Collegiate Athletes of the Week

Minnesota State - Mankato's Jim Dilling (pictured) and Katelin Rains tightened their grips on North Central Conference's Athlete of the Week honors. Dilling, who high jumped 7-4 1/2 this weekend at Mankato's home meet and is currently the second highest jumper in the country with a 7-6 1/2 leap, has been an NCC honoree four straight weeks. Rains earned her third such award this season with a 12-8 3/4 winning pole vault and a 38-0 3/4 second place triple jump, both NCAA qualifying marks, at the same meet.

In the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Macalester's Kaela Schramm earned her second Athlete of the Week honor for lowering her NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time in the 55-meter hurdles with a 8.51 clocking at the Bethel Invitational. Also honored were St. Ben's jumper Mary Schletty, St. Thomas middle distance runner Brian Sames, and Gustavus Adolphus pole vaulter Josh Sorenson.

Update: In the one-day-later NSIC, MSU - Moorhead vaulter Derik Brugger and Bemidji State thrower Sheena Divine were the Minnesota athletes earning Athlete of the Week honors. Brugger vaulted 16-7 at the Concordia Invitational over the weekend, Divine put the shot 49- 3/4 at Northern State, best throw in NCAA Division II this season.

"85% There"

Going into last weekend's meet, Matt Bingle, coach of the Minnesota Gopher women, felt the Meyo Invitational in South
Bend, Indiana would give him a good sense of the progress his team was making for the Big Ten indoor meet.

His judgement afterward?

"Things went pretty well down there!" Bingle told DtB via e-mail. "We feel that we are about 85% there right now! Down at Notre Dame we got some great performances and some good performances. We still have some women that need to continue to improve and step up a little more!"

Among the great performances, we're willing to guess, was Heather Dorniden's 2:04.33 800 meter victory over Big Ten rivals Geena Gall and Nicole Edwards of defending indoor champs Michigan. Dorniden's NCAA automatic qualifying time is the fastest 800m mark in the country this season. Jamie Cheever was sixth in the event for the Gophers clocking 2:06.34, a provisional qualifying time.

The Gopher's had already gotten the meet off to a fine start in Friday competition with Liz Alabi winning the 20-pound weight throw and improving her NCAA provisional standing with her 62-6 toss. Also, the distance medley of Gabriele Anderson, Kadian Douglas, Heather Dorniden and Emily Brown clocked an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 11:14.83 to place second.

Strong Saturday performances included Emily Brown's provisional qualifying, runner-up finish in the mile in 4:46.18; a 3rd-4th-8th finish in the shot from Alabi (50-0 1/2), Liz Podomonick (49-7 1/4), and Kari Schmidt (47-5); and a 2nd-6th-10th placing in the pole vault from Andrea Smith (12-7 ½), Laura Massey (12-1 1/2), and Alicia Rue (11-7 ¾).

The Gopher women look to add to their "Percent There" number this weekend at the Iowa State Classic.

McGregor's Loaded Ekiden Team: The Real Story?

Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor (pictured) is slated to be part of what is probably the strongest USA team ever to compete at the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden in Japan, scheduled for February 25th. Joining the 2005 USA 10,000 meter champion is the great Deena Kastor, Olympians Elva Dryer, Jen Rhines, and Amy Rudolph, and 2006 USA 10,000 runner-up Sara Slattery.

Ekidens, for the uninitiated, are Japan's wildly popular long-distance relays where, in this case anyway, six runners race relay legs of 5K to 10K that total the marathon distance. Russia won last year's Yokohama race clocking 2:13:55 to beat China and hosts Japan. The USA was 13th in 2:24:44. The USA, especially on the women's side, has had difficulty fielding top-flight teams for Ekidens, although recently the USA men have fared well in the events, finishing third at Chiba in 2005 and 2006.

Here in the DtB newsroom, we wondered what kind of machinations took place to put the USA's top women on the same plane to race against the best in the world. We had hazy notions of back-room deals, stacks of Japanese yen, and whispered incentives for strong results. The entire DtB investigative team was activated to get the story.

Apparently, though, our imaginations were wilder than the reality.

"It's not a long glamorous answer so let me know if you want me to make something up," USATF Long Distance Running Program Manager Jim Estes joked when I asked him what it might have taken to put the group together. "Basically, the stars -- both figuratively and literally -- lined-up for this one. [Putting together a strong team] has been an ongoing project within the LDR division and has required numerous conversations with the JAAF, athletes and coaches -- and the occasional agent!"

"I don’t really know how best to describe how it happened but it just fell into place right around the [USATF] Annual Meeting," Estes continued. "Obviously, we knew that we needed to line up several ladies who wanted to go win the event so once we got one to say they would go, it was kind of easy to get the rest to commit."

McGregor, herself, confirmed the description in an e-mail to DtB: "For some reason, the race fit into all of our schedules. When I found out that the other girls committed, I decided I wanted to join them. It is such a great opportunity. I usually run indoor track races at this time, but my base training for 2007 was pushed back a few months since I ran the ING New York City Marathon."

Photo courtesy of Team USA Minnesota.

The Short-Cut: Weekend Results for February 2-4

Use Down the Backstretch to click to results from the important events of the weekend ...

Friday:
Meyo Invitiational (Notre Dame): Men & Women
Minnesota State - Mankato Invite: Men & Women
Carleton Invitational: Women

Saturday:
Meyo Invitiational (Notre Dame): Men & Women
Minnesota State - Mankato Invite: Men & Women
Bethel Invitational: Men & Women

Meyo Update: Jake Watson (Notre Dame) 4:00.71; Gophers: Emily Brown 4:46.18; Heather Dorniden 2:04.33; Jamie Cheever 2:06.34; Liz Alabi 62-06.

Kleimenhagen & Lowery at Notre Dame / McGregor in Michigan Hall of Fame

Team USA Minnesota's Ryan Kleimenhagen and Brad Lowery will compete at the annual Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame on February 3rd. Both athletes will be seeking qualifying times for the USA Indoor Championships, Kleimenhagen in the mile and Lowery in the 3,000 meters.

Their teammate Katie McGregor was inducted into the University of Michigan Women's Track and Field Hall of Fame on January 20th. Since no one loves the University of Michigan more than McGregor, we assume she is very proud.

Read the full press release from Team USA Minnesota here.

Minnesotans, Bowerman and the Men of Oregon

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon was easily the best new running book of 2006. Kenny Moore – 1968 Olympian and former Sports Illustrated writer – tells the life story of Bill Bowerman in a way that does justice to the amazing legacy of the legendary Oregon coach and co-founder of Nike.

Minnesota athletes are featured prominently throughout the biography. Former St. Louis Park High School star Bruce Mortenson plays a role in a number of the facinating anecdotes that illustrate Bowerman's years at Oregon. A college roommate of the author, Mortenson went on to a stellar post-collegiate career after winning the 1965 NCAA steeplechase championship under Bowerman. Read more about Mortenson in this interview with TSL News Services.

The legendary Ron Daws makes an appearance in the book when he finishes 3rd at the 1968 Olympic Marathon Trials behind George Young and Moore. Moore describes Daws as "a distinguished Minnesota eccentric." Later, Moore mentions that he and Daws helped stack the sacks of hate mail that arrived after the victory stand protest by Tommy Smith and John Carlos.

University of Minnesota star Garry Bjorklund is described as a tough competitor against Oregon's Steve Prefontaine in the 1970 NCAA 5,000 meter championship and against Moore in the 1970 AAU 10,000 meter championship. Bjorklund finished third at the AAU meet, qualifying for the U.S. squad that raced in Europe that summer.

Not surprisingly, Mortenson, Daws and Bjorklund have all been inducted into the Minnesota Track & Field Hall of Fame. If your name appears in Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, you probably had a pretty solid career.

Grandma's Marathon is Filling Up Fast

The folks at Grandma's Marathon want you to know that their race is filling up. The field for the June 16 race is nearly three-quarters full after reaching the 7,000 mark today. The marathon has reached its capacity for 12 consecutive years.

Runners can download and print the official entry form for the 26.2-mile race by visiting the Grandma’s Marathon web site.

Bingle, Gopher Women Looking to Notre Dame Meet

If you're thinking this weekend's Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame will offer a nice sneak peek at the 12th ranked Minnesota Gopher women's team's prospects at Big Ten Indoor Championships, you're in good company.

Gopher coach Matt Bingle is thinking the same thing.

"The Notre Dame meet is our first real test of the indoor season," Bingle told DtB in an e-mail recently. "You are right that it is a time for us to evaluate where we are at with each of our women and also will give us some insight on what we need to do to get prepared for the Big Ten meet."

"There will be several Big Ten schools at the meet," he added, "so it should be good to see how our team reacts to that. But on the flip side to that we know where we are at in training and feel that we will be a lot better in a few weeks when we are rested for the Big Ten meet!"

Last year the Gopher women were third at the indoor championship but then went on to win the Big Ten outdoor title. Of Big Ten schools, only Michigan, #6, is ranked higher than the Gophers nationally. Iowa is ranked #18.

"Right now I think that we are one of the top 4 teams indoor, but that whoever can keep improving in the month of February will have a best shot at the title," Bingle offered. "Michigan was the indoor champion last year and I would think that they are the favorites and have the pressure to repeat."

Qualifying top individuals for the NCAA Indoor meet is also an objective for the Gophers this weekend.

"I would say that we are looking for our DMR to qualify along with some of our mid-distance people," he said. "Our throwers are already qualified but need to improve there marks on the list. We also would like to see some of the other women get on the list from the jumps as well."

"We use this meet plus the Iowa State meet to qualify for the NCAA meet," he added. "So we are hoping to come out of these next two weekends with some women that will punch there ticket to the NCAA meet."

Koski to Teach On-Line Marathoning Course

Two Harbors resident Katie Koski, the seventh place finisher at the 2005 Grandma's Marathon and one of the country's most intriguing ultra-marathoning prospects, will teach an on-line class geared for participants in June's Grandma's Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.

The course, offered via Lake Superior College, is available in both for-credit or not-for-credit forms. Additional information on the class, which begins March 20th, can be found here.

"I would like students in the class to be able to share in my many experiences running and training for Grandma's," Koski told DtB. "I believe I can be a mentor to the beginning runner and a sounding board and running pal to the advanced runner."

Koski has run eight Grandma's Marathons, twice qualifying for the Olympic Trials at the event. The North Shore has been good to her in a longer event too. In her only ultra, Koski won the 2005 Edmund Fitzgerald 100K race (and finished third overall) with the 9th fastest U.S. women's 100K mark all-time of 8:00:23. The effort earned Koski a spot on the USA team for the World 100K Championships in South Korea last fall, although she was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Koski is currently training for the 2007 Grandma's Marathon. (Full disclosure: I am her coach.)

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

I'm guessing the MIAC would love to name someone other than Amanda Weinmann (pictured) as their women's field eventer of the week. Amanda, however, just won't let them!

The St. Mary's senior earned the honor again this week for a third straight time because she keeps throwing heavy things farther and farther. She broke her school shot put and weight throw records by more than a foot each at the Blizzard Open at UW - Superior on Saturday. She put the shot 44-2 and tossed the 20-pound weight 52-4 3/4. She's currently ranked #5 in both events for NCAA Division III.

Also honored by the MIAC, Macalester hurdler Kaela Schramm and Carleton middle distance runner (whom I have the pleasure of coaching) Ryan Martinez.

In the NCC, Mankato high jumper Jim Dilling earned his third straight AOW honor as well. He was joined by teammates Jesse Merkel, a distance runner, and pole vaulter Katelin Rains among Minnesotans honored by the conference this week. Dilling jumped 7-6 1/2 at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational, the top mark in the U.S. this season, according to the NCC.

The NSIC announces their AOWs a bit later than the others. Until they're released, here are their top-10 performers this season for men and women.

Update: Winona State's Emily King and Bemidji State's Joe Remitz are the Minnesotan's named Athlete of the Week in the NSIC. King leads NCAA Division II in the 20-poiund wieght throw with a 61-7 toss. Remitz is 5th on the DII shot list with a 55-11 put.

Photos courtesy of St. Mary's University.

Garrett Heath Talks About Last Weekend's Fast DMR and 3000m in Seattle

We tracked down former Winona High School star Garrett Heath, now a red-shirt sophomore at Stanford, after last weekend's successes at the UW Invite in Seattle. Heath split 2:56 on the 1200 meter leg of Stanford's meet-winning and NCAA Indoor automatic qualifying 9:33.16 distance medly relay team and followed up the next afternoon with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 8:01.96 for 3000m.

"I really didn’t know what to expect as my legs were pretty tired from the day before going in," Heath said of the 3000. "I knew that I could run around 8:00 when I was fresh, but after the 1200 on Friday and being a little tired coming in I wasn’t really sure. I really was aiming for anything around the provisional time of 8:05 or faster."

The former MSHSL state cross country, nordic skiing, and track champion plans to race the mile in either Arkansas or Seattle in two weeks and then, depending on that outcome, run either another mile or 3000 in preparation for what he hopes will be a busy and successful NCAAs.

"I would also like to run another 1200m leg at some point this season to get used to the distance a little more, as doing well as a team in the DMR is what I really want to focus on this indoor season," Heath said.

Last year, with Heath anchoring on the mile leg, the Cardinal DMR finished 8th in 9:41.91.

Photo courtesy of Stanford University.

Jenna Boren: "I had two voices in my head ... "

Jenna Boren, who lopped big chunks of time off her marathon PR in her last two outings, was recently featured on Chad Austin's fine Running Minnesota blog. The St. Olaf grad ran an impressive 2:45:51 at the sticky 2006 Grandma's Marathon and topped that a few weeks ago running 2:42:39 at the Chevron Houston Marathon.

My favorite Boren quote from Chad's piece: "I had two voices in my head; one telling me to hold back and the other telling me to go. I listened to the "hold back” voice through mile 25 because I was SO afraid of blowing up. I was in a bit of shock that my legs felt as good as they did, but I didn't trust myself either. I never really felt bad or on the edge. I was more afraid of my past tendencies to explode in the marathon."

At the top of Running Minnesota page now is an interview with Run N Fun's Erin Ward, a Minnesota runner not unfamiliar, as you'll read, with big PRs herself.

Photo by Todd Sheldon: Boren at the 2005 Twin Cities Marathon

The Short-Cut: Weekend Results for January 26-28

Quick links to results from this weekend's important events:

Thursday:
Gustavus & St. Thomas @ St. Olaf: Men/Women
Update: Katie Theisen, St. Thomas, jumps 17-2; Joe DeFrance, St. Thomas, runs 22.72

Friday:
Carleton Open: Men/Professors' Mile
Update: Steve White 15-7, Pat Lehmann 1:56.17, Jon Stoltman4:19.76, Ryan Martinez 4:19.95

Washington Invitational (Seattle): Men & Women
Update: Leer 14:32, Vega 14:40, Puhl 14:41; Gopher DMR 9:58.30

Saturday:
Norwich Union International (Glasgow) Men & Women
Update: Potter 4th, 48.40; USA, Great Britain, and Germany tie

Reebok Boston Indoor Games: Men & Women
Update: Deatherage 8th in 4:40.43

Washington Invitational (Seattle): Men's & Women's Live Results
Update: Wetsch (Ore) 5:02.19; Heath (Stan) 8:01, Torchia 8:16, Rombough 8:17

Adidas Classic (Lincoln, Ne): Men & Women
Update: The Aarons -- Buzard "provos" 47.20, Studt puts 56-5 1/4

UNI Invite: Women
Update: Danielle Larson: 5-3

Wisconsin Elite: Men/Women
Update: Jim Dilling high jumps 7-6 1/2; Katelin Rains vaults 12-11 1/2

Securian Frozen Events: Half Marathon
Update: Pat Russell 1:09.56, TC Lumbar 1:09:57

Former Gopher Mitch Potter to Represent USA in Scotland

2003 Pan-American Games 400 meter champion Mitch Potter will represent the USA tomorrow in the Norwich Union International meet in Glasgow, Scotland. The former Gopher star was the 25th fastest quarter-miler in the world last year with a 45.06 clocking outdoors. Potter has a personal best of 44.58 from his junior year at Minnesota.

The Glasgow meet features teams from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the British Commonwealth. Click here for details on the USA squad.

Gopher Distance Runners Eye Seattle Meet

If you've examined results from the two University of Minnesota men's meets, you've noticed that Gopher long distance star Chris Rombough (pictured) hasn't raced longer than 800 meters.

The sophomore, who came into his own last fall winning the Big Ten cross country title and finishing 14th at NCAAs, has run a pair of 800s -- clocking 1:55.84 in the faster of the two -- and a 4 x 400 leg. This weekend, though, he'll run one of his main events, the 3000 meters, at the Washington Invitational in Seattle.

"He has been 'training long and racing short,' at this early preparatory date in the season," Gopher distance coach Steve Plascencia explained in an e-mail exchange with DtB. "With this season really still in its infancy, we look to maintain a good training regimen with periodic racing. We will find out where he currently is in terms of race fitness at a relevant distance in Seattle."

The Gopher's star freshman Mike Torchia will also race 3000m in Seattle. He ran unattached in the mile at the Northwest Open, clocking a modest 4:18.80, but will don the maroon and gold this weekend for his first official race as a Gopher trackster.

Plascencia reports that his distance crew is largely healthy "and working hard right now."

"We hope to see good results in the upcoming weeks," he said.

Update: The heat sheets are up for the meet. Rombough is joined in Saturday's fast first section of the 3000m by former Winona HS star Garrett Heath of Stanford and former Stillwater HS and William & Mary star Sean Graham. Torchia runs in the third section. Antonio Vega of the Gophers is matched up tonight with Minnetonka HS grad Will Lear of Pomona-Pitzer in the 5000.

Also, Bria Wetsch opens her Oregon career in the Mile at the meet.

Photo courtesy of the U of M.

Deatherage to Run Reebok Boston Indoor Games Mile

Team USA Minnesota's Jenelle Deatherage will open her indoor season Saturday at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Deatherage, who started her 2006 campaign at the same meet with an eighth place 4:37.86, has a mile best of 4:31.58.

Lining up with Deatherage are 2006 Reebok Boston mile champ Carmen Douma-Hussar of Canada, U.S. Olympian Shayne Culpepper, fellow American Sara Hall, Australian record-holder Sarah Jamieson, and Ethiopian stars Meskerem Legesse and Mestawot Tadesse.

Headliners for this loaded meet include Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar, and Gebre Gebremariam; American miler Alan Webb, Australian Craig Mottram, and U.S. sprint star Shawn Crawford.

Gopher Lizzes Named Big Ten Athletes of the Week

A pair of Gopher women -- both named Liz -- swept Athlete of the Week honors in the Big Ten.

Liz Roehrig, the winner the pentathlon at the Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic last weekend with an NCAA automatic qualifying score of 4,120, was the conference's track athlete of the week. Liz Alabi (pictured), who had two NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the shot put and 20-pound weight throw at the meet, was named the week's top field eventer.

Roehrig won all five events of the pentathlon and her high jump of 5-10 was, itself, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. The junior's score set a new school, meet and field house record. Alabi, a senior, took first in the weight throw with a meet record distance of 63-5 1/2 and placed second in the shot put at 50-1 3/4.

Read more on the Gopher Women's Track web-site.

Photo courtesy of the Big Ten.

TCM's Virginia Brophy Achman Elected Running USA Vice President

Twin Cities Marathon Executive Director Virginia Brophy Achman was recently named co-vice president of Running USA's Board of Directors. Brophy Achman (pictured) was elected to a two-year term.

Fellow officers include president, Allan Steinfeld of the ING New York City Marathon, co-vice president Doug Kaplan, Gen-A Media & Marketing, secretary, Tracey Russell, Atlanta Track Club, and treasurer, Bruce Franke, MarathonFoto.

"The opportunity to work with so many leaders in the running community means we can collaborate ideas and efforts to further promote the sport of running," Achman said in a media release.

Achman has been the TCM Executive Director since 2004.

Running USA, founded in 1999, is a non-profit association devoted to improving the status of road racing and long distance running in the United States. Its event members represent over 500 U.S. races.

Last fall, I interviewed Brophy Achman prior to the 2006 edition of her race for this issue of the Running USA Wire.

Photo courtesy of Twin Cities Marathon.

New Face at Life Time Fitness Running Club

Life Time Fitness National Running Club Manager Dan Finanger recently announced that Rebekah Mayer has been hired as the new Running Club Coordinator at the LTF St. Louis Park club.

Running as Rebekah Walter, Mayer was a 6-time All-American and a member of the 2003 NCAA Division II cross country championship team at Adams State College. Originally from Bemidji, Mayer gravitated to the steeplechase at Adams State, eventually holding the school record. Recently, Mayer has been competing for Run N Fun in local races.

Collegiate Athletes of the Week

It's Tuesday, and the college conference media mills have stamped out another shining set of Athletes of the Week.

The MIAC recognized Hamline distance runner Brandon Gleason (pictured) and St. Thomas long jumper James Ewer on the men's side along with St. Thomas quarter-miler Christina Chapman and Saint Mary's thrower Amanda Weinmann for the women. Weinmann is a repeat AOW from last week.

Two Minnesota State Mankato athletes were recognized this week by the NCC. High jumper Jim Dilling repeats from last week and is joined by pole vaulter and fellow Maverick Katelin Rains.

Addition: In the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, sprinter Kawaskii Bacon of Concordia (St. Paul) and pole vaulter/jumper/sprinter Jennifer Hensel of Minnesota State Moorhead were the honored atheltes from Minnesota schools.

Photo courtesy of Hamline University