Yes/No: Two Vaulters Over 14-0 at Parents Day?

The University of Minnesota women have had an embarrassment of riches in the pole vault in recent years. Alicia Rue and Samantha Sonnenberg were both Big Ten Champions and earned multiple All-Americans honors during their time at the U of M. They have now passed the torch to current Gophers Becca Pilkerton and Katie Murgic.

The Gophers host the Parents Day Open on Saturday (with the men competing Friday in the Snowshoe Open) and the pole vault will be one of the stronger and more intriguing events. Between the current and former Gophers and North Dakota State star Leslie Brost there will definitely be some high flying women.

Our question for you this week...

Yes/No: Will two or more pole vaulters clear 14-0 or higher at the Parents Day Open on Saturday?

The pole vault entries list three athletes with personal bests over fourteen feet. Alicia Rue has jumped 14-4 1/2 indoors in 2010 and cleared fourteen feet on ten different occasions as a Gopher. Samantha Sonnenberg has a personal best of 14-3 1/4 that she cleared last year during the outdoor season. Leslie Brost is a pole vaulter at NDSU and she went 14-1 1/4 in 2010. Brost jumped 13-11 1/4 last week.

Becca Pilkerton is a senior at the University of Minnesota with a 13-7 1/4 vault to her credit. She is third on the Gophers all-time indoor list with that 2011 vault. Katie Murgic looks like the next young star in the Gophers pole vaulting dynasty. She was a state champion in high school while at Rosemount and currently is a redshirt freshman. Murgic has a best of 12-8 so far this indoor season.

To play our game, simply type "yes" or "no" into the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us at DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com before 11:00 A.M. CDT, Saturday, February 18th. Please put your answers in the subject line of the e-mail and make sure your full name appears somewhere in the e-mail.

My answer: No

Last week's question was: Will Heather Kampf run faster than 4:16.00 at the USA Track and Field Classic on Saturday? The answer was no. Kampf missed the threshold by less than a second, running 4:16.76. Twenty-seven players answered correctly this week and nine are tied for first place with four points.

For all the results, please visit DtB Fantasy Corner, HERE.

USATF Minnesota to Honor State's Best

USA Track and Field Minnesota will honor the best athletes in the sport in Minnesota on Saturday at its fourth annual Awards Celebration at Braemar Country Club in Edina.

The sports' governing body for the state will present 2011 awards to long distance runners, youth athletes, race walkers, officials, and track & field athletes.

The fourth annual Awards Celebration kicks off at 6:00 p.m. and features a buffet and cash bar. The buffet will be free to USATF Minnesota members, award winners, and one guest of each award winner. Additional guests and non-USATF members will be charged $10.

Braemar Country Club is located at 6364 John Harris Dr in Edina.

USA Track and Field Minnesota's 2011 award winners are:

Official of the Year - Cynthia Heaney
Official of the Year - Monroe (Pete) Heaney
Male Bantam Athlete of the Year - Tylan Brooks
Female Bantam Athlete of the Year - Tessa Laska
Male Midget Athlete of the Year - Jackson Sokolowski
Female Midget Athlete of the Year - Maria Versaguis
Male Youth Athlete of the Year - Connor Rousemiller
Female Youth Athlete of the Year - Wensia Johnson
Male High School Athlete of the Year - Mike Sandle
Female High School Athlete of the Year - Magdalyn Ewen
Men's Masters Runner of the Year - Patrick Billig
Women's Masters Runner of the Year - Amy Halseth
Men's Open Track & Field Athlete of the Year - Elliott Heath
Women's Open Track & Field Athlete of the Year - Amanda Smock
Men's Masters Track & Field Athlete of the Year - Sherwood Sagedahl
Women's Masters Track & Field Athlete of the Year - Kathy Haubrich
Race Walker of the Year - Leif DeVaney
Men's Mountain/Ultra/Trail Runner of the Year - John Taylor
Women's Mountain/Ultra/Trail Runner of the Year - Christi Nowak
Life Time Contribution Award - Roy Griak

The ceremony will also recognized road racing Runner of the Year award-winners, listed HERE.

Get in Gear Set to Turn 35 Years Old

Just like fast runners, time flies.

The Get in Gear 10K, first held in 1978, will celebrate its 35th Anniversary when this year's race is held on April 28.

The event, which has expanded over the years with additional distances, will also include a 2K, 5K and half marathon in 2012. The 2K was added in 1987, followed by the 5K in 2005 and the half marathon in 2009.

All races will begin and end in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Registration for all events has begun with over 2,000 participants already signed up, including more than 600 for the half marathon which has a 1,500 limit.

The 10K race has a limit of 5,000 runners and the 5K is capped at 2,500. Race organizers expect the half marathon to fill sometime in March. The next fee increase for all events will occur on April 1. Currently the registration costs are $12 for the 2k, $25 for the 5k and 10k, and $55 for the half marathon.

“Our mission at Get in Gear for all of our 35 years is to offer a solid and well managed event for the community,” Paulette Odenthal, executive director, who has been with the race for 15 years, said in a media release. “We’ve also worked hard to keep our event current and to help it flourish while at the same time responding to what our participants want.

“The 5K and the half marathon are two of the fastest growing distances in the running industry plus it just made sense to strategically place a half marathon ahead of all the spring marathons in the area," she added. "All our races are good complements to the 10k and to the overall event.”

The Get in Gear 10k was created in 1978 as a means to spark interest in fitness. In its first year, over 4,000 participated and from this initial response, the race has been a fixture on the spring running calendar as well as Minnesota’s largest 10K race.

Through the years, the winners' circle of the Get in Gear 10K has read like a who's who of Minnesota road racing, graced with men's champions like Tony Shockency, Lindsay Brown, and Pat McCarthy and women's victors like Jan Arenz, Janis Klecker, and Jan Ettle.

The prize purse for this year's 10K features $1,000, $750 and $500 for first, second and third place open men and women, plus $250 each for the first Minnesota male and female. The master’s purse is $500, $250 and $100 for first, second and third place men and women respectively.

The Get in Gear family of races is organized by Get in Gear, Inc. a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Its major sponsor for the past 20 years has been Preferred One and its designated charitable organization since 2006 is Second Harvest Heartland.

For more information, go to www.getingear10k.com or call 612-722-9004.

Cheever Makes USA's NACAC Cross Squad

Team USA Minnesota's Jamie Cheever will represent the United States at next month's North American, Central American, and Caribbean Cross Country Championships, team officials revealed yesterday.

Cheever finished 6th at the Saturday's USA Cross Country Championships in St. Louis, one spot shy of automatically qualifying for the NACAC team. Two runners who finished ahead of her in the Open Women's race, however, have chosen to forgo the international event in Port of Spain, Trinidad, putting the former Golden Gopher on the squad.

Cheever will join Team USA Minnesota teammate Chris Rombough on the NACAC squad. Rombough finished 4th in the Open Men's race at the USA Championships.

In Junior Men's competition, University of Minnesota freshmen Adam Zutz and Aaron Bartnik also qualified for the NACAC Championships.

Rombough Reflects ... Rombough, who clocked 36:09 over the 12K USA Cross Country course, offered some insights into his race in yesterday's Team USA media release:

“My strategy going into the race was to get in and run with the pack,” the former Golden Gopher star said. “I felt like I got out well, but fell off about ten meters from the pack. The pack had about twelve guys, then it strung out from there.

"As the race unfolded, I felt that if I could maintain close striking distance with the pack that I would be alright. I just clipped off consistent 3:00 kilometers and was able to pick people off one by one.

“I had a very successful cross country career at the University of Minnesota," Rombough said. "Because of that success, as well as the requirements it takes to compete well – great mental and physical strength and stamina – cross country may be my favorite race to run. While this race was probably the toughest I’ve ever run considering the course conditions, weather conditions, and the increased distance to 12K, I feel it ranks as one of my best performances.

Race-day temperatures in St. Louis were in the the 20s, with wind.

“Overall, I am very excited about having the opportunity to compete again. I raced five times in 2011, which included four PRs, but was injured from June until the middle of September. Training has been going well the last several months, so finally getting out and competing is a great feeling, especially that I am competing well.

"Since the middle of high school, it has been my dream to run in the Olympics," Rombough admitted. "While this isn’t the Olympics, it is a dream come true to have earned the opportunity to compete in a U.S. uniform at NACAC.”

Minnesotans Flood the Chute at USA Cross

The USA Cross Country Championships were held in Missouri, but at the finish line there was a distinctly Minnesota vibe.

Seven Minnesotans cracked the top-10 at the meet, with three runners earning spots on the USA squad for the North America, Central American and Caribbean Cross Country Championships to be held next month in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Runners finishing in the top-five of the USA Cross Country races earned spots on the NACAC squad. (The USA Cross Country Championships typically select runners for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but the event, which will now be contested in alternating years, is not being contested in 2012.)

In the Open Men's race, Team USA Minnesota's Chris Rombough punched a ticket to the Caribbean with a 4th place finish in 36:09 on the 12k course in St. Louis' Forest Park. Bobby Mack won the race in 35:42.

In the Junior Men's race, University of Minnesota freshman Adam Zutz and Aaron Bartnik finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively on the 8K course, earning trips abroad.

Both former MSHSL Class AA cross country champions were clocked in 24:58.

Also finishing in the top-10 of the race were Minnesotans Adam Braun, Mike Jergenson, and Bryant Blahnik, in 6th, 8th, and 10th, respectively.

In Open Women's competition, Team USA Minnesota's Jamie Cheever finished 6th, running 27:48 for 8K. USA 1 Mile champion Sara Hall won the race in 26:51.

Find full results of the event HERE. Watch race video HERE.

Garrett Heath Miles 3:55.24 at Millrose

Winona native Garrett Heath clocked a PR of 3:55.24 with his third-place finish in the NYRR Wanamaker Mile at Saturday's Millrose Games in New York City.

The Stanford grad was topped only by 2011 IAAF World Championships 1500m bronze medalist Matthew Centrowitz, who set a new track record for the NYC Armory with the mark, and runner-up Miles Batty of BYU, who set a collegiate record with his 3:54.54.

Heath was timed at 3:39.71 at the 1500m mark of the race, just off his 3:39.25 PR at the distance set in Doha, Qatar in 2010.

Watch the Wanamaker Mile above.

Also competing at Millrose were former Minnesota State, Mankato star Jim Dilling, who finished 5th in the high jump at 7-0 1/2, and former Brainerd High School and Air Force Academy stat Justin Tyner, who was 9th in the 5000m in 13:59.88.

Find Millrose Games results HERE.

Yes/No: Kampf Sub-4:16 at USATF Classic?

The third leg of the indoor Visa Championship Series will take place this weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Kicking off at 5:00 pm on Saturday, the meet will serve as the USA Track and Field Classic. The Visa Series will then conclude the indoor season with the USA Indoor Championships in two weeks.

The marquee match-ups for this weekend's events will be at 60 meters—especially Veronica Campbell-Brown versus Allyson Felix on the women's side. But we will take a look at the women's 1500, featuring Heather Kampf competing against a particularly strong field.

Kampf is running her second meet of the season. Let us know how fast she will run...

Yes/No: Will Heather Kampf run faster than 4:16.00 at the USA Track and Field Classic on Saturday?

Heather Kampf is a former state champion at Rosemount and national champion at the University of Minnesota. She finished third in the 800 in both 2010 and 2011 at the USA Indoor Championships. Kampf has personal bests of 4:12.09 at 1500 and 4:30.95 in the mile.

Kampf kicked off her season by winning the mile at the Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic. She ran 4:41.58 at that race and won by over nine seconds.

The list of entries in the USA Track and Field women's 1500 include Anna Pierce, Treniere Moser, and U.S. Open winner Brenda Martinez.

To play our game, simply type "yes" or "no" into the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us at DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com before 6:00 P.M. CDT, Saturday, February 11th. Please put your answers in the subject line of the e-mail and make sure your full name appears somewhere in the e-mail.

My answer: No

Last week's question was: Will DeAnne Hahn and/or Tina DeLakis throw 50 feet or further in the shot put? The answer was yes. DeLakis broke through with a huge 50-11 effort. Twenty-five players answered correctly this week and eleven are tied for first place with three points.

For all the results, please visit DtB Fantasy Corner, HERE.

Bjorklund Registration Opens on Monday

Registration for the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, held in conjunction with Duluth's Grandma's Marathon this June, opens on Monday.

The race entry process will again be conducted through a lottery in which 6300 participants will be randomly selected.

Beginning Monday and continuing through Friday, February 24, registration will be available at GrandmasMarathon.com for all hoping to run the race. Lottery participants can submit their registration any time during the 12-day online registration period.

Race participants will be randomly selected and their acceptance into the race will be confirmed via email during the week of February 27. Runners not selected will receive an email notifying them that their entry was not among those chosen.

The entry fee for the 2012 race is $75, and only those 6300 runners selected through the lottery will have their credit cards charged.

The 22nd annual Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon is scheduled for Saturday, June 16, at 6:45 a.m., and is run on the second half of the Grandma’s Marathon course.

Grandma’s Marathon Update ... Race officials say early 4800 runners have registered for Grandma’s Marathon, also June 16. The entry fee for the event’s 36th running is $90 until April 1 when it increases to $100.

Sathre Named Scholar Athlete of the Year

St. Thomas' Ben Sathre wasn't just the nation's best small college cross country runner in 2011.

Yesterday, the NCAA Division III champion was named the division's Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Sathre (pictured), a senior from Chaska, sports a 3.40 cumulative GPA in History and Education through the 2011 fall semester.

USTFCCCA Scholar Athletes of the Year are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest individually at the most recent NCAA Championships.

Sathre is the third Minnesota harrier to earn the Division III Scholar Athlete of the Year since the inception of the award in 2006. In 2007, Chris Erichsen of St. John's won the honor. The year before, Minnetonka High School graduate Will Leer was the recipient while a student at Pomona-Pitzer.

Read the USTFCCCA media release about Sathre HERE.

Photo courtesy of the University of St. Thomas.

Smock, Dilling Receive Development Grants

2011 USA triple jump champion Amanda Smock and former USA high jump champ Jim Dilling were among 20 athletes receiving Elite Athlete Development Grants from the USA Track & Field Foundation.

The grantees received $3500 grants to support their training.

"It's crunch time for these extraordinary young men and women athletes," Jack Wickens, Foundation Board member and leader of the elite athlete programs said in a media release. "In less than 5 months they will try to earn one of the precious spots on the USA Olympic team."

Last year, Smock (pictured) won her first USA triple jump title and represented the USA at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Dilling, the USA high jump champion in 2007 as a Minnesota State, Mankato senior, finished 6th at the USA Championships last year.

See the full listing of grant winners HERE.

Photo by Randy Miyazaki/TrackandFieldPhoto.com.

Track, Cross Country on Team USA Calendar

Four Team USA Minnesota distance runners will be in competition on Saturday, two on the track and two on a cross country course.

Heather Kampf will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to run in the women’s elite 1500-meters at the USA Track & Field Classic. The meet, held in conjunction with the Tyson Invitational on the campus of the University of Arkansas, is the third stop on the USATF’s 2012 Indoor Visa Championship Series.

Kampf has a best in the 1500 of 4:12.09, which she set last summer while competing in Europe. She opened her 2012 track season on Jan. 21 when she ran the mile in 4:41.5 at the Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic.

Meghan Peyton will head to Ames, Iowa, to compete in the Iowa State Classic on Saturday. She will run in the women’s mile race. The former University of Iowa standout has a best in the distance of 4:40.5.

Jamie Cheever and Chris Rombough are set to compete at the USA Cross Country Championships in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday. Cheever will be among the competitors in the open women’s 8K race, while Rombough will run in the open men’s 12K event. Both races will be held at Forest Park.

While there is no World Cross Country Championships this year, the USA Cross Country Championships will serve as a selection race for the U.S. squad that will compete at the 2012 NACAC (North America, Central American and Caribbean) Cross Country Championships. That event will be held on March 17 in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Recently, Cheever was a member of the U.S. team that competed at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge in Scotland. Rombough opened his 2012 season with a 3000 meter race on January 21.

Garrett Heath 5th in New Balance GP 3000m

Winona native Garrett Heath finished 5th in the New Balance Grand Prix men's 3000-meter run on Saturday, clocking a PR 7:45.80.

Fellow Minnesota native Justin Tyner of Brainerd finished 11th in 8:02.81 at the Boston event.

Heath was pleased with the effort that saw him snip five seconds off his indoor 3000m PR and edge World Championships 1500m bronze medalist Matt Centrowitz at the finish line.

The Stanford alumnus was the top American in the event.

Hear what Heath had to say about the effort, above, in an interview with Flotrack.

Kenya's Caleb Ndiku won the race in 7:38.29.

Find full results HERE.

Yes/No: Gophers Hahn or DeLakis 50' or Better?

The University of Minnesota women's track team continues their journey toward the Big Ten Indoor Championship with a trip to South Bend, Indiana, for the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.

The 25th year of the Meyo Invitational will feature some of the best collegiate athletes in the United States. It begins at 4:00 p.m. on Friday and picks back up on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

This week we will focus on the Gophers' throwers with this question...

Yes/No: Will DeAnne Hahn and/or Tina DeLakis throw 50 feet or further in the shot put?

DeAnne Hahn, a senior from New Jersey, is the top thrower on the squad. Her specialties are the weight throw indoors and the hammer outdoors. In the shot, Hahn has thrown over 48 feet twice this year with a best of 48-6.

Hahn is the 2010 Big Ten hammer champion and ranks fourth on the all-time Gopher list in the weight throw and fifth in the hammer throw. Her brother is two-time National Champion wrestler for the Gophers, Damion Hahn.

Tina DeLakis is a redshirt freshman from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She has thrown the shot at a meet twice this year. She started the season with a 48-9 effort in her first meet and bested that with a 49-7 throw last week.

If either woman is able to surpass 50 feet this weekend, she will move into the top seven on the all-time Gopher list in the indoor shot put.

To play our game, simply type "yes" or "no" into the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us at DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com before 11:00 A.M. CDT, Saturday, February 4th. Please put your answers in the subject line of the e-mail and make sure your full name appears somewhere in the e-mail.

My answer: Yes

Last week's question was: Will Jim Dilling jump 7-3 or higher at the U.S. Open on January 28th? The answer was no. Dilling was a just-miss as he jumped 7-2 1/2 to place fourth. Eighteen players answered correctly this week and seventeen are tied for first place with two points.

For all the results, please visit DtB Fantasy Corner, HERE.

Anderson Honored for Courage and Inspiration

Team USA Minnesota’s Gabriele Anderson received the Wilma Rudolph Award for Courage and Inspiration yesterday at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day event in Minnesota. The ceremony was held at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

Anderson (pictured), a Perham High School graduate, was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a cancer in the salivary glands, in March 2009. At the time of her diagnosis, she was finishing her final track season at the University of Minnesota.

After surgery to remove the tumor and the parotid gland, followed by weeks of radiation, she petitioned the NCAA for another year of outdoor track eligibility. The result was a second place finish in the 1500 meters at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Anderson joined Team USA Minnesota in the summer of 2010. Things were going well until she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October 2010, which meant more surgery and treatment.

In 2011, however, Anderson finished third in the mile at both the USA Indoor Championships and the USA Road Mile Championships. Last summer she set personal bests in the 800 meters (2:03.03), 1500 meters (4:06.77) and 5000 meters (15:45.99).

She will compete in the U.S. Olympic Track Trials this summer.

Photo by Becky Miller.


Related Content: Gabriele Anderson Faces Cancer Challenge.

Stillwater Sub-4--Scott Christensen

Editor's Note: Here's the final installment of DtB's Stillwater Sub-4 series.
By Jim Ferstle

"The odd thing about the sub-4s," says Stillwater boys track and cross country coach Scott Christensen. "While there are a lot of things I could and have taken credit for, I shouldn't and couldn't take credit (for the four running sub-4 minute miles)."

All four of the runners went on to great college programs with great coaches and achieved the sub-4 milestone of their own accord, said Christensen. Yet they all note the contribution Christensen and the Stillwater program had on making the sub-4s possible. The program laid the foundation that contributed to their future success. Perhaps more importantly it taught them things about discipline, hard work, setting and achieving goals that has served them well not only in the sport, but in life.

They were and continue to be part of the Stillwater "family." “None of them could break 60 for 400 in the ninth grade,”said Christensen. “They were certainly good. Stronger, 3,200, 5K strength. We worked long and hard on their speed.” Christensen would have them run legs on the sprint medley or four by 400 relays.

“Used to love to have Luke (Watson) anchor the sprint medley relay,” Christensen said. ‘I had Ben Blankenship anchor the four by 400. Not because he was the fastest, but because I knew he would go after people. I knew it would pay dividends.”

The objective of these moves, Christensen said, was to “put these kids in a position to develop their speed capacity ... I’m a big believer in really running fast ... What works for older athletes doesn’t necessarily work for 15-16-year-olds.”

To maximize speed,Christensen’s program focused on quality over quantity. One way to get that quality was lengthening the rest between each interval, Christensen said. Many coaches approached workouts by cutting the rest time between intervals as the season progressed. The runners were not only running with less rest, but were also attempting to run faster. Christensen approached it with the goal of running faster and increasing recovery time from seconds to minutes. The objective being to see how fast you could run, not how fast you could run when you were tired.

“The purpose of a coach is not to tell you how much to run, but how much to rest," Christensen said. And there was “the secret workout,” as it became known at Stillwater. Right before a meet, the objective is not to run a workout that will destroy you, Christensen says. “We’ve done the work to get to where we want to be,” he said. There’s a tendency among distance runners to always want to squeeze in a little extra, but what we would do is have them run a lap at their race pace and have it feel easy.”

This boosts the confidence without tiring out the athlete. After the prior workouts of running at speeds faster than race pace, it feels comfortable to run a lap at race pace. The foundation has been laid, the confidence stoked, and the athlete should be ready for the challenge of the race. "Every mile we do has its purpose," Christensen says. He takes much of his training philosophy from two British coaches, Frank Horwill and Peter Coe. Both were avid proponents of the quality over quantity approach.

But the coach who set Christensen's career path was his high school coach at Lakeville, Jack Strommer. Christensen's best friend was hit by a car and killed while he was doing a training run at night. “That’s something no 17 year old should have to go through,” said Christensen. “(Strommer) got us through it. That’s when I decided I wanted to be a teacher and a coach just like him.”

Christensen became a science teacher, just like Strommer, and a coach. But he didn't stop there in "paying it forward." Christensen not only coaches at Stillwater, but is also very active in the USATF coaching education program. He gives presentations to other coaches and tries to pass on his knowledge and passion for the sport. Coaching he says “is not a job, it’s a passion fueled by the kids."

It's that passion that has played a big role in keeping him at Stillwater. He’s applied for college coaching positions, turned down one he was offered, but has stayed with what he loves. A more practical reason for the decision was that a move onto college coaching would have been a step down in income. Breaking into college coaching is, for the most part,having to break into a highly stratified system. You start out as an assistant making around $15,000 a year, said Christensen and work your way up the ladder.

Far below the salary one makes as a teacher, especially one who has been in the job for 32 years. As Christensen notes, he’s lived his whole life within about a 100 mile radius, grew up in Lakeville, went to college at Gustavus, and then moved to Stillwater. He’s been fortunate enough to travel around the world by being selected for various positions on USATF national teams, but home is still Stillwater.

With each passing year, the Stillwater family continues to grow. If a member is lost, the family rallies around and provides support. When Jon Francis, a member of “the magnificent seven,” the number one ranked team in the US in 1997, who died while hiking in Idaho,the Stillwater family created a half marathon to help raise funds for a Foundation set up in his memory.

“We’re really proud of our alumni,” says Christensen “(From their accomplishments) we can say this is what it takes to be great around here.” The alumni come back during the summer and train with the kids on the team. It becomes an incubator of sorts. “Success breeds success,” says Christensen.

“I get a lot of pats on the back. I got to take two US teams to World XC championships. What other high school coach gets to do that. I owe it all to them. I lived every big race they ran. If I wasn’t there, I was on the phone with them soon after they finished talking about their race ... It’s been exciting.”

Gopher Men Ranked #8 in NCAA Division I

Thanks to the fleet half-miling of Harun Abda and David Pachuta, the Univesity of Minnesota men's track and field team finds itself in the top-10 of the laterst NCAA Division I indoor track rankings.

Rising ten places in a week, the Gophers are now tabbed as the #8 team in the country, and the top-ranked Big Ten men's squad.

Southeastern Conference powers Arkansas, Florida, and LSU occupy the top three spots in the rankings. Big Ten foes Indiana and Nebraska follow the Gophers as the #10 and #11 ranked squads.

The Gopher women are tabbed as the #90 team in D1. Oregon, LSU, and Arkansas lead the women's rankings; #15 Ohio State is the top-ranked Big Ten women's program.

Division II ... The Minnesota State, Moorhead and Minnesota State, Mankato men's programs are ranked #19 and #20, respectively, in the latest NCAA Division II rankings.

No Minnesota D2 women's programs cracked the top-25.

Division III ... New NCAA Division III rankings will be released later today, HERE. Last week, the University of St. Thomas men ranked #8, with rivals Hamline tabbed as the #21 team in D3.

No Minnesota D3 women's programs cracked the top-25.

Twin Cities Registration Opens Thursday

The event itself is some 250 days away, but registration for this year's Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon will open on Thursday.

The field for the Sunday, October 7 event is limited to 12,000 runners.

Also opening on February 2 is registration for the TC 10K, TC 5K, and Medtronic TC Family Events, held the Saturday before the marathon.

Last year the MTCM filled to capacity in mid-June, marking the 24th-straight year the event has reached its entrant limit.

Lottery registration for the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, will take place from July 11 through July 20.

Find more registration information HERE.

Two Gopher Men Run Fast 800s in Iowa

Gophers Harun Abda and David Pachuta ran the fastest times in the 800 in the US at the Bill Bergan Invitational at Iowa State on Saturday. Both times were NCAA Automatic Qualifying times.  Abda won the race in 1:46.97 and Pachuta was second in 1:46.98. The times are the fastest indoor times ever by University of  Minnesota runners.

Stillwater Sub-4--Jake Watson

By Jim Ferstle

Being the younger sibling had its advantages and disadvantages for Jake Watson.  Being six years younger allowed him to watch his older brother Luke and sister Carly have stand out careers in endurance sports at Stillwater.  But being the youngest also meant that there were limited resources when it came to choosing what sports he could pursue.

Instead of being able to try ball sports or hockey, which didn't fit in with his parents or siblings' schedules and transport options, Jake did cross country, cross country skiing, and track.  So instead of being a future Minnesota Twin or Minnesota Wild player, Jake followed in his older siblings' footsteps and excelled in running and skiing.  He got further help in that direction by one of his junior high teachers who noticed that "I was too hyper, so he had me run laps in the morning before school to burn off energy," said Jake.

The discipline and structure of sports put Jake's energy to good use.  "(Sports) helped keep me on track," said Jake.  "It was a huge benefit, especially the team element."  And he was good at it.  He not only excelled at running, but was also All State in cross country skiing. His sister, Carly, was a standout skier at UW Green Bay, and Jake followed Luke to a successful track and cross country career at Notre Dame, but it was the high school experience under coach Scott Christensen that gave him the tools for success, he says.

"I trusted Scott's training," said Jake.  "I brought the techniques I learned with me to college and used them there."

Christensen excelled at providing a structure and motivation for his athletes, said Watson.  Scott gave the athletes booklets every year that contained statistics on the Stillwater athletes' performances from each meet.  He had each athlete keep a training log so they could see what they were doing, what was working, what wasn't.  What they needed to keep improving.  All this provided structure and motivation for the athletes, said Watson.

"(Christensen) was a very talented motivator,"  Jake added.  "He could get you amped up to commpete."  Many of the sayings Christensen used Jake still remembers, from "Our program owns the last mile," to T shirts stenciled with the letter S for Stillwater with "The Machine"  overlaid on the S.  Or Scott's admonition to his runners: "I don't want anybody out there feeling sorry for themselves."  Or "Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

Things didn't always go smoothly, Watson remembers, as in the early years of Jake's tenure on the team, the athletes were "a bunch of screw offs,"  immature and in need of discipline and direction.  Christensen didn't as much come down hard on their transgressions as admonishing them for "not realizing their potential."  Using reinforcement for positive behavior to extinguish the exesses of youth.

Christensen was able to transform "a bunch of jokers" to a team that, as seniors all PRed while finishing runner-up at the State Meet, said Watson.  "We weren't happy to finish second, but we were satisfied that we all did the best that we possibly could(on that day)," said Watson.  "(Christensen said) You guys are going to go on and do whatever you do in liife, but you're always going to remember what you did here today...He had a very good way of putting things in perspective."

"Trust in your training," was a motto Christensen used to bolster their confidence.  "Never worry about time.  Never put yourself against the clock."  Scott wanted them to race, not time trial.  And if they weren't responding, he would use other techniques to get them going.  "You're dealing with teenagers," said Watson.  "Sometimes you had to light a fire under their butts to get them to reach their potential."

For athletes with the ability who might be experiencing doubt, he knew how to light that fire, said Watson.  "That's how I ran my PR at 800 and I got the school record," said Watson, who was up against another talented half miler who was a 400/800 runner, lots of speed, but not the endurance that Watson had from his mile/2-mile background.

"I was having doubts," said Watson.  "I'm a miler and this guy's got great speed.  Scott came up to me and said: 'I want you to bury that guy.  I want you to run that guy into the ground because you're a distance runner, you can tolerate more pain than he can.'

"So that's what I did and all during the last 200, I'm in pain thinking, 'I can take more pain.'  It worked."

That focus on a tactic served Jake well when he broke 4 in the mile in June of 2007, he said.  He was running in the featured "pro" mile at the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville.  He didn't go into it thinking sub-4.  He went into it to race.  But the race had been set up to enhance the runners chances to run fast with pacesetters who took them through on 4-minute pace. Luke was there at the track, as he was coaching Jake at the time, and Jake's mother and his aunt flew in for the race without telling Jake they were coming.

They came through 3/4 in 2:58/59, Jake remembers, and Luke was there beside the track with 200 to go yelling at Jake that all he had to do was finish it off.  Jake finished third and broke 4.  And he had his family there to celebrate.

Dilling Fourth at US Open

Jim Dilling finished fourth in the high jump at the US Open track meet in New York Saturday night with a jump of 7" 2.5"(2.2m). US World champion Jesse Williams won the competition with a leap of 7' 6"(2.29m).