headlines USA 15K Race Walk in Mpls

Tim Seaman, the reigning USA 20K race walking champion, is the favorite at Sunday's USA 15K race walking championship to be held on the Greenway Trail in Minneapolis.

The event will serve as the USA 15K Junior Race Walking Championships, the USA vs. Canada Race Walk Junior Dual, and the World Master Athletics North America, Central America and Caribbean Region 15K Race Walking Championships.

In addition, elite race walkers who wish to walk an additional 5K can get a mark for 20K.

Information on the event is available HERE.

Seaman, a two-time Olympian, won the 20K title in Eugene in 1:26:14.26. The Chula Vista, California resident is not competing at the upcoming IAAF World Championships in the event because he lacks a qualifying mark.

"There are several Olympic hopefuls registered, with more planning to show up and register later," race director Bruce Leasure told DtB. "Susan Randall and Ray Sharp are two of the old guard, with lots of experience. Up and comers include anyone on the junior teams, and Katie Burnett, Jacob Grunderkline, Katie Malinowski, Maria Michta, Tina Peters, John Randall, Erika Shaver, and Christopher Tegtmeier."

Leasure noted that 81-year-old Jack Starr could set an age-group record at the event.

Action at the USA 15K Race Walk Championships begins at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Dunn 39th in Olympic 50K Walk

Carleton College graduate Philip Dunn finished 39th in today's Olympic 50K racewalk final. Dunn, who was competing in his third Olympics, clocked 4:08:32.

"The conditions were pretty good, actually,"Dunn told USA Track and Field after the event. "I think we had a good time, and the times at the front show that. It wasn't as humid as it has been."

"I'm elated," he continued. "one, because it's over. Coming in, I knew it had been a long year. This is my third 50K this year. I think it was as good an effort as when I got the "A" qualifier at the World Cup this year. 50K racing is always a challenge. It's brutal. World champions were dropping left and right. I had a strong and steady race."

Dunn finished 28th in the Sydney Olympics 50K in 2000 and 35th in the event at the Athens Games in 2004. His 50K PR is 3:56:13.

Dunn is unsure if today's race will be his last, however.

"Four years ago I was pretty sure I was done," he allowed, "but I love it so much. The other athletes, the travel, the camaraderie, I don't know how you replace that. Maybe I'll find something else. So we'll see."

50K results can be found HERE.

Stroupe and Casey Win USA 15km Race Walking Championships

Patrick Stroupe of Armstrong, Missouri, and Stephanie Casey of Des Moines, Iowa, walked away with national titles at the USA 15km Race Walking Championships, hosted by Twin Cities Race Walkers (TCRW) on Sunday. The event attracted race walkers from around the country to Minneapolis' Greenway Trail.

Stroupe led the field in covering the 15km course in 1:10:26, including an impressive 5km split of 21:56. Casey (pictured) was the women's champion, clocking 1:17:52.

The TCRW Results Page features highlights of the races, as well as complete results and a link to an extensive photo gallery by Gary Westlund.

Photo by Gary Westlund

15K Walk Championships on Tap Sunday

Although Minnesota’s greatest claim to race walking fame – Carleton College graduate Philip Dunn – is in Beijing preparing for next week’s Olympic 50K race, a field of strong walkers will nonetheless gather Sunday in Minneapolis for the USA 15K Race Walking Championships.

The event, hosted by Twin Cities Race Walkers, will serve as a national championship for the 15K distance for senior men and women as well as for junior boys and girls. The race will also serve as a regional masters championships and the USATF-Minnesota championship. The race also serves as a leg of the 2008 USA Race Walking Grand Prix.

The race begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, August 17 on the Greenway Trail. Full details for the event can be found HERE.

The Elite Field … 2004 Olympian Teresa Vail, the runaway leader in the 2008 Grand Prix, headlines the women's field. Vail, the 2008 Olympic Trials runner-up at 20K, is a three-time USA champion. Vail finished 43rd in the Athens games, walking 20K in 1:38:47. Susan Randall and Kristen Furseth-Mullaney, both of whom competed at the 2008 Trials, appear to be Vail’s most likely challengers.

Patrick Stroupe, a Missourian who finished 3rd in the Olympic Trials 20K race in Eugene, headlines the men’s field. He is currently tied for the lead in the men's Grand Prix.

Race director Bruce Leasure, the USATF-Minnesota Race Walking Chairman, also highlighted the following entrants: Canadian age-group racer Sherry Watts who will compete with hopes of setting a Canadian M55 record for the distance … Eden Prairie’s Anita Macias-Howard, currently the fastest female race walker in Minnesota … and Phil Rogosheske, a 1972 Olympian as a flatwater kayaker and still the Gustavus Adolphus College high jump school-record-holder at 6-8, who has lately joined the race walking ranks

The youngest walker registered is John Randall, 16, of Beavercreek, Ohio, the 8th place finisher at the Nike Indoor National 1 mile walk; the oldest is William Hosken, 71, from Zion, Illinois.

Finnerty, Mellon, Carlson Named All-USA

The fastest high school miler in Minnesota history, Rob Finnerty, the fastest-ever prep half-miler in the state, Zach Mellon, and perhaps the greatest Minnesota high school runner to never win a state title, Jordan Carlson, were named to the USA Today All-USA track team.

Burnsville High School's Finnerty earned his accolades with a 4:01.09 mile victory at the Midwest Distance Gala in Lisle, Illinois that led the nation in the event and which is the #7 performance all-time for an American prep in the mile/1600 meters. Finnerty won the Nike Outdoor National title in the mile as well. He was also the season's 4th-fastest two miler at 8:50.96.

Finnerty broke Garry Bjorklund's 39-year-old state all-time record in the event as well.

(See a related story about Bjorklund and Finnerty on the USATF-Minnesota web-site HERE.)

Mellon, a junior at Buffalo High School, ended the 2008 season as the #2-ranked half-miler in country, by virtue of his 1:48.64 runner-up finish at the U.S. Junior Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Mellon bettered Jason Owen's all-time record in the 800m with the performance. He had already broken Owen's MSHSL State Meet record with a 1:49.69 clocking.

Rosemount High School's Carlson earned the USA Today honors by virtue of his 4:07.18 mile at he Midwest Distance Gala and his 3rd place finish at Nike Outdoor Nationals. Carlson's All-USA honor is welcome recognition for the #3 prep miler in Minnesota history who's exploits happened in the shadow of Finnerty's performances.

You can find the full listing of All-USA selections HERE.

Photos by Gene Niemi. Above: Finnerty leading Carlson, below: Mellon.

Oregonian Talks to Philip Dunn

The Portland Oregonian recently caught up with Carleton College alum Philip Dunn in THIS story.

Dunn (pictured), an Olympian in the 50K racewalk in 2000 and 2004, recently completed the two-step process he needed to punch his ticket for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Dunn, you'll remember, won the U.S. Olympic 50K Trials in Miami in February, but still needed to better the 4:o7:00 Olympic qualifying mark. Earlier this month he accomplished that task when he walked 4:05:10 at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary, Russia.

Also in the News ... Chad Austin of Running Minnesota just posted THIS interview with marathoner-in-all-50-states Steve Hibbs.

Photo courtesy of USA Track and Field.

Tuesday News Round-Up

So they aren't lost in the shuffle of another busy week of running and track in Minnesota, here are some miscellaneous and sundry news items that have come to our attention ...

Racewalking on TV ... WCCO Channel 4's Rosen's Sports Sunday featured THIS story on a local racewalking organization. Though it not mentioned in the video clip, so far a racewalker -- Carleton College alum Philip Dunn -- is the lone Minnesota member of the 2008 US Olympic Track and Field team.

Kabia, Radocaj named USATF Athletes of the Month ... USA Track & Field Minnesota announced that Gopher stars Ibrahim Kabia and Ruby Radocaj are USATF Minnesota's Athletes of the Month for May.

Kabia, a University of Minnesota junior, was recognized for his victory in the 100 meters at the Drake Relays last month. Kabia, a Champlin Park High School alum, clocked 10.44 to win the title at the 99th running of the Des Moines, Iowa event. Last weekend in Champaign, Illinois, Kabia won the Big Ten 100m title.

Radocaj, a senior at Minnesota, was honored for her victory in the javelin throw at the Drake Relays. Radocaj, who was the runner-up at the Big Ten Championships, threw 179-11 to win at Drake.

The UMAC Honors Its Best ... The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference recently named Megan Croatt of the University of Minnesota-Morris and Alex Tuttle of St. Scholastica its Performers of the Meet at the UMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Superior, Wisconsin earlier this month.

Croatt won at 100 and 200 meters and carried the baton on Morris' victorious 4 x 100m relay team. Tuttle won the 400m and 800m and anchored the Saints' winning 4 x 400m relay team.

Northwestern coach Steve Thiessen was named men's coach of the year by the UMAC; Kirk Nauman of St. Scholastica was named the women's coach of the year.

Results from the meet are available here -- MEN * WOMEN

Short-Cut: Results Links for May 9-11

The small colleges take center stage this weekend with their conference outdoor championship meets ...

The final North Central Conference Outdoor Championship gets underway today in Sioux Falls. Minnesota State Mankato will look to defend its 2007 men's title and complete a school-year trifecta by winning the loop's cross country, indoor, and outdoor titles for the year. Mankato's women will look to turn the tables on South Dakota, the women's champs outdoors last year and indoors in 2008.

At the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Hamline, St. John's will try to defend its 2007 title against perennial power St. Thomas. In women's competition, St. Thomas, which has won each and every one of the 24 MIAC Outdoor Championships contested is again the heavy favorite.

At the North Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships, hosts Wayne State's men and the University of Mary's women will try to defend their 2007 titles.

Here are our links to all the results ...

Friday:
NCC Outdoor Championships: Results
Update: Mankato men, South Dakota women poised to win accelerated NCC meet ... nearly all events run as finals Friday to avoid Saturday's forecast bad weather.

NSIC Outdoor Championships: Info Page * Results
Update: MSU-Moorhead women 2nd, men 3rd after Day 1.

MIAC Outdoor Championships: Info Page * Results
Update: Johnnies, Tommie women lead after Day 1.

Minnesota Open: Men's Results * Women's Results
Update: Buzard 47.13, Studt 60-4 1/2, Peterson 16-10 3/4
Update: Rue 13-7 1/4, Radocaj 180-0, Dorniden 54.46

Oregon Twilight: Results
Update: Laura Hermanson wins in 2:06.41

Saturday:
NCC Outdoor Championships: Results
Update: Mankato men win final NCC title, Mankato women 2nd to South Dakota.

NSIC Outdoor Championships: Info Page * Results
Update: Moorhead women 2nd, men 4th.

MIAC Outdoor Championships: Info Page * Results
Update: Tommie women win 25th straight title, Tommie men tip St. John's.

USA 25K Championships: Results
Update: Jeremy Polson 15th in 1:21:14.

California Relays: Results
Update: Shani Marks wins with 45-9 1/4; Mitch Potter runs 46.97.

Sunday:
IAAF World Race Walking Cup: Results
Update: Philip Dunn walks 4:05:10, attains Olympic B standard.

Dunn Chases Olympic Standard to Russia

If everything works out right, Minnesota will be able to lay claim to its first 2008 track and field Olympian on Sunday morning.

Then, in the Men's 50K event at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary, Russia, Carleton College alum Philip Dunn will seek to better the Olympic B Standard of 4:07:00 and claim a spot on his third Olympic team.

Dunn won the U.S. Olympic Trials in sticky Miami conditions with a time of 4:12:55, but still needs to make the Olympic standard.

You can read DtB's story of the Trials race HERE.

USA Track and Field recently released THIS Preview for the World Cup.

Dunn was in a similar position prior to the 2004 Games. Then, he had finished third at the Olympic Trials 50K, but punched his Athens Olympics ticket when he bettered the Olympic A standard with a 3:59:12 clocking at a later race.

The San Diego-based Dunn was a member of the 2000 Sydney Olympic team as well. He finished 28th in the 5oK in Sydney and was 35th in Athens.

Dunn was the 1999 Pan American Games bronze medalist. At last year's Pan Am Games he finished 8th in the 50K. We interviewed him prior to that event, HERE.

Philip Dunn: Good News, Bad News at Trials

The good news for Carleton College alum Philip Dunn is that he's the 2008 Olympic Trials champion in the 50K walk, he's $14,000 richer for the effort, and he's got the inside track for a 50k spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for Beijing this summer.

The bad news is he still needs to notch an Olympic qualifying time of 4:07:00 or better to make his third Olympic Team, and that's no walk in the park.

Dunn (pictured) earned his Trials victory Saturday in sticky Miami, Florida when he surged away from eventual runner-up Matt Boyles over the final 12 kilometers of race. The race was contested in humid conditions in temperatures that rose to 80 degrees.

"The 50 km is always a challenging race. It's a brutal endurance contest," Dunn told USATF's Tom Surber. "I was in the thick of it the entire way and that's where I wanted to be. It went exactly how I envisioned it. In a 50K, the last half is when the race starts. I really made a move at 38K and that was the difference."

According to Dunn's comments in THIS Associated Press story, the 1999 Pan American Games bronze medalist achieved his main goal for the day.

"Before every race, you make a set of goals," Dunn is quoted as saying. "The main goal was to win for me, to come out on top. The secondary goal was to hit the time standard and seal the deal, make Beijing today."

Dunn plans to walk for the Olympic qualifying standard at IAAF World Race Walking Cup, May 10-11 in Cheboksary, Russia.

Dunn faced the same scenario after a third place finish at the 2004 Olympic Trials. Then, Dunn bettered the Olympic standard and punched his ticket for the Olympic Games in Athens with a 3:59:12 performance at a Tijuana, Mexico competition.

Dunn finished 35th in Athens and 28th at the Sydney Games.

Photo courtesy of USA Track & Field.

The Short-Cut: Results Links for February 8-10

Along with Philip Dunn's bid to make a third Olympic team, the contest of the weekend is Notre Dame's Meyo Invitational, where the defending Big Ten Indoor champion Gopher women's team will face its strongest competition of the season so far.

Four-time all-American Heather Dorniden will compete at her specialty, the 800 meters, Jamie Cheever, the new school record-holder at 3000m, will race the mile, mutli-event star Liz Roehrig will compete in three events, and the Gopher vault crew, led by Alicia Rue, will take on the field.

Friday:
Meyo Invitational: Gopher Women's Preview * FloTrack Coverage * Results
Update: Swenson wins 1000m; Michigan beats Gopher DMR

Saturday:
USA 50K Olympic Racewalk Trials: Preview * Results
Update: Dunn wins, but still needs Olympic qualifying mark.

Meyo Invitational: FloTrack Coverage * Results
Update: Cheever runs 4:39.54 to break Eder's U of M mile mark; Dorniden beats Gall; Watson runs 4:00.59

Meet of the Hearts (Carleton): Men * Women
Ted Nelson Classic (MSU-Mankato): Results
Update: Rains wins pole vault with 13-6 1/4

St. John's Triangular: Results
UW-Stout Border Battle: Results
Climb for a Cure: Results

Dunn to Walk for 3rd Straight Olympic Team; Casper 9th in Empire State Building Climb

It's Carleton College day on DtB ...

Carleton alum Philip Dunn will compete for a spot on his third Olympic team tomorrow at the USA Olympic 50K Walk Trails in Miami.

Dunn made the USA 50K squad for the 2000 and 2004 Games; he finished 28th at the Sydney Games and 35th in Athens. He was the bronze medalist in the 1999 Pan American Games.

Dunn is listed among a group of favorites for a spot according to the team in THIS USA Track and Field media release. A prize purse of $55,000 is at stake in the event, with the winner taking home a $15,000 check.

Down the Backstretch interviewed Dunn ahead of the Pan American Games last year, HERE, where he ultimately finished 8th.

Also ... Keeping our focus on Carleton College alums, we saw that Dan Casper, a 9-time track and field all-American at the school and an NCAA Indoor Champion at 1500 meters, finished 9th at the Empire State Building Run-Up.

His wife Linda Sone finished 16th in the women's competition.

The Northfield News ran THIS feature on the couple Wednesday. The Star-Tribune ran THIS story on the duo yesterday.

Not ones to rest on their stair-climbing laurels, the Northfield couple, who both work as firefighters in Minneapolis, will compete Saturday in the Climb for a Cure in Minneapolis, a race up the stairs of the IDS tower.

Our thighs are aching just thinking about it!

Dunn Looking for Another Pan Am Medal

The Pan American Games are underway and Team USA has already earned two gold medals -- Sara Slattery and Ed Moran won the 10,000 and 5000 meters yesterday, respectively.

Four Minnesota athletes are wearing the red, white, and blue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this week: 50K racewalker Philip Dunn (pictured), 5000 meter runner Cack Ferrell, marathoner Chris Lundstrom, and triple jumper Shani Marks.

We recently traded e-mail with Dunn, a Carleton College graduate, about the Pan Am Games. Dunn won a bronze medal in the 50K walk at the 1999 Pan Ams in Winnipeg and is looking for further success when he competes Saturday.

DtB: Congrats on making the Pan Ams team. Are you looking forward to competing in those games again after the success you had in them 8 years ago?

Dunn: Absolutely. The Pan Am Games have a special place in my heart because of the success I had eight years ago in Winnipeg. I don't have many photos or posters from races up around the house, but I do have one from the awards ceremony at the 1999 Pan Ams. It's actually a photo of me up on the Jumbo-tron at the stadium. I'm waving to the crowd as my name is announced. That doesn't happen very often, so it was pretty special. The best thing about the photo, though, is that it was taken by my friend Jefferson Perez, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and 2003 & 2005 World Champion from Ecuador and he signed it, "Esta medalla la primera de muchas" (This medal the first of many!)

I've been to the Pan Ams twice before and one of the best things about them is that they are that rare combination of high-level competition and low-key congeniality. Most of the events are very competitive and each athlete strives to do his/her best, but the field sizes are smaller and we compete against each other often enough that it has the feel of a much smaller meet.

DtB: Describe how that 1999 race played out?

Dunn: The race was in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the end of July so it was hot and humid. There were probably only ten guys in the race with the two favorites from Mexico: Joel Sanchez and Carlos Mercenario. Canadian Tim Berrett was also likely to be a strong threat but there was a rumor he was using the race as a World Champs tune-up and might drop out at 35km. Other contenders included Hector Moreno from Colombia and a strong Cuban walker. My goal was to be cautious early because of the heat and move up throughout the race. The 50km often goes to the guy who can keep moving at the same pace when attrition takes out a lot of guys late in the race.

At the halfway mark, I was struggling a bit back in sixth place but I just kept moving along. I was locked in a battle with the Colombian and Cuban with the Mexicans and Canadian out in front of me. At 32km, the race blew open. The two Mexicans surged and pulled away from Berrett who ended up dropping out at 35km. Around that same time, I was able to drop the rest of the field and move into third where I stayed until the finish. I ended up throwing up near the finish and spent an hour or two in the medical tent with a couple IVs to rehydrate.

Meanwhile, there was some post-race controversy about one of the Mexicans receiving coaching from the sidelines (a new rule that had never previously been enforced) and he was temporarily disqualified moving me up into the silver medal position. He was reinstated by the time I left the medical tent. I've had much better races and been in better shape, but it was great to get a medal at a big international race.

DtB: What's your status for the World Championships this year?

Dunn: Despite finishing second at Nationals, I haven't been able to get the 'A' or 'B' standard this past year, so I won't be able to race in Osaka at Worlds. The U.S. is only sending one guy in the 50km and rumor has it he plans to pace a training partner from Norway before dropping out at 30km.

DtB: We understand congratulations are in order with the recent birth of your son. Has he changed things for you as an athlete already?

Dunn: Oh yeah! Our little bundle of sleeping, eating and pooping is keeping us busy already. My wife is wonderful and has been letting me get some rest during the night, but it's still hard to get the kind of sleep I need to prepare for a major race. In order to stay injury-free and healthy enough to train at a high level, I need every bit of recovery I can get. My respect for elite athletes who have kids and careers has gone way up in the past week.

Photo courtesy of USA Track & Field.

Dunn 4th at Pan American Cup Walk

Carleton College alum and two-time Olympian Philip Dunn placed 4th in the 50K event at the Pan American Race Walking Cup in Balneario Camboriu, Brazil on Sunday. (Racewalk results come to DtB more slowly because, ah, they can't lift their feet off the ground.)

Dunn (pictured) clocked 4:14:58.

The USA squad won the team 50K title at the event -- they were the only country with enough finishers to record a team score. Columbia won the Men's 20K event; Mexico won the Women's 20K.

Dunn finished 28th in the 2000 Olympic Games and 35th in 2004 in the 50K. He is the 2006 USA Champion in the 50K Walk.

(Full disclosure: I coach at Carleton ... but when Dunn was there running XC and track, I was coaching against him at Gustavus!)

Photo courtesy of USA Track & Field