Lake Wobegon Celebrates Ingebrigtsen

Lake Wobegon residents were glued to their television sets Tuesday night to watch the finals of the men's metric mile at the London Olympics. The phone lines started buzzing Tuesday afternoon as word came that Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen's nephew Hendrick Ingebrigtsen of Norway had done something special and everyone should watch the Olympics broadcast to see it.

While most Lake Wobegon residents had heard of the Olympic Games, the notion of a "metric mile" confused them. Pastor Liz said; "A mile is a mile, what do you want to try and make it metric for?" But not wanting to offend Senator Bill, they turned on their TVs and waited expectantly.

Finally, after seemingly endless talk about showing the 1,500 meter final, the camera began to pan across the entrants and there he was in those tiny shorts and funny looking shoes, Hendrick Ingebrigtsen, the pride of Norway, European champion in that silly metric event this year. A handsome young man, they thought, by why is he parading around this stadium full of people in his underwear?

They watched ardently as young Hendrick raced to a fifth place finish, an honorable placing they thought. At least he didn't raise his arms at the finish line or drop to his knees, bow down and kiss the track like others they had seen do after they won their races. He just did his job and didn't make a spectacle of himself. No gigantic metal coin to hang around his neck or bite while photographers took pictures, just a display of athleticism that everyone could be proud of.

That's the news from Lake Wobegon where the women are strong, the children are good looking, and the metric milers are above average.

Changes Afoot at Down the Backstretch ...

A note from Down the Backstretch Editor/Publisher Charlie Mahler … 

There’s going to be a change at our web-site for the coming months. I’ve taken a temporary, full-time position with Twin Cities In Motion, the organizers of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. I’m contracted to work there until November as a Media and Communications Assistant.

In order devote myself fully to the TCM job – and make sure the quality of coverage remains high at DtB -- I’ve hired Jim Ferstle to handle the day-to-day reporting on the web-site until I return to its helm later this year. Jim has carried the reporting baton at DtB before, and, as a nationally respected running journalist, will do fine, fine work.

If you need to reach DtB in the coming months, please contact Jim at jferstle [AT] gmail [DOT] com. If you need to reach me, my e-mail address remains cmahler22 [AT] yahoo [DOT] com.

I hope you enjoy following the rest of the Olympics, the upcoming cross country season, and this fall’s marathon action through Down the Backstretch and Jim Ferstle.

 I know that’s what I’ll be doing!

Passing of The Panther

The day before the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics in London, a small, twin engine airplane took off from the airfield in Sedona, Arizona. According to eyewitness reports it hit a fence near the end of the runway, tumbled into a ravine and burst into flames. On board was Wadena, Minnesota native Pat Porter, his 15-year-old son, Connor and Connor's 14-year-old friend Connor Mantsch.

There were no survivors. The tragedy didn't get widespread national coverage. It wasn't until late in the day that Pat's wife, Trish Porter, and Olympic high jumper for the US, was contacted and she confirmed the identities of those on the plane LetsRun.com picked up the wire story on the crash and news spread on Facebook.

In death, as in life Porter, who was 53, flew below the radar and attracted little attention for what he accomplished both on and off the athletic field. Porter, whose nickname was The Panther for the hip tattoo he had of the big cat, won eight consecutive US cross country titles from 1982-89. Perhaps it was fitting that his cross country streak was ended by another Minnesotan, Bob Kempainen, who beat Porter on one of the country's iconic cross country courses, Van Cortland Park in New York.

Porter's success was not limited to cross country. He was an Olympian at 10,000 meters in 1984 and '88. His son, Connor, was a nationally ranked fencer. He and Trish's daughter, Shannon, 11, is a figure skater. Porter was an avid pilot and a successful salesman in the family's hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He had just been inducted into the Rocky Mountain Conference Hall of Fame on July 20.

I met him while covering US cross country championship meets in the '80s where he and his good friend Lynn Jennings used to dominate. There is an iconic Nike ad with Pat and Lynn, covered in mud with the tag line: "Their Name is Mud" that celebrated the pair's dominance of US cross country. The pair stare at the camera with the intensity that they so often employed on race day, while away from the course both were warm, witty, intelligent individuals who took on all comers athletically with an in-your-face, try and run with me if you can approach to the sport.

In 1984 the IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at the Meadowlands horse track in New Jersey. Porter believed it was his best chance to emulate Illinois native Craig Virgin's feat of winning the international cross country crown. Porter led almost the entire race, pushing the pace, trying to shed eventual winner Carlos Lopes of Portugal, runner-up Tim Hutchings of England, and Steve Jones of Wales, who finished third.

Lopes, who would win the Olympic marathon that summer in LA, broke away from the other three late in the race, and Porter was outkicked by Hutchings and Jones down the stretch. Angry and frustrated, Porter stormed out of the finishing chute and took out his emotion on his singlet, tearing the top in half and uttering a few choice expletives about the quality of the fit of the jersey. The Panther in Porter was at full roar.

Chris Fuller, who directed the Hennepin-Lake Classic, brought Porter back to Minnesota to run the race one year as I'd written about Porter's Minnesota roots. Pat and I joked about how we'd adopted him, as his family moved soon after he was born, so calling him a Minnesotan was a bit of a stretch, but he enjoyed it and noted how he liked the area and should probably get back more.

Closest he would get would be Sturgis, South Dakota on his "hog," the motorcycle that he liked to brag could get from zero to 60 in a matter of seconds. Seeing the gangly, rail thin Porter atop his racing machine was indeed a sight. He was certainly someone you could pick out in the Harley crowd. Sadly, he won't be around to entertain and amaze us. As one of the Facebook messages aptly put it RIP(run in peace) Pat Porter.

Twin Cities Link to Oregon Project

The one, two finish of UK gold medalist Mo Farah and Oregon's Galen Rupp, who won silver, had many commentators calling the accomplishment a signal that the African domination of distance running was not unbreakable. In an article in the Globe & Mail, writer Paul Waldie noted that demonstrating that runners from Ethiopia and Kenya were not unbeatable was a goal for US distance champion turned coach, Alberto Salazar.

“I absolutely believe that starting 20 years ago, Americans and Western Europeans had a defeatist attitude,” Salazar said. “For whatever other reasons the Americans and Brits went through a little bit of a lull and all of a sudden the East Africans started running faster than any one had run before, but now the Americans and Brits and Europeans were running slower so all of a sudden you had this huge gap.”

The Nike Oregon project(NOP) was Salazar's attempt to revive the elite level of US distance running. The NOP began in 2001, and in 2002 a participant in the program, Dan Browne, won the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon with Kenyan runners relegated to second and third. When Salazar was asked if Browne's win was "the first big victory" for a runner in the NOP, Salazar responded from London via e-mail: "I think you're right!"

The goal of the program was, first, to put Americans on the podium in distance events, and, eventually, to break the East African stranglehold on World and Olympic championships.

Rupp, then a high-school student, was among the first members of the project.“I’d be lying if I didn’t say there were times when I didn’t think that would happen, but we’ve always kind of stuck it out,” Rupp told the Globe & Mail.

“There have definitely been some bumps on the road along the way but he has just been meticulous in his planning. He takes a really long-term, gradual approach and I think today he really showed that that pays off.”

Farah was developed in the British system, while Rupp has been perhaps Salazar's most successful pupil. Both Farah and Rupp were originally soccer players whose coaches recognized that they had far more talent as runners. Their futures were on the track, not as the next David Beckham. Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated does a fine job of tracking the development of both HERE.

But the key element for both Rupp and Farah has something of at least a coaching philosophy connection in Minnesota as well. Stillwater's Scott Christensen realized the same thing that Salazar learned from his own experience as a 10K runner on the track, championship racing comes down to who has the ability to utilize finishing speed. At the Olympic level, that means being able to run 52, 53 seconds for the last lap of a five or ten K.

Christensen has understood that for the mile for his high school kids, four of whom went on to run sub-four minute miles after they left Stillwater. An article in the September issue of Running Times provides more insight into how he has helped his runners work on developing their speed. Farah came to the Nike Oregon Project and Salazar for that missing element needed to win a World Championship and Olympic gold medal. Salazar delivered in being able to maximize the ability of both Farah and Rupp to finish fast.

On Saturday in London that work paid dividends.

Goucher 11th in Olympic Marathon

Duluth native Kara Goucher finished 11th in this morning's women's marathon competition at the London Olympic Games.

The 2007 World Championships bronze medalist at 10,000-meters ran 2:26:07, finishing one place behind training partner Shalane Flanagan who clocked 2:25:51.

Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana won the race an Olympic Record 2:23:07.

Some post-race quotes from the two Americans: Shalane Flanagan: “There were some really tough spots. It was tough just to let people pass me, and I had no oomph to go with them. I tried to react, like in a track race, but it is really different for me in the marathon. You already have a lot of miles in your legs and it is so, so, so hard. I could feel myself cramping, but it is what it is. The fans were amazing; I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. The fans were just deafening. It was a lot of fun besides cramping and feeling awful.

“I just was hoping I could chomp away and get closer, and I did at times, and I fell off at times. I was yo-yo-ing all over the place.

“One minute I was wearing my hat, the next minute I felt hot in it. But you know it was like Portland weather, I’m not fazed by it. It’s like home.

“Kara and I prepared our bodies and our minds the best we could, and we knew that on any given day we are both really good competitors and can run with the best. The ultimate goal was to get on the podium. This is my third marathon and I’m learning every time. I’ve got to make some mistakes to get to that level.”

Kara Goucher: “I’ve got to be honest, when I saw her [Shalane] with two miles to go, it actually broke my spirit. Because I thought one of us had a shot. People mess up, and I’ve trained so hard. I didn't even know women trained the way that I've trained with Shalane. I didn't know it existed. And I really thought that with the right window of opportunity, one of us could deliver and unfortunately it didn't come to be.

“A championship race is just different. It was good for Shalane and I. We had no intention of leading and matching everyone else's cadence, but we decided to stay up front because it was clean. Both times I tried to go back to the second and third row, I got pushed and grunted at and stepped on, so I thought, 'What the heck, I'll go ahead and lead the Olympic marathon. I mean, I have no shot of winning this but I'll lead as long as they let me.’

“I never really gave up. Every time I tried to press in that last lap, my back just hurt so bad. It was really frustrating. [The cramps] started in adductors of right calf and then it went to my back. I haven't cramped since I ran the NYC Marathon. I honestly haven't felt that kind of pain since I pushed out a baby. I'm serious. Shalane cramped very badly as well - same place, so we're both a little confused and annoyed."


Find complete results HERE.
Splits and analysis of the race can be found HERE.
Photo courtesy of FloTrack

Marathon Connections

Most know about Kara Goucher's Minnesota roots, but few know that her training partner, Shalene Flanagan, has something of a tangential connection to the area. Her mother, then Cheryl Bridges, had a short stint working at Hamline University in the mid 1970s. Not long after setting a World Record of 2:49:40 in the marathon, Bridges began to climb the academic ladder, teaching at the University of New Mexico before Hamline.

In 1976 she became the women's athletic director at Oklahoma State University. Today, Cheryl Treworgy is a professional track and field photographer. Amby Burfoot interviewed Treworgy prior to today's Olympic marathon where Flanagan has the opportunity to follow up on her bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. You can read the interview HERE.

NBC's morning program on KARE-11 will cover the marathon. You'll have to get up early, as the race starts at 5 AM Minnesota time.

Yes/No: Goucher in Olympic Marathon Top 12?

If you thought the Olympics were interesting last week, it's time to take it up a notch - track and field events begin today and continue until Sunday, August 12th.  The women's marathon will be one of the early finals, taking place this Sunday morning.  World Record holder Paula Radcliffe may have dropped out, but the field remains outstanding.

The United States sends a strong marathon team featuring Desiree Davila, Shalene Flanagan and Duluth's own Kara Goucher.

Goucher's sixth career marathon will be in London at the Olympics.  Let us know how you think she will do...

Yes/No: Will Kara Goucher finish in the top 12 in the Olympics Marathon on Sunday?

Kara Goucher returned to her hometown in Duluth to win the USA Half Marathon Championships in June with a 1:09:46.  London will be her second Olympic competition.  Goucher earned a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters in the 2007 World Championships.

Here are some previews of the marathon by various sources:
 - IAAF
- Track and Field News
- Letsrun
- NBCOlympics
- Duluth News Tribune

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 5:00 A.M. CDT, Sunday, August 5th.  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

The Yes/No question last week was:  Will Heather Kampf win the Ryan Shay Mile on Saturday?   The answer was  yes - Kampf won the race by almost two seconds in 4:31.83.  Twenty-two players answered correctly last week.  Mike Mason maintained his lead and now has twenty points.  Ryan Aylesworth and Gloria Jansen are next in line with nineteen points and then there are four players with eighteen points.

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

Smock 27th in Triple Jump Qualifying

Completing an athletic journey that took her from Melrose, Minnesota to the Olympic Stadium in London, Amanda Smock finished a non-advancing 27th in this morning's qualifying round of the women's triple jump.

Smock jumped 44-8 on her final jump of the competition which took place on the opening day of track and field at the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova led all jumpers with a mark of 48-6 1/4.  It took a jump of 46-5 1/2, just shy of Smock's personal best, to advance to Sunday's twelve-jumper final.

Smock opened her day with a foul, but then marked a 44-0 3/4 on her second jump.  Her final jump placed her 11th in her flight, which qualified seven athletes to finals.

With the result, the United States has still never placed an athlete in the finals of the women's triple jump at the Olympic Games. 

Smock told USA Track & Field  ... “I’m doing my best to try to not let the performance overshadow the Olympic experience. I definitely need to go back to the drawing board and fix a few things on the jump."

Smock said she'd remember: "... walking out into the stadium and seeing how packed it was here and how electrified the crowd was, it was absolutely amazing."

 "I’m here until the closing ceremonies," she added, "so I’m really looking forward to cheering on my teammates and experiencing the closing ceremonies, marching through that, and taking it all in.”

Find complete results of the competition HERE.

Smock Faces the World's Best Tomorrow

Amanda Smock's Olympic dream meets reality tomorrow morning when the Melrose native jumps in triple jump qualifying on the opening day of  track competition at the London Olympic Games.

Smock (pictured), the Olympic Trials champion and the United States' lone entrant in the event, will be in action starting at 4:25 a.m. Minnesota time.

The North Dakota State University alumnus will be the seventeenth and final jumper in Group A of the qualifying round.  Another eighteen jumpers will compete simultaneously  in Group B.

The top twelve jumpers will advance to Sunday's final; jumpers marking 47-3 or farther automatically advance to finals.

Find the startlist for the event HERE,

Making the final will be a tall order for the first-time Olympian.  Smock ranks #33 in the field based on her 2012 season best and #32 based on her personal best.  Four years ago in Beijing, it took 46-6 1/4 -- Smock's PR exactly -- to advance to finals.

At the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea last summer,  Smock jumped 44-2 3/4 to finish 17th in her qualifying flight and 31st overall.  Four years ago, Smock's friend and training partner Shani Marks finished 13th in her group and 28th overall with a mark of 44-1 1/4.

Should Smock advance, she'd make history as the first American to make a Olympic women's triple jump final.

The StarTribune has a nice video/photo/copy package on Smock HERE.

Find an amazing trove of Olympic triple jump information HERE.

Photo by Randy Miyazaki/TrackandFieldPhoto.com.

Pre-Olympic Track & Field News Round-Up

With Olympic track and field competition set to commence in the wee hours Friday, we'll take today to clear the (rather messy) DtB news desk of items that haven't made our pages yet ...

Association Honors Coaches ... The Minnesota Cross Country Coaches' Association recently inducted Mike Jacobs and Roger Twigg into its Hall of Fame. 

Jacobs has coached the boys' and girls' cross country and track teams at Marshall High School for 32 years. He served as an art teacher for 38 years in the Marshall district prior to his retirement in 2011. During his tenure, Jacobs' teams won 30 conference championships (12 girls and 18 boys).

His girls teams participated in the MSHSL Class AA state Meet 10 times, with seven consecutive appearances from 1994 through 2000 and with top finishes of third in 1995 and fourth in 1997 and 2006. Coach Jacobs’ boys’ teams participated in five Class AA state meets finishing second in 2002 and winning championships in 2003 and 2004. The 2004 team featured individual champion, Yahya Iman and posted a score of 34 points.

Roger Twigg (l) and Mike Jacobs.

Twigg started the boys' and girls' cross country programs at Crosby-Ironton High School and has been the coach for 39 years. He has been the head Track coach for 28 years and formerly was an assistant wrestling coach. Presently he serves as a registered MSHSL track official. Twigg taught 8th grade geography for 34 years and served as Athletic Director at Crosby-Ironton High School for 15 years until his retirement.

During his career as a high school cross country coach, three boys’ teams and nine girls teams were Class A state meet participants. Crosby-Ironton has had 44 individual entries in the state meet with 14 accomplishing All-State honors. His track and field teams have had 76 state meet participants with 26 place winners. Two were state champions including state meet high hurdles record holder Lynn Fruendienst.

The organization also named its 2011 Coaches of the Year: Gregg Greeno, St. Michael-Albertville (AA Girls), Jamie Kirkpatrick, Edina (AA Boys), and Twigg, Crosby-Ironton (A Boys), and Kent Viesselman of United South Central (A Girls)

Grey Named Roads Scholar ... Team USA Minnesota distance runner Jon Grey was named one of six Road Runners Club of America "Roads Scholars." The grant program is designed to assist American post-collegiate runners "who show great promise to develop into national and world-class road running athletes."

Grey, who joined Team USA Minnesota in September, is the reigning USA Track & Field Club Cross Country Champion.  A graduate of the College of William and Mary, Grey was a three-time All-American as a collegian.  He sports a 28:26.44 10,000-meter personal best.

Read about all the Roads Scholars HERE.

Andrew Rock.

Rock to Coach at Bethel ... Olympic gold medalist Andrew Rock has been named the men's and women's track and field coach at Bethel University, the school has announced.

Rock, who has served as a Carleton College assistant coach recently, was the 2006 USA champion at 400-meters and earned World Championship and Olympic gold medals as a member of the USA's 4 x 400-meter relay teams in 2007 and 2008.

Rock did his collegiate racing at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, where he won nine NCAA Division III individual titles and participated on eight national championship teams. Rock finished his collegiate career as a 17-time All-American, with four NCAA Division III national records.

Read Bethel University's media release about the hiring HERE.

Stillwater Boys Ranked #7 Nationally

Defending MSHSL Class AA state champion Stillwater Area High School boys cross country team is ranked #7 in Marc Bloom's XC Super 25 High School Team Cross Country Pre-Season Rankings, released yesterday.

Bloom said of Scott Christensen's squad: "The Ponies, 10th at [Nike Cross Nationals] last year, have their best team since being ranked Harrier national #1 in 1997 with 4 of their top 5 back after an excellent track season."

Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft, New Jersey, the defending NXN champion, tops the boys' rankings.

Joining Stillwater in the Heartland Regional rankings -- which comprises Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota -- are 2011 Class AA runners-up Burnsville, 2011 Class AA 3rd-placers, Edina, and 2010 Class AA champions Wayzata.

No Minnesota girls' teams appear in the national rankings, which are topped by Fayetteville-Manlius (New York) High School.

Five squads did earn regional distinction: defending Class AA champions Monticello, 2011 Class AA runners-up Lakeville South, 2011 Class AA 3rd-placers Wayzata, Maria Hauger-led Shakopee, and 2010 Class AA champs Eden Prairie.

Find complete rankings HERE.

Streich, Braun Win Junior Olympic Titles

After winning a silver medal in the Intermediate Boys' 3000-meters on Friday, Waseca's Shane Streich struck gold at 1500-meters at the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics in Baltimore.

A day earlier, Mark Braun won the Boys' Wheelchair 800-meters title at the meet.

Streich (pictured, left), the MSHSL Class A runner-up in both the 800 and 1600-meters as a 9th-grader last spring, edged Michael Brannigan by 13 one-hundreths of a second for his title, clocking 3:59.17.

Bloomington Jefferson's Matt Rosen (pictured, right) finished seventh in the race in 4:06.87.

Braun won his event by a whopping 16 seconds, establishing a meet record with his 1:56.94.

At the MSHSL Class AA State Meet, Braun swept the wheelchair events, winning the 800 and 1600-meters as well as the shot put and discus throw.

Below, find a recent WCCO-TV feature on Braun.

Weekend Results ... Here's USATF Minnesota Youth Chair Chris Dallager's review of the rest of the Junior Olympic action from Saturday and Sunday:

National Medalists

Pole Vault

Young Man Tyler Tappe (Flight Deck Athletics/Brainerd HS) 8^th place 4.70m (15’ 5”)

400 meter Hurdles

Intermediate Girl Shaina Burns (Lakeville South HS) 5^th place 1:03.91

800 meter Run

Midget Boy Montrea Talabi (Eagles Wings Track Club) 8^th place 2:21.78

Intermediate Boy Matthew Rosen (Bloomington Jefferson HS) 8^th place 2:01.72

The Rest of the Action

200 meter Hurdles Semi-Final

Youth Boy Clayton Johnson (Team Woodbury) 14^th place 27.20

800 meter Run

Sub-Bantam Girl Aleah Miller (Alexandria) 33rd place 3:16.33

Midget Girl Emily Covert (Eagles Wings Track Club) 27^th place 5:24.05

1500 meter Run

Sub-Bantam Girl Jaelyn Miller (Alexandria) 32^nd place 7:38.41

3000 meter Run

Midget Girl Emily Covert (Eagles Wings Track Club) 10^th place 11:21.74

Midget Boy Willem Gokemeijer (Edina) 21^st place 11:10.61

Youth Boy Cole Streich (Waseca) 31^st place 10:22.67

Pole Vault

Young Man Lee Bares (Lakeville HS) 9^th place 4.70m (15’ 5”)

Young Man Mitchell Valli (Fuzion Athletics/Buffalo HS) 16^th place 4.55m (14’ 11”)

Young Man Grant Krieger (Blake HS) no height

High Jump

Intermediate Boy Jacob Buller (Fuzion Athletics/St. Croix Luteran HS)

24^th place 1.75m (5’ 8.75”)

Young Man Denzell Oats (Park Flyers Track Club/St. Louis Park HS)

28^th place 1.90m (6’ 2.75”)

Long Jump

Sub-Bantam Boy Justin Gleason (Owatonna) 14^th place 3.38m (11’ 1.25”)

Bantam Girl Grace Robinson (St. Louis Park) 13^th place 3.73m (12’ 3”)

Shot Put

Bantam Girl Calista Johnson-Snyders (Park Flyers Track Club/St. Louis Park)

35^th place 5.05m (16’ 7”)

Javelin Throw

Young Man Melvyn Curry (Park Flyers Track Club) 22^nd place 47.08m (154’ 5”)

Young Man Jonathan Sutton (Eagles Wings Track Club) 40^th place 37.25m (122’ 2”)

Find complete USATF Junior Olympic results HERE.

Photo courtesy of Delores Streich.

Waseca's Streich Runner-Up in JO 3000m

Waseca High School's young star Shane Streich finished runner-up in yesterday's Intermediate Boys' 3000-meter run at the USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Baltimore.

Streich, who was the MSHSL Class A runner-up in both the 800 and 1600-meters as a 9th-grader last spring, clocked 8:57.12.

Streich was the lone Minnesota medalist in yesterday's competition.

Find complete Junior Olympic results HERE.

Also in Action ... Here's a run-down of the rest of the day's action, from USATF Minnesota Youth Chair Chris Dallager:

100 meter Dash Semi-Final

Youth Girl Jia Lewis (Eagle Wings Track Club) 23^rd place 12.63

Intermediate Boy Jake Gourley (Track Minnesota Elite/Eagan HS) 14^th place 11.07

400 meter Dash Semi-Final

Midget Boy Montrea Talabi (Eagles Wings Track Club) 24^th place 1:01.92

800 meter Run Semi-Final

Midget Boy Montrea Talabi (Eagles Wings Track Club) qualified to finals 8^th fastest time 2:18.69

100 meter Hurdles Semi-Final

Youth Boy Clayton Johnson (Team Woodbury) 16^th place 14.76

Intermediate Girl Shaina Burns (Prior Lake/Lakeville South HS) 13^th place 15.12

4 x 400 Meter Relay Preliminary

Midget Boys Eagles Wings Track Club (Eugene Dixon, Markeis Frazier, Montell Talabi, Montrea Talabi) 15^th place 4:23.21

Youth Girls Eagles Wings Track Club (Chauntel Fleming, Jada Lewis, Chanelle Waters, Jia Lewis) 36^th place 4:35.95

Shot Put

Sub-Bantam Girl Zaria Smith (Eagles Wings) 26^th place 3.85m (12’ 7.75”)

Midget Boy Brittan Burns (Prior Lake) 32^nd place 8.52m (27’ 11.5”)

Triple Jump

Young Woman Jaryn Pipkins (Real Track & Field/Apple Valley HS)

41^st place 10.47m (34’ 4.25”)

Young Man Jordan Charles (Real Track & Field/Apple Valley HS)

16^th place 13.57m (44’ 6.25”)

Long Jump

Youth Girl Sydney Jones (Eden Prairie) 42^nd place 4.24m (13’ 11”)

Youth Boy Jaran Roste (Alexandria) 40^th place 4.85m (15’ 11”)

High Jump

Midget Boy Brittan Burns (Prior Lake) 32^nd place 1.25m (4’ 1.25”)

Intermediate Girl Shaina Burns (Lakeville South HS) 19^th place 1.55m (5’ 1”)

A Hard Rain Falls on the Voyageur

The Voyageur 50 Mile ultramarathon, one of Minnesota’s most famed running events, kicks off Saturday morning. But, after the flooding in Duluth in June, it almost didn’t happen. Here’s DtB Ultra Contributor Alex Kurt's story of how race organizers made sure the event would go off as planned 

Andy Holak remembers when the rain started falling in Duluth on the night of June 19.

“Of course we thought it would be a hard rain, and then it would taper off and end,” said Holak, who directs the Voyageur 50 Mile ultramarathon in Carlton. “However, it rained hard and never let up all night.  I'm talking hard rain, the kind you think will end after a few minutes and then it will rain lightly or drizzle.”

“It just never let up,” he said.

The torrent of raindrops would coalesce into one of the worst floods in the state’s history. It would ultimately cause an estimated $100 million in damage to public infrastructure, and President Barack Obama would sign a Federal Emergency Declaration for 13 northeastern Minnesota counties. But beyond the numbers, residents of Duluth and the surrounding area were awash with indelible images of homes, livelihoods, and the makings of lifelong memories swept away. The internet filled with pictures of cars stuck in sinkholes, and seals – escaped from the local zoo – swimming down the street.

“By morning we knew we were in trouble,” Holak said. “Everything was flooding and it was still raining hard.”

But for him, the damage was also a serious impediment to the Voyageur race, which runs near the north shore and was scheduled for July 28. 

“I didn't really think the Voyageur would be in trouble until I saw photos coming in over the internet and Facebook of the swinging bridge being washed away and huge sections of the paved Willard Munger Trail being washed out,” Holak said. “At that point we started thinking about ways to re-route the course.”

That wasn’t his first priority, though.

“It was clear that the course would be significantly affected by the afternoon of June 20,” he said.  “However, the real concern was still for the safety of friends and neighbors.  Towns were flooded, houses were severely damaged, livelihoods were lost.  That was the real concern initially.”

Once the waters had settled, Holak was tasked with figuring out whether the race could be run as planned – and if so, how he and the race organizers were going to pull it off, given the extent of the damage on the course. It would be one more task in the already sleepless life of a race director. But Holak and his team were not willing to cancel if they didn’t have to – in addition to being famous as Proctor native and Western States 100 legend Scott Jurek’s first ultramarathon, it is the oldest ultramarathon in the state and is considered a marquee running event in Minnesota each year.

Remarkably, thanks to some around-the-clock work by the race team, the Voyageur will be run as scheduled this Saturday. We asked Holak about the effect the flood had on the race planning, the work of rerouting it, and what changes runners can expect to see.

How long did it take to get a full assessment of the damage to the race course?

The extent of the damage to the course wasn't known until co-race director Kris Glesener and a group of trail runners got out on the course.  What they saw wasn't pretty.  The trails on the west end of the route were severely impacted.   Access roads were literally gone.  Huge chasms appeared where roads used to be.  The damage was worse than we thought it would be, especially to many access roads along the course.  The other shocking thing were the extent of the mudslides along the course and all over the Duluth area.  Whole hillsides sliding down into raging torrents that used to small trickles of a creek.  The mudslides probably caused the most damage to the course.

All in all, what’s the damage to the course and elsewhere?

Conservatively, I would say about 25% of the course was severely impacted by the flooding with several sections completely destroyed.  It's likely that there are trails we will never use again for the race.  Beautiful sections like Gill Creek and Mission Creek were destroyed by mudslides, the iconic Swinging Bridge was washed away and many other section were obliterated by flood waters.  Some of these sections are unrunnable, however, trail and ultrarunners essentially could and would run the sections most people would consider unrunnable, so to call them unrunnable wouldn't be entirely accurate.  The sections of the trail in Jay Cooke State Park are unrunnable because the park is closed until October 31, 2012 due to the severe damage to roads and trails there.

Given the damage, was your initial reaction to re-route the course or to consider cancelling the race?

On the day of the flood, June 20, initial reports and photos led me to believe we could probably re-route the course and make it work.  After seeing the damage a couple days later, my initial reaction was no way, we'll have to cancel.  My biggest concerns were the access roads and whether emergency vehicles could get access to the course and we could get aid stations set up for runners.  Runner safety was my main concern and it didn't look good.  The damage to the trails from a runner standpoint didn't concern me as much.  I knew trail runners would run over and through anything!  It would simply add to the challenge, and they would love it.  Runner safety though was our responsibility.

What was the process of finding a new route?

Co-race director Kris Glesener really has to be credited with finding the alternate route.  Only a couple days after the flood, Kris was out there with a crew assessing the damage and starting to look for alternate routes.  It was probably just a little over a week after the flood that Kris had an alternate route identified.  We went out together and looked at some sections of trail to add to try to create some loops and I put some maps together shortly thereafter.  Once we were confident we could get emergency vehicle access and sufficient aid stations in, we were good to go.

What will the new course look like?

The cool thing about the alternate route is that it does use some cool portions of the traditional Voyageur course - the powerlines, across Spirit Mtn., 7 Bridges Road, and the zoo, but it also adds some really cool trails that nobody that runs the race will probably know about.  There are some cool new segments of singletrack added, a couple additional creek crossings, climbing straight up the ski hill, some beautiful pine and cedar stands.

Even though you were planning a re-route, the possibility that it might have to be cancelled was surely kept as a contingency. But at what point were you positive the race could go forward?

We were confident the race would go ahead as planned when we knew access was going to work and we could put together a race that felt like the Voyageur.  It will still have the feel of the Voyageur I think, which is what I wanted if we were going to go ahead with the race.  If we were going to call it the 31st Annual Minnesota Voyageur 50, it had to feel like the Voyageur and it still does.  We wouldn't have gone ahead with the race if we weren't confident people would know they were running the Voyageur.  Plus, it will showcase the amazing amount of hidden trails in Duluth and some of the unbelievable damage and power of Mother Nature.

The Voyageur has a special, historical place in Minnesota ultrarunning, dating even to before Scott Jurek made it famous. What does it mean to you that the spirit of the race has prevailed, so to speak, against outside elements?

I think it means a lot to people who have run the Voyageur before.  It's one of the oldest trail ultramarathons in the country and people have appreciated the work that went into pulling the race off this year.  We're following in the footsteps of some amazing people who put this race together, and we think it will live up to the Voyageur name.  The probably would not have happened without the work of Kris Glesener.  He has been instrumental in putting the course together, gathering volunteers, clearing the course and cutting and mowing.  Without his efforts, this race would not have happened.  A huge thank you goes out to all of the volunteers who have made this happen as well.  It's truly a community effort.

Minnesotans Still Contending at JOs

Action at the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics in Baltimore continues with youthful Minnesotans shining in national age-group competition.


USATF Minnesota Youth Chair Chris Dallager was kind enough to provide DtB with the updates below. 

Wednesday's Action: 

National Medalists:

Triple Jump:

Youth Boy Jaran Roste (Alexandria) 6^th place 11.68m (38’ 4”)

Long Jump:

Intermediate Girl Mia Barron (Park Flyers Track Club/Minnetonka HS)

5^th place 5.44m (17’ 10.25”)

The Rest of the Action for Day 3

400 meter Hurdles:

Intermediate Boy Jon Tollefson (St. Croix Lutheran HS) 26^th place 1:00.73

400m Hurdles:

Young Man Angus Stoudt (Park Flyers Track Club/Minnetonka HS) 26^th place 57.24

400 meter Hurdles:

Intermediate Girl Shaina Burns (Prior Lake/Lakeville South HS)

Qualified to finals with fastest preliminary time of 1:03.95

Intermediate Girl Carolyn Nye (Blake HS) 24^th place 1:09.92

200 meter Hurdles:

Youth Boy Clayton Johnson (Team Woodbury Track Club) 25^th place 27.16

Youth Boy Emmanual Phoulom-Smith (Park Flyers Track Club) did not finish

100 meter Dash:

Sub-Bantam Girl Desiree Ware (Eagles Wings Track Club) 33^rd place 16.22

Sub-Bantam Boy Justin Gleason (Owatonna) 35^th place 15.81

Midget Girl Faith Robinson (St. Louis Park) 31^st place 13.55

Youth Girl Jia Lewis (Eagles Wings Track Club)

qualified to semi-finals 24^th fastest time 12.56

Intermediate Boy Jake Gourley (Track Minnesota Elite/Eagan HS)

qualified to semi-finals 7^th fastest time 11.16

Young Woman Jaryn Pipkins (Real Track & Field/Apple Valley HS) 45^th place 12.87

200 meter Dash:

Sub-Bantam Girl Desiree Ware (Eagles Wings Track Club) 34^th place 33.96

Sub-Bantam Boy Justin Gleason (Owatonna) 29^th place 32.26

Midget Boy Eugene Dixon (Eagles Wings) 48^th place 28.60

Youth Girl Jia Lewis (Eagles Wings Track Club)

qualified to semi-finals 21^st fastest time 25.81

Intermediate Boy Jake Gourley (Track Minnesota Elite/Eagan HS)

qalified to semi-finals 14^th fastest time 22.55

Young Man Jordan Charles (Real Track & Field/Apple Valley HS)

Young Man James Kruse (Team Woodbury/Irondale HS) 46^th place 22.96

Yesterday's Action:

Day 4 2012 USATF National JO Results

200 meter Dash Semi-Final:

Youth Girl Jia Lewis (Eagle Wings Track Club) 21^st place 26.11

Intermediate Boy Jake Gourley (Track Minnesota Elite/Eagan HS) 14^th place 22.62

400 meter Dash Preliminary:

Midget Boy Montrea Talabi (Eagles Wings Track Club)

qualified to semi-finals 14^th fastest time 59.27

Youth Girl Tianna DuCloux-Potter (St. Paul) 35^th place 1:02.43

1500 meter Run Preliminary:

Intermediate Boy Shane Streich (Waseca HS) qualified to finals 3^rd fastest time 4:08.09

Intermediate Boy Matthew Rosen (Bloomington Jefferson HS) qualified to finals 7^th fastest time 4:10.96

2000 meter Steeplechase:

Young Man Kieran Kelly (Chanhassen HS) Did not finish

4 x 100 meter Relay:

Youth Girls Eagles Wings (Chauntel Fleming, Jada Lewis, Chanelle Waters, Jia Lewis) 23^rd place 51.62

4 x 800 meter Relay:

Midget Boys Eagles Wings (Eugene Dixon, Montell Talabi, Markeis Frazier, Josiah Sutton) 21^st place 11:51.82

Long Jump:

Intermediate Boy Andrew Ajaluwa (Eagles Wings Track Club) 23^rd place 6.02m (19’ 9”)

Triple Jump:

Youth Girl JeAnna Miller (Alexandria) 34^th place 9.03m (29’ 7.5”)

Intermediate Girl Mia Barron (Park Flyers Track Club/Minnetonka HS) 9^th place 11.31m (37’ 1.25”)

High Jump:

Bantam Boy Alec Burns (Prior Lake) 19^th place 1.15m (3’ 9.25”)

Youth Boy Jaran Roste (Alexandria) 27^th place 1.55m (5’ 1”)

Shot Put:

Young Man Jonathan Sutton (Eagles Wings Track Club) 42^nd place 12.54m (41’ 1.75”)

Discus Throw

Youth Boy Kieran McKeag (Apple Valley) 16^th place 40.04m (131’ 4”)

Javelin Throw:

Midget Girl Linda Senaphanh (Eagles Wings Track Club) 35^th place 16.42m (53’ 10”)

Midget Boy Josiah Sutton (Eagles Wings Track Club) 39^th place 19.70m (64’ 7”)

Pole Vault:

Intermediate Girl Carolyn Nye (Blake HS) 12^th place 3.30m (10’ 10”)

Yes/No: Kampf Victorious at Ryan Shay Mile?

Heather Kampf will continue her summer racing season with a road mile this weekend, after running the 800 and 1500 at the Olympic Trials in late June.  Kampf finished seventh in the 800m at the Trials and was a semi-finalist in the 1500m.

The fifth annual Ryan Shay Mile will be run Saturday morning in Michigan.  This invite-only field will compete for a prize money purse that includes a $1000 award for first place.  The race commemorates the life of the USA Marathon champion who died at the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2007.

We will check in with Kampf, a former Rosemount and University of Minnesota standout, with this question...

Yes/No: Will Heather Kampf win the Ryan Shay Mile on Saturday?

Heather Kampf is coming off a recent road mile victory in the Medtronic TC 1 Mile race.  She ran 4:36 to win that race by almost three seconds in May.  Kampf has a 1500 personal best of 4:12 and has run 4:30 for the mile.

There are two major threats to Kampf in this race.  The first is Ashley Higginson who also has run the 1500 in 4:12.  Higginson is coming off a fourth place finish in the Olympic Trials Steeplechase, where she ran 9:38, just off her personal record of 9:34.

The second top contender in the Ryan Shay Mile is Ashley Miller, a recent graduate from the University of Nebraska.  Miller is a Big 12 and Big 10 1500 champ as well as an All-American and boasts a best 1500 time of 4:11.

A press release on the Ryan Shay Mile including entries is HERE.

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 9:30 A.M. CDT, Saturday, July 28th.  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

The Yes/No question last week was:  Will Jamie Cheever break 4:20.00 in the 1500 in Ninove, Belgium on Saturday?   The answer was  yes - Cheever ran 4:17 in a big personal record.  Twenty-one players answered correctly this week.  Mike Mason is now the sole leader with nineteen points.  There are three with eighteen points points (Ryan Aylesworth, Gloria Jansen and Rich Cowles).

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

Will Leer Wins Morton Mile in 3:56.39

Minnetonka native Will Leer won yesterday's Morton Mile in Dublin, Ireland running 3:56.39 to edge three-time Medtronic TC 1 Mile champ David Torrence by one-one-hundredth of a second.

Winona native Garrett Heath finished seventh in 3.57.18 in a race that saw ten runners break four minutes.

Leer's win was gained him his second Morton Mile title, his first coming in 2010. Intially, Torrence was announced as the winner of the race, before results were corrected in Leer's favor.

You can watch the race HERE.

The historic Morton Pre Games gathered most of the Minnesota elite athletes currently touring Europe, and capped the pre-Olympic segment of the European track and field season.

Elliott Heath finished runner-up in the 3000-meters clocking a personal (and Heath family) best of 7:45.26.  Ben True won the event in 7:44.40.  Elliott's brother Garrett ran a PR 7:51.34 for the event in Poland on Saturday.

Team USA Minnesota's Gabriele Anderson, who has been on fire since crossing the Atlantic earlier this month, won the women's 800-meters in 2:02.99.  Teammate Jamie Cheever was 10th in the women's mile in 4:42.44.

Find complete results of the Morton Games HERE.

Shaina Burns Wins Junior Olympic Heptathlon

Shaina Burns of Lakeville South High School won the Intermediate Girls' heptathlon competition at USA Track & Field Junior Olympics at Morgan State University in Baltimore yesterday, tallying 4704 points in the two-day competition.

In the first day of action, Burns ran the 100m hurdles in 15.86, high jumped 5-1, put the shot 38-7 and ran the 200m in 26.83. On Day 2, Burns long jumped 16-4 1/2, threw the javelin 117-5, and ran the 800m in 2:23.34.

The victory culminates a busy and successful summer on multi-eventing for the soon-to-be high school junior.  In mid-June, Burns finished third at the New Balance High School Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina with 4706 points.

In late June, she won the USA Track & Field Youth National Championships in Arlington, Texas with 4486 points.

Find full results of the Intermediate Girls' heptathlon HERE.

Also at Junior Olympics ... Spencer Howe of Coon Rapids finished 15th in the Youth Boys' pentathlon with 1895 points.

James Kruse of Team Woodbury and Irondale HS, placed 15th in the Young Men's Decathlon with 5554 points.

Grace Robinson of St. Louis Park finished in 10th  in the Bantam Girls' triathlon with 920 points.

The USATF Junior Olympis run through Sunday.  Find complete results HERE.

Special thanks go USATF Minnesota Youth Chair Chris Dallager for his help with this report.

Minnesota Summer League Resumes Tonight

Europe isn't the only place hosting track meets these days.

The fourth of five USA Track & Field Minnesota Summer League track meets will take place tonight at St. Louis Park High School.

Registration runs from 5:30 p.m. until 6:15 p.m.  The opening field event commences at 6:15 p.m., with running events going at 6:30 p.m..

Find a schedule of events HERE.

The Summer League has witnessed a flood of participants this year -- nearly 50 athletes, aged 4 to 54,  competed in the 100-meter at the second Summer League event!

Officials and volunteers who are interested in helping out at tonight's meet -- or at the final Summer League event on August 7 -- should contact USATF Minnesota Managing Director Craig Yotter at 651-686-8447 or office [AT] usatfmn [DOT] org.

European Round-Up: Smock 4th in Poland

Melrose native Amanda Smock continued her preparations for the London Olympic Games with a 4th-place, 45-7 1/4 performance in the triple jump at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meet in Szczecin, Poland on Saturday.

Olesya Zabara of Russian won the competition at 47-6 1 /4.  Four of Smock's six jumps landed beyond 44-9.

A week from Friday, Smock will compete as the lone American in the prelims of the women's triple jump on the opening day of track and field competition at the London Games.

There's a recent feature story on Smock HERE.

Running on the track in Szczecin, Winona native Garrett Heath established a new personal best for 3000-meters clocking 7:51.34 for 3rd-place.

Gideon Gathimba of Kenya won the event in 7:50.34.

Find complete results from Szczecin HERE.

In Other Euro Action ... Team USA Minnesota's Jamie Cheever set a new personal record for 1500-meter with a 4:17.73, 9th-place finish at the Memorial Rasschaert meet in Ninove, Belgium on Saturday.

Elizabeth Maloy of the United States won the event in 4:09.98.

In men's competition, Elliott Heath won his section of the men's 1500-meters in 3:40.17.

Find complete Ninove results HERE.