The Short-Cut: Results for October 19-20

Use DtB to click to the weekend's important results ...

Saturday:
North Central Conference Championships (in Duluth): Results
Update: Men ... Mankato 24, Augustana 62, UMD 67 ... Mokaya wins.
Update: Women ... Augie 36, UND 61, USD 62, UMD 114, Mankato 115 ... Stangler wins.

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (in Winona): Preview Results
Update: A Moorhead State sweep ... Vanwechel wins.

Jack's Run (at the U of M): Results
Update: UW-Superior's Kramer and former Gopher Brown win.

Sunday:
Nerstrand Big Woods Races: Results

Friday Round-Up: Finnerty, Robertz, Polls

Happy Friday!

We've collected the week's miscellaneous and sundry items in a "round-up" posting today:

Finnerty on MileSplit.com ... Rob Finnerty, who's been the #1-ranked Class AA boy harrier all season in Minnesota, was interviewed this week by MileSplit.com. In the wide-ranging Q/A, Finnerty seems determined to quell a persistent rumor about former Golden Gopher star Antonia Vega being his personal assistant coach:

"I know some people out there, in Minnesota, think that Antonio was hired just to be my training partner and personal coach," Finnerty says. "In reality, this isn't true because he helps the rest of the team equally. They can believe what they want though. I, along with anybody that matter to me, know what the truth of the situation really is. Anybody who thinks differently is irrelevant"

The Star-Tribune story that put the idea out there is HERE.

Catching Up with Janet Robertz ... DtB contributor Chad Austin has posted a comprehensive interview with masters distance running phenomenon Janet Robertz, HERE, on his Running Minnesota blog. Robertz, who moved to Boca Raton, Florida earlier this year has had her running slowed by hypothyroidism.

"It really affected my metabolism and energy level," the 2004 USA Masters Marathon champion told Austin. "I was exhausted all the time even though I got 9+ hours sleep. It took over a year for the doctor to get my meds adjusted and even now I just don’t have the energy level that I once had. It has been really depressing. I keep hoping that I can run another marathon but realistically, it just may not be in the cards. I can run for an hour without too much trouble but anything beyond that has become a struggle. So, a few years back a 70-80 mile week was average. Today, 45-55 is average. My high mileage week is 55 miles. The longest I have run recently is 9.5 miles."

The Latest in College Cross Country Polling ... The small college cross country rankings have undergone some additional tweaks this week -- prior to, we'll predict, the wilder swings that will likely come after the conference championships this weekend and next.

In NCAA Division II, Minnesota State - Mankato holds the #12 spot in the ratings, down from #11 last week. NCC rivals -- and conference meet hosts -- Minnesota-Duluth is ranked #15, up a slot from last week. The NCC's Augustana is #25. In women's rankings, the NSIC's Moorhead State holds the #25 position in the polls heading into their conference championship in Winona tomorrow. The University of North Dakota women, ranked #16, are the favorites in the NCC for women.

In Division III, St. John's dropped a few more places -- to #9-- from their high-water mark of #5 earlier in the season. Carleton is ranked #24, up two spots from a week ago. The MIAC holds its championship next weekend. The St. Olaf woman are ranked #15 -- up from #17 last week, followed by MIAC rivals St. Thomas and Gustavus Adolphus at #22 and #35, respectively.

Mankato Men Eye Final NCC Championship

The North Central Conference will contest its final cross country championship this Saturday in Duluth. The league which boasts a long history of top-notch NCAA Division II athletics has seen many of its long-time members jump to Division I in recent years. South Dakota State and North Dakota State made the move a few years back; the University of South Dakota and the University of North Dakota will do so next year.

In light of the defections, the conference will cease to exist after this school year. Minnesota State - Mankato, the University of Minnesota - Duluth, St. Cloud State, and Augustana will move to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference beginning next year.

DtB caught up with long-time Mankato coach Mark Schuck to have him share a few memories of NCC meets past and to tell us about his current team, the favorites to win their 10th NCC title at the meet.

DtB: How odd is it for you, Mark, knowing that this is the last year for the conference that you've competed in for so long?

Schuck: I don’t see it so much as odd as I see it a sign of the times. The trend of so many NCC schools deciding to go DI to the point of disbanding the conference is unfortunate. However the four remaining schools all going to the Northern Sun gives hope that many of the good things that the NCC had will also be there with the Northern Sun. Hopefully better. The Northern Sun was our roots. It has always been a strong conference in track and cross country.

DtB: What do you think is the biggest Mankato highlight from all the NCC cross country championships?

When you word it that way, it brings to mind the great tradition of distance running at MSU. We have had many great athletes and many great teams but winning the NCC, the Regional and The National Championship in 1988 stands alone as the greatest accomplishment.

DtB: Do you have an intereting story about the blizzard meet?

Schuck: The night before the meet, at the coaches meeting, we talked about the incoming storm. We agreed that if NDSU was going to make any changes, that they give us fair warning. I like the athletes to eat three to four hours prior to competing. While at breakfast with the team, the people from NDSU came to our table and informed us that the storm was so bad that the meet is going to start in one hour and not only that but they also informed us that the race will not be a 10K but a 5K.

The meet management was concerned that athletes might get lost in the storm so instead of two loops they only went one loop. I thought that if they were concerned of athletes getting lost on the second loop that we should not run the first loop. On the second loop they will at least have a trail. The night before, I went to a store and bought ski goggles for each of my athletes.

The meet was also the qualifying meet for the National Meet. To make a long story short, we did qualify for Nationals. The goggles worked great. One of my better athletes, Tulu an African was last on my team. Two weeks later at the National Meet in California he was an All-American. I have never seen a race held in that bad of weather since.

I was also involved in a “blizzard meet” when Nationals were held at St. Cloud. We had a foot of snow the night before. We ran the meet. That was hard on the southern schools. That was in the early 80’s and Minnesota has not had the National meet since.

DtB: How is this year's team looking going into the meet? Is the squad healthy?

Schuck: I have a very deep team with four guys healthy and looking strong. They are James Krajsa from Moorhead, Denise Mokaya from Kenya, Dan Ristau from Blue Earth, and Jon Stoltman from Little Falls. Then there are the guys that are good, but somewhat hurt. Ben Klungvedt from Moorhead has a calf pull, Jesse Merkel, Menomonie, Wisconsin, has back problems, Chad Janizeski from Minneota was in a car accident, Erik Teig, from Amery, Wisconsin has leg problems and Jeff Stuckenbroker from Windom has a hip problem, Doug Galbavy from South Dakota has a hamstring problem, Jeff Lumbardo and Dan Kromer are healthy.

That’s our twelve guys that we have entered in this years conference meet. I feel good about our chances to win. It’s a good hard-working team.

DtB: UMD gave you a run at Griak ... are they the top challenger?

Schuck: Don’t count Augustana out. They have a strong team also, but UMD will be on there home course so it won’t be easy.

Related Content:

The NCC Cross Country History and Record Page

A Blogger's Archived Stories About the NCC's Demise

The NCC's Wikipedia Page

Minnesota Track Hall of Fame to Add Six

The Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame will add six new members to its honored circle later this year, officials announced today.

Members of the Class of 2007 are elite athletes Sarah Renk Thorsett, Carson Hoeft, and Donovan Bergstrom, veteran athlete Jerry McNeal, and coach/administrators Gary Wilson and Dick Mulkern.

Renk Thorsett, a Winona High School and Wisconsin Badger star, was a two-time World Championships participant at 1500 meters (1995 & 1997) with a 4:05.87 lifetime best in the event. Hoeft, a Robbinsdale Armstrong and Minnesota Golden Gopher standout, was an NCAA all-American at 1500 meters in 1990 in 3:42.35. Bergstrom, who raced for Elgin-Millville and Wisconsin, was a three-time Big Ten champion (cross country 1991, 3000m steeplechase 1992, 1993) and the 1993 NCAA steeplechase champion with a lifetime best of 8:29.08.

Wilson, the longtime University of Minnesota women's track and cross country coach, won the Big Ten outdoor track and field championships with the 2006 Golden Gophers, the program's first-ever Big Ten title. Mulkern coached football at Hamline University and guided the school's strong throwing squads in track and field. Mulkern coached Mike Manders, among others, to his Hall of Fame career.

DtB assumes that Jerry McNeal is the University of Kansas track and cross country all-American from the 1950s ... something we are in the process of verifying.

The induction ceremony will take place Saturday, December 1, in Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota.

Related content:

DtB's suggestions for the Class of 2007

Bruce Brothers' suggestions for the Hall

Gopher Women Fall to #8; Men Rise to #22

The University of Minnesota women's cross country team fell to #8 in the latest NCAA Division I rankings released today.

The squad had been ranked a program-best #4 prior to the Pre-National Meet last weekend. There, the Gopher finished 4th in their section of the loaded event.

Two-time defending NCAA champ Stanford retains its #1 ranking after winning the Gophers' section at Pre-Nats. Michigan and Michigan State of the Big Ten are ranked #6 and #7, while Illinois is ranked #10 going into the conference championships in Columbus, Ohio on October 29.

The Golden Gopher men rose to #22 in the latest NCAA men's poll. The Minnesota men finished 7th in their section at Pre-Nats. Heading into the Big Ten Championships next weekend, Minnesota finds itself looking up at #6 Wisconsin and #10 Michigan in the national ratings.

Oregon is ranked #1 in the NCAA for men.

MEADP Cuts Checks for Trials Marathoners; Accepts Applications for 2008 Grants

Six of Minnesota's top marathoners got a nice surprise in the mail recently.

The Minnesota Elite Athlete Development Program wrote $300 checks to the six men who have qualified for next month's Olympic Marathon Trails in New York City: Donovan Fellows, Matt Gabrielson, Pete Gilman, Jason Lehmkuhle, Chris Lundstrom, and Zachary Schendel.

The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials are scheduled for Saturday, November 3. The Minnesotans will be among the field of the nation's fastest male marathoners taking to the streets of New York City with the hopes of representing the U.S. in the 2008 Beijing Games.

MEADP, a program funded through contributions from Austin-Jarrow Sports, Grandma’s Marathon-Duluth, Inc., Minnesota Distance Running Association (MDRA), and Twin Cities Marathon , Inc., gave away the money to "acknowledge their accomplishment and to help offset expenses," according to a media release.

MEADP will also make contributions to Minnesotans who qualify for other 2008 Olympic Trials long-distance events ranging from 5K to the marathon, including the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women’s Marathon Trials which will be held next April in Boston.

MEADP was created in 1998 to provide financial assistance to elite Minnesota distance runners who have completed their college running careers. The program provides grants to assist qualified runners in reaching their full athletic potential.

In addition, MEADP is now accepting applications for 2008 grants. MEADP will provide grants in amounts up to $2,000 per recipient to promising male and female Minnesota elite distance runners. Applications and more information can be obtained at http://www.grandmasmarathon.com/ or by calling call Neil Franz at (320) 253-7130.

Last year, Kristen Nicolini, Erin Ward, Pete Gilman, and Ryan Kleimenhagen earned stipdends from the organization.

Lehmkuhle, McGregor Named Athletes of the Month

The Minnesota Association of USA Track & Field announced that Jason Lehmkuhle and Katie McGregor are USATF Minnesota's Athletes of the Month for October.

Lehmkuhle, a member of Team USA Minnesota, is recognized for his runner-up finish at the USA Men’s 10 Mile Championship held in conjunction with the Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile on October 7. Lehmkuhle clocked 47:48 to finish second to two-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman who won in a course-record 47:34.

McGregor, also of Team USA Minnesota, is recognized for her own second place finish at the USA Women’s 10K Championships in Boston on October 8. McGregor ran 32:41 to finish second to Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor who won in 32:01.

USA Track & Field Minnesota selects Athletes of the Month to honor excellence in track and field and its related sports in Minnesota.

(Disclosure: Pete Miller and I serve, along with Kevin Moorhead, on the USATF-Minnesota Athlete of the Month committee.)

The Short-Cut: Results for October 12-14

#1 versus #4 ... The race of the weekend pits the #4 Minnesota Golden Gopher women against #1 Stanford at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana.

In the event which splits the loaded Division I field into two sections, Minnesota faces #7 Rice, #9 Michigan State (with Minnesotan Sarah Price), #11 Florida State, #14 Colorado State, #16 Boston College, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Wisconsin (with Hanna Grinaker) along with two-time defending NCAA Champions Stanford ... and their Minnesotan's Alex Gits and Shannon Bergstedt.

The Big Ten web-site just printed THIS nice feature on the Gophers' Ladia Albertson-Junkans.

The #24 Gopher men run in a Pre-Nats section with defending NCAA Champs Colorado, currently ranked #3 in D1, as well as #5 Stanford (with the brothers Heath), #7 Notre Dame (with Jake Watson), #10 North Carolina State, #14 Providence, #16 William & Mary, #18 Michigan, and #20s Arizona State and UTEP.

And there's a bunch of other action this weekend as well ...

Already:
High School Conference Meets: Collected Results

Saturday:
DeSales University Invitational (St Thomas women compete): Results
Update: Tommie women romp; Theisen, Russ finish 1-2.

Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational (in La Crosse): Results
Update: Men ... St. John's 4th, UMD 6th, Hamline 10th ... Erichsen 2nd in 25:00.
Update: Women ... Gopher "JV" wins, St. Olaf 6th, Gustavus 11th.

UW-Oshkosh Invitational (Bethel, Macalester men compete): Results
Update: Bethel women 5th, Borner 3rd in 21:22, Umhoefer 5th.
Update: Macalester men 13th, Greeno 21st in 24:59.

NCAA Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.): Results
Update: Gopher women 4th in "White Section," Stanford wins big -- Gits 31st in 20:58.
Update: Gopher men 7th in section w/o Torchia, Rombough runs best-ever U of M 8K XC -- 23:40

Lewis & Clark Pioneer Open (in Oregon, Carleton competes): Results
Update: Carleton men win big, Sepe, Kennedy finish 2-3; Carleton women 3rd.

Sunday:
Charities Challenge-Challenge Aging 5K: Results
IAAF World Road Running Championships: Results
Update: McGregor 27th in 1:12:01.

Meet Erin Ward ... Olympic Trials Qualifier

There was some good marathoning news last weekend amidst all the sweat and slow times at Twin Cities and Chicago -- Erin Ward got an Olympic Trials qualifier at the St. George Marathon in Utah running 2:45:58.

We tracked down the Run N Fun runner to get the whole story ...

DtB: It sounds like you were at one of the cool spots on the continent last weekend. What were the conditions like at St. George?

Ward: The conditions at St. George were close to perfect. It was probably just under 40 degrees at the start, which is at about 5500 feet of altitude. I tend to favor warmer conditions than most runners, so I was a little worried about the cold. I wore a hat and gloves, a long-sleeved shirt, and those dorky long socks to keep me warm. (Sometimes performance just has to come before fashion.)

The sun doesn't come up for the first half-hour or so of the race, so you're running in the dark--it seems surreal. The temps warmed to about 55 by the finish, I think. I didn't notice any wind at all, which usually means that there is a slight tailwind. Can you imagine a better set of circumstances? I flew back to Minnesota the night of my race so that I could watch the TCM, and the conditions were brutal. I feel so fortunate to have chosen to run in the desert.

DtB: How did your race play out? Were you on pace the whole way? Were there any bad patches to work through?

Ward: The race was not easy for me. The first seven miles are at altitude, but they're also downhill. I went through the 10K already almost a minute under pace and feeling fantastic. I thought I might be headed for a 2:42-2:43 race (don't we all get a little excited in the first ten miles?)

The next 6 miles are also at nearly 5000 feet, but there is one long incline that lasts from mile seven to eight, and then the course levels out through the halfway point. I told myself to not worry about pace and to try to minimize my effort on that stretch (this was Kelly Mortenson's advice, and he has won the race in the past, so I believed him!), and then to concentrate on a big negative split. I needed to be at 1:23:30 at the half to be on pace for my qualifier, and I think I was about five or six seconds under. Then the race really starts to drop.

Miles 14-16 take a very steep drop, and those who have trained for downhill running start to reap the rewards. Unfortunately I was not one of those who had trained for downhill running. By the end of mile 16 my quads were crying, and I was not far from crying myself. This is when I started to let a little self-doubt creep into my head.

I have to thank Jenna Boren for getting me through miles 16-23. She sent me a text message the day before the race that said, "If you start to doubt yourself, remember that you're the only one. Everyone else believes that you can do it." I reminded myself of this every time I thought the race was slipping away. I also told myself that if there was ever a perfect day to do this, today was the day.

At mile 24 I calculated that I was under pace again, and this was the first time that I thought I might be able to do it. I spent the next two miles holding my breath (metaphorically, of course) and trying to stay calm. With a mile to go I had 7:30 minutes to finish, and I said to myself, "You train faster than that on your easy days." Still, a marathon is a marathon, and disaster can strike at any time. I didn't celebrate until I had about fifty meters to go.

DtB: Describe how you felt when you knew you'd made the standard. It's been a long road for you, no?

Ward: This marathon was my sixth attempt at the qualifier. I think the first two attempts were probably a little optimistic (evidenced by 1:23 first halves and 1:30 second halves), but the other three were legitimate. I spent miles 15-26 at Chicago 2006 throwing up, was not quite fit enough due to a nagging injury at Houston 2007, and whined about the heat at Grandma's this June.

I trained harder than ever this past summer, running up to 120 miles per week and averaging over 90, so I thought my fitness was adequate. I am a rather inconsistent runner, though, and I tend to have either a great performance or to completely fall apart. As I mentioned, I didn't let myself believe that I had met my goal until I was very close to the finish line. The first person I saw after I finished was Kelly Mortenson, and he had waited in the cold at the finish line until I came across. I found out that he had missed his 2:22 standard by about a minute and a half, and I was disappointed for him. (Of course, he did qualify in 2000 and finished 12th at the Trials, so he's had his share of success.)

Then I saw my dad, who was pretty much sobbing. My mom was crying, too. They had flown out to Utah for the weekend to see me race, and they have been traveling around to support me in this quest to qualify for the Olympic Trials. I was thinking during the race when things got tough, "Erin, you are going to bankrupt your parents if you don't run a qualifier pretty soon--all of this flying is getting expensive."

Achieving the qualifying standard is a dream for me. So many people have helped me to reach this goal: all of my teammates at Run n Fun and Perry and Kari Bach for supporting the team, my family for both emotional and financial support, my co-workers and my boss for putting up with "compromised productivity" when training demands are high, Angie Voight for tolerating my one-stepping ways (I still don't believe that I do that), the Baba Yaga Hood-to-Coast team for the best weekend of the summer, and the Twin Cities running community for too many good times and laughs to count.

I was cheering for my friends during the TCM, and many of them shouted back, "Congratulations, Erin!" during their own races. I am one very lucky runner.

Addition: Ward noticed she made an omission and later added: "I owe a lot to my coach, Dennis Barker, who calls me Champ (because I asked him to!) and makes me believe it."

Hot Marathons: What About Grandma's?

We apparently struck a nerve.

Our opinion post suggesting the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon move its event back two weeks to make marathoner-friendly weather a more likely occurrence prompted more comments than any other item we’ve posted. Our Down the Backstretch poll asking readers when in October they would schedule TCM gathered more votes than any other poll we’ve ever conducted. Weather and TCM seems to be on a lot of people’s minds these days, not surprisingly.

In our admittedly unscientific poll, a total of 107 people voted. A plurality of 45% of those voters thought the race should be held the third weekend of October. 81% of all voters preferred a date later than TCM’s traditional first-weekend-in-October spot on the calendar.

The comments on the editorial reflected the poll voting. They also brought Grandma’s Marathon into the discussion. Although we didn’t mention the mid-June race in the post about moving Twin Cities, readers made the connection immediately.

A reader named “dd,” who was typical of the sentiments, said: “I would be even more in favor of moving Grandma's to late May -- I think the chances of heat and humidity are getting far too good (that is, bad!) in mid-late June. People are going to start avoiding these, especially the sub-elite range that makes a race a good one for people looking for qualifiers, etc.”

Despite Grandma’s location on Lake Superior next to all that cold water, there is a disconcerting temperature trend there too. In the last five years (2003-2007), Grandma’s start-time temperatures have averaged 59.6 degrees, according to the event’s media guide. The average temperature for the event in the 20 years previous to that (1983-2002) was 51.9. It is true that some of the hottest Grandma’s were in the first years of the event – 1977 to 1982 -- but the event was also held later in the month in its earliest years of existence.

With many of the same caveats I noted in my TCM piece – that big events are scheduled well into the future, that many factors go into to choosing the best date for an event, that traditions do matter, that events must be mindful of other activities on the calendar (Memorial Day and graduations come to mind in this case), that despite what we know is a changing climate the recent warm race-days may be attributed more to blips in the weather rather than deeper factors – I’d prefer an earlier-in-the-year Grandma’s

My bottom line is to have marathoners race on what is likely to be the best weather-day of the season. Recent trends at Grandma’s -- and globally – suggest late May or early in June would put people in better weather when the gun fires.

If I was an athlete training for the race of my life next spring, I’d be worrying about the weather once the calendar flipped to June … and each and every day after that.

What do you think? Let us know on the DtB poll or with a comment below ...

A Catch-Up, Round-Up of Recent News

With the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon occupying the bulk of our attention for the past week, it's time to catch up on recent happenings from across our sport. Below, in bite-sized form, is all of the sport's recent news ...

(This news round-up is dedicated to Bonnie in Shorewood ... who thanked us over the weekend for DtB's ability to let busy folks like her have careers, raise kids, and train for marathons and still keep up on the latest goings-on in the sport.)

Wayzata #2 in Heartland ... On the strength of their Griak Invitational win two weekends ago, the Wayzata boys cross country team earned the #2 ranking in Nike Team Nationals Heartland Region. University High School of St. Louis hold the #1 spot which Rosemount, now #6, had occupied since the start of the season. Stillwater is ranked #9 in the poll that was released on October 5.

In the Heartland girls' poll, Eden Prairie is ranked #7 and Burnsville is ranked #8. Yankton, South Dakota holds the #1 ranking as it has all season.

MSHSL Rankings ... Yet another Class AA girls team sits atop the state rankings. Let's see if we can recount the previous #1's in order ... Lakeville North, Prior Lake, Brainerd, Eden Prairie, and now the Blaze. Wayzata continues to lead Class AA boys, but the big story there is Roseville's leap from #12 to #5 after their upset of Stillwater in Alexandria last week. The Plainview-Elgin-Millville boys were the big movers in Class A, going from #8 to #2 in a week. Things were quiet on the Class A girls front with Adrian still holding #1.

Ward Qualifies for the Olympic Marathon Trials ... While lots of other marathoners were sweating it out at Twin Cities or in Chicago, Erin Ward of Run N Fun punched her ticket to the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials with a 2:45:58 at the St. George Marathon in Utah. Women need a 2:47:00 to qualify.

Teammate Kelly Mortenson, the 12th place finisher at the 2000 Trials, missed the men's standard of 2:22:00 with a 2:23:29 on the last day qualifying for men.

TCM, the Kenyan Perspective ... TCM Elite Recruiter Rick Trueman alerted DtB to THIS story about TCM written for the area's African community.

Marcelo Ordaz-Cruz's Racing Chair Fund ... Gary Westlund at Charities Challenge informs us that his organization has raised $828.72 to outfit Interstate 35W bridge collapse survivor Marcelo Ordaz-Cruz with a new racing wheelchair. Ordaz-Cruz finished 9th in the men's wheelchair division at TCM in 2:36:09 despite overturning his chair in a crash near the 19 miles mark.

Charities Challenge has secured a $2000 "matching donation" for the fund that will effective double the value of individual pledges up to that amount. Westlund would like to raise $5000-6000 for Ordaz-Cruz.

Gophers #4 and #24 ... The University of Minnesota women retained their #4 ranking in the NCAA Division I poll this week. They are the #1-ranked Big Ten women's team in the poll. The Gopher men moved up a spot to #24. Both Gopher squads are scheduled to compete at the NCAA Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday in a dry run on the national meet course.

Remembering Caty Delwiche ... We found two more stories from this weekend describing how Caty Delwiche's college and high school teams were remembering her death last week. Kevin Pates wrote about her Glencoe-Silver Lake team HERE as part of the Duluth News Tribune's Swain Invitational coverage. (There are some really cool photos from the event HERE.) The Mankato Free Press, HERE, was on hand at MSU - Mankato's home meet which served a racing memorial to the fallen runner.

MIAC Men: Johnnies Stalked by Knights, Pipers

Back in early September, DtB previewed the MIAC women’s cross country landscape ahead of a season-opening clash between 2004 and 2005 champs Carleton and 2006 victors St. Thomas -- teams we dubbed the 2007 favorites.

Of course, St. Olaf won the race that we spotlighted as a preview battle between the best two teams in the conference! And, they’ve looked like the MIAC favorites ever since.

It’s probably all the better, then, that’s we’re only getting to the men’s side of the MIAC ledger now, a month-plus into the harrier season. We'll probably have a better idea of what we're talking about this time.

The Favorites

2006 MIAC titlists St. John’s appear to be the team to beat at Como Golf Course on October 27 when the MIAC sorts things out officially. The 5th place team in NCAA Division III last year returns all its scorers from 2006. The Johnnies opened the 2007 season ranked #5.

St. John’s seemed to stumble slightly two weekends ago in Oregon, finishing 3rd at the Willamette Invitational. Their #11 ranked hosts handily beat the Johnnies. St. John’s Chris Erichsen and Kelly Fermoyle took the top two spots in the meet, but it was a long wait until the rest of the Johnnie scorers appeared on the homestretch.

“I’m not quite sure what to make of our greater gap,” St. John’s coach Tim Miles said. “Probably a combination of our top two running better and the others being a bit off their very good Saint John’s Invitational performances. Whatever the case, all eight had their race faces on and competed well.”

St. John’s, which tied D2-ranked MSU – Mankato at their home meet, has so far been without the services of their top finisher at the MIAC meet last year, Mitch VanBruggen, although Miles expects the senior to be racing again as soon as this weekend.

The Challengers

St. John’s lost two spots in the D3 poll after Willamette and the MIAC race seemed to tighten a bit after Carleton (#27) and Hamline (#35) ran well at the Roy Griak meet that same weekend. The Knights finished 4th there with 183 points. The “Ham-Dogs” were a place behind with 214.

“I was very pleased with the Griak meet,” Carleton’s first-year head coach Dave Ricks said. “This was our best showing in a number of years there. Quentin Kennedy, Joe Sepe, and Mark Felice all have huge upsides. These guys have no idea how good they can be. John Nowinski and Eamon Monaghan are "game-day" guys. They really compete well."

Carleton, third in the MIAC last fall and runner-up the three seasons prior to that under the now-retired Bill Terriquez, is blessed with a squad full of seniors who have all played scoring roles for the program. 2006 national meet qualifier Ryan Martinez, though on the roster this year, appears unlikely to compete this year due to injury.

“We have GREAT senior leadership,” Ricks wrote to DtB. “In fact, we are doing "meet" captains this year because every one of our seniors has leadership qualities."

At Griak, Hamline also appeared to put themselves back into the MIAC picture after an unexpectedly poor showing at the St. Olaf Invitational earlier in the season.

“We did get off the mat for the Griak,” Hamline coach Paul Schmaedeke said. “I have not started the season very well for a number of years. We stopped running a meet the first week of September a couple of years ago because our guys just didn't want to race that early. Hopefully they have a sense as to what is important and what they need to do to get ready to be their best in November."

Hamline is faced with different leadership situation than Carleton. The Knights graduated seniors Travis Bristow, Chris Yotter, and Tony Klappa and are without Brandon Gleason who is recovering from the injuries he suffered when struck by a truck while training last winter.

“A couple of guys looked around and realized that if we are going to be any good and go back to nationals [they] need to step up and make a difference,” Schmaedeke said. “Hopefully a combination of psychological maturation and training age."

The Pipers are powered by the pack-running of Jon Murphy, Ian Bauer, Kevin Groh, Dan
Steinbrecher, and Dan Peterson.

The Context

The form sheet going into the 2007 MIAC meet looks a bit like last year's, but with teams trading rolls. In 2006, Hamline was the defending champ and favorite, with St. John’s and Carleton looked strong but unlikely to have enough to pull an upset.

St. John’s, of course, left Como with the trophy.

This year, the Johnnies wear the favorites’ garb – including the top-10 NCAA rank the Pipers held in 2006 – and must contend, themselves, with two solid contenders … and expectations.

“I do believe it got to some of our guys last year,” Schmaedeke said of the favorites’ baggage.

“We tried too hard at times and had too many expectations and were too concerned about what other people thought."

“Being an underdog is more comfortable and more fun,” he admitted.

St. John’s and Hamline will race one-another for the first time this season at Saturday’s Jim Drews Invitational in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Carleton competes at the Lewis and Clark Pioneer Open in Oregon this weekend.

(Full disclosure: I’m a St. John’s graduate, I was recently an assistant coach at Carleton, and I roomed with Paul Schmaedeke at the 1992 Olympic Track and Field Trails!)

McGregor Second to Kastor at USA 10K

Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor finished second to Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor at the USA Women's 10K Championships held in conjunction with the Tufts 10K in Boston today.

Kastor won the race in 32:01; McGregor clocked 32:41.

"All things considered, it was a pretty good race because I have been putting in a lot of miles the last couple of weeks," McGregor said in a Team USA Minnesota news release. "I have been on that course before so I decided to go for it. Deena went out hard and I was just over five minutes for the first mile. I was in second place practically from the start and ran by myself the whole time, continually trying to dig in and keep going so the other girls didn't come up on me."

St. Paul Academy and Summit School alum Cack Ferrell was 12th in 33:57. Wadena native Johanna Olson was 25th in 34:55.

Full results can be found HERE.

McGregor will compete again on Sunday -- with Kastor as a teammate -- at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in Udine, Italy.

"As a team I think we can place pretty high because everyone is running really well right now and we have the talent," McGregor, who has previously been on medal-winning Ekiden and World Cross Country teams with Olympian Kastor, said.

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon: Photos

There are plenty of Twin Cities Marathon and TC 10 Mile photos scattered around the Internet, but look no further than Down the Backstretch. We're collecting the links and putting them all in one place:

From Todd Sheldon, on assignment for Down the Backstretch: a few shots from the 10 Mile and a batch from the marathon.

From the pros at Competitive Image: Their 2007 MTCM page is displaying a great slideshow of photos from the 10 Mile and the Marathon. Their galleries should be up soon.


A nice flickr set from Mark Danielson. Shot near the two mile mark, so everyone still looks good.

A huge flickr set (116 photos) from Randy Stern. Shot near mile 18, this set covers the whole field.

The good folks at skinnyski.com offer a photoset from the TC 10 Mile and five different sets from the marathon.

Todd Sheldon photo (above): Jim Ramacier guts it out coming down Cathedral Hill.

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon: Antonenko and Ponomarenko Win Sweltering Races

Men's Results:

1st ... 2004 TCM Runner-Up Mykola Antonenko runs 2:13:54
2nd ... Joseph Mutinda ... 2:20:12
3rd ... Augustus Kuvutu Mbusya (2004 TCM Champ) ... 2:21:13

Antonenko took the race lead when the course left Lake Harriet to head west on Minnehaha Parkway ... and he held the lead until the finish line! The Ukrainian clipped off a run of seven straight of sub-5:00 miles down the parkway to build his lead.

He ran five-ohs down the stretch to win with an impressive time considering the day's tropical conditions. He won by more than six minutes and was the only runner to break 2:20 on the day.

Women's Results:

1. Svetlana Ponomarenko ... 2:34:09
2. Alena Vinitskaya ... 2:38:23
3. Sharon Cherop ... 2:38:45

DtB contributor Chad Austin -- he of the fine Running Minnesota blog -- was on the course keeping an eye on the women's competition. Here's what he saw stop-by-stop. (Chad followed the race on his bike.) He cautioned that all splits but those at 13.1M are "very unofficial."

3 miles ... Ponomarenko 17:16 ... Cherop right with her ... Akor and Lewy Boulet together in 17:26 ... Chelimo in 5th at 17:53 ... Then came: Fryburg, Friedman, Semenova, Shurkhno, Pawelek 18:38, Voight 19:38.

7 miles ... Ponomarenko leads with Cherop directly behind her, 39:57 ... Akor and Lewy Boulet are alrealy 90 seconds back in 41:27 ... The leaders put 80 seconds on 3rd and 4th in that 4 mile stretch.

10 miles ... The first 6 women are working in twosomes: Cherop appeared to be making Ponomarenko do all the work, 57:17 ... I may have missed Vinitskaya earlier in the race. I believe she was in third here with Lewy Boulet, 59:05 ... Akor and Friedman are together in 59:45 ... Chelimo 59:52 ... Semenova 1:00:27 ... Shurkhno 1:00:45 ... Fryburg 10th in 1:00:47 ... Cretti 1:00:58 ... Deweese 1:02:23 ... Loken 1:02:31 ... Pawelek 1:03:18.

Half Marathon ... Ponomarenko must have gotten tired of having a shadow, as she put 19 seconds on Cherop over the last 5K, 1:15:20 to 1:15:39 ... 3rd Vinitskaya 1:17:50 ... Friedman 1:18:37 ... 5th Lewy Boulet 1:18:51 (Note: Friedman put 54 seconds on Lewy Boulet in 5K) ... Chelimo 1:19:04 ... No sign of Akor [Editor: The Grandma's champ, not fully recovered from an illness she suffered last week, told DtB she felt poorly from early on could not continue beyond the 12th mile.] ... 7th Cretti 1:20:10 ... Semenova 1:20:59 ... Fryburg 1:21:12 ... 10th Loken 1:22:21 ... Deweese 1:22:25 ... Stouffer 1:24:08 ... 13th Pawelek 1:24:30 ... Erholtz 1:24:50 ... McCoubrie 1:25:05 ... 16th Voight 1:25:12.

Mile 21 ... Ponomarenko now up 2:30 over Cherop, 2:02:02, 2:04:32 ... Vinitskaya has only cut into 2nd place by 33 seconds over the last 8 miles, she's still 1:38 back in 2:06:10 ... Friedman 2:08:07 ... 5th Cretti 2:09:36 ... Chelimo 2:10:07 ... 7th Loken 2:13:44 ... Semenova 2:16:40 ... 9th Voight 2:17:48

Complete results can be found HERE.

You can read Bruce Brother Pioneer Press story -- do it for the first paragraph alone! -- HERE.

Kent Youngblood's Star-Tribune story is HERE.

You can read the AP's story in the Star-Tribune HERE.

Photo of Ponomarenko courtesy of TCM and Paul Phillips, Competitive Image.

USA 10 Mile: Abdirahman Wins; Lehmkuhle Runner-up: Browne Finishes Well Back

OFFICIAL results:

USA 10 Mile:
1. Abdi Abdirahman 47:34 ... course record
2. Jason Lehmkuhle 47:48
3. James Carney 48:03
4. Edwardo Torres 48:19
5. Matt Gonzales 48:43
6. Brett Gotcher 48:50
7. Mbarak Hussein 48:57
8. Ryan Sheehan 48:58
9. Jesus Solis 49:02
10. Josh Moen 49:13

18. Justin Grunewald ... 50:25
20. Chris Lundstrom ... 50:33
21. Dan Browne ... 50:52
31. Zach Schendel ... 51:34

Abdirahman clocked 4:34 up the Franklin Bridge climb to break away from eventual runner-up Jason Lehmkuhle and 2002 TCM champ Dan Brown. James Carney caught a suffering Browne after five miles to seal 3rd place.

Said Abdirahman of the conditions: "I didn't expect this to be this bad. It was horrible. It's one of those things, you can't control the weather. It's out of our hands. I was on good pace for five or six or seven miles but then it just got worse and worse."

Said Lehmkuhle: “I didn’t think there was any chance I’d be second in this field. I thought on a good day I could slip under 48 minutes, so I exceeded my expectations on both accounts. Obviously the weather’s not perfect today, so getting under 48 minutes on kind of a rough day and get second … it’s great.”

Medtronic TC 10 Mile Women (Official):
1. Kristen Nicolini Lehmkuhle 56:17
2. Turena Johnson Lane 59:16
3. Desiree Budd 1:00:12
4. Marie Sample 1:01:09
5. Kim Magee 1:03:37

Complete results can be found HERE.

I wrote a comprehensive story on the USA 10 Mile for the Running USA Wire that you can find HERE.

The Star-Tribune's TC-10 story is HERE.

The Pioneer Press' TC-10 story is HERE.

Follow-Up ... USATF names Abdirahman its Athlete of the Week.

Photo of Abdirahman courtesy of TCM and Paul Phillips, Competitive Image.

Vega, Brown Win Big at Twin Cities 5K

Team USA Minnesota's Antonio Vega and Emily Brown swept the top spots in the Twin Cities Marathon TC 5K this morning, kicking off a sticky weekend of distance running in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The two recent University of Minnesota alums won big: Vega ran 14:58 to out-pace runner-up Sean Olson by 40 seconds; Brown clocked a PR 16:19 to out-distance former Wisconsin Badger star Bethany Brewster by 59 seconds.

"It was good to get a race in finally," Vega said in a Team USA Minnesota press release. "I hoped someone would go out with me in the first mile, but no one did. At a mile-and-a-half I had 15 seconds on the field."

Vega made his professional debut with the race.

"Everything was pretty even with my splits in the first two miles," Brown, who posted a first mile of 5:25 and passed mile two in 10:48, according to Team USA Minnesota's Pat Goodwin, said. "I was running with a group of guys from the Macalester College cross country team which was nice because I wasn't out there alone."

Complete results can be found HERE.

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Startlists can be found below ...

THIS list, in bib number order, does include some athletes who have withdrawn from the the race.

THIS list, not in bib number order, notes the marathon withdrawals at the bottom of the ducument. TCM Elite Committee Chair Ryan Steines informs DtB that there have been very few withdrawals in the 10 Mile, and none involving top contenders.

Opinion: Let's Move TCM Back Two Weeks

The sea ice surrounding the North Pole is shrinking.

A couple from Minnesota just sailed the Northwest Passage.

President Bush now concedes that the global climate is changing.

Al Gore is a rock star.

And, the forecasted start-time temperature for Sunday’s Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon is 74 … with a dew-point of 67 dripping degrees.

October is the new September … or late-August in this year’s case.

Isn’t it time for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon to move to a date later in Minnesota’s fast-warming autumn?

Pour yourself a cold drink and consider this: If race-day temperatures turn out as warm as the forecast, 2007 would mark the sixth straight year that race-day high temperatures are hotter than the mean temperature for TCM-Sundays -- 62 degrees. No matter what happens on Sunday, the last five race-days have already made for the hottest five-year string of temperatures in the 26-year history of the event.

The inconvenient truth is that the three hottest TCMs have all come since 2002.

Perhaps more significantly, especially for elite athletes who do most of their TCM racing in the “cool” of the early morning -- three of the four warmest low-of-the-day temperatures for the race have come in the last five years.

Today’s TCM runners start out warm, wind up hot, and end up slowed.

Sure, there’s no reason race-day 2008 couldn’t dawn 32 degrees and crisp, as it did on October 6, 1985 when Phil Coppess set the still-standing men’s course record for the event. I’d bet someone a little bit of money that it won’t, though … and the odds would be with me.

TCM may have hit an especially hot patch in the weather in recent years, but everyone from farmers to fishermen realizes that it's getting warmer. It makes sense that race organizers would want to take climate change into account, too.

A two-week-later race-date -- holding the event on the third week of October instead of the first -- could offer just the buffer from the temperature trend that would warm the hearts and cool the brows of marathoners. Winning times should get faster, PR performances should be more likely, and, as an added bonus “The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America” might even be spangled with a bit more fall color than it is now.

Informal conversations with a TCM board members, staff, and committee members suggest that moving the event later into the month is a new idea, but not necessarily an unwelcome one.

The marathoners I tested the notion on loved it.

Moving the marathon later into October doesn’t appear to present obvious, deal-breaking down-sides. Pushing the event into November would play with fire – or, more correctly, snow and ice – a little too dangerously. But mid-October should balance the downsides of late-summer and late-fall in the same fashion that TCM’s originators thought early-October would do so back in cooler times.

When October was still October, that is.

A later date would likely put TCM in conflict with the Chicago Marathon more frequently. (Both races fall on the same sticky Sunday this year, but Chicago is typically a mid/late-October event.) Regular, direct conflicts with Chicago won’t impact TCM’s elite field; Chicago, with a bankroll like the Yankees, competes on a different strata for elites than does TCM. Expo exhibitors might need to choose between the events, but their needs should be the tail rather than the dog when it comes to a decision like this.

TCM’s dates won't change quickly, even if the will to change is strong and immediate. Twin Cities’ expo contract with RiverCentre locks the event into its traditional first-weekend-in-October slot for the next three years. It’s a change that would be slow in coming even if a bold decision was made now.

It’s a change that should come, however. October is likely to get even hotter. But that doesn’t mean the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon can’t make itself cooler.

What do you think? Let us know on the DtB poll or with a comment below ...

Frequent Racer Akor Eyes Marathon Double

If 2007 Grandma’s Marathon champion Mary Akor becomes the first woman to win Grandma’s Marathon and the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in the same year, it will be a double-victory to chalk up for old-school marathoning.

In an era when elite athletes carefully place their chips on only a marathon or two during a calendar year, Akor takes an “all in” approach when it comes to racing the 26.2 mile distance.

Think Bill Rodgers when he was cashing in on his greatness in the late 1970s. Or, Dick Beardsley on his way to the top.

“When I don’t compete a lot, I’m out of shape,” Akor said this morning at the TCM media conference. “When I complete a lot, I’m in shape. Other people don’t understand, when I race a lot, I get my best.”

If that’s truly the case, the Nigerian-born American could improve on her PR performance from last year’s TCM, where she ran 2:33:50 and finished second to Marla Runyan. A win would also match Andrew Musuva's same-year Minnesota Marathon double from 1999.

Akor, after all, has run a whopping six marathons in 2007 already.

Prior to her 2:35:40 victory at Grandma’s this June, Akor ran two marathons in January. The efforts were principally training runs, but California resident clocked times in the mid-2:40s in both. In March, she ran 2:37:14 at high altitude in Mexico. She also competed at Boston in April.

Since Grandma’s, where she won by more than three minutes on a sticky day, she ran at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan where intestinal problems hampered her effort. She ran 2:47:06 for 42nd place.

Since Osaka, though, Akor has gone five whole weeks without a marathon.

She took a week of recovery after Worlds and has concentrated on speed work since then. She offered 20 x 400 meters at 74-75 seconds as a representative recent speed session. Akor said she’s only done two long runs in her run-up to TCM.

Akor, contrarian that she is, is also likely one of the few runners excited about the muggy forecast for Sunday.

“The weather is good,” she said. “It’s not even that cold compared to other years I’ve been here.”

Akor does seem humbled by the challenge of the Grandma’s/Twin Cities sweep.

“That would be like, 'Whoa!'” she said. “I will try my best. It’s by the grace of God, if I do it.”

And, no matter the place she’s in when she crosses the finish line in St. Paul on Sunday, Akor will want to get a decent cool-down in.

After all, she’s planning to run the New York City Marathon in four weeks.

Polls: St. John's Falls to #7, Mankato to #11

Minnesota's high-ranked small college men's teams lost some altitude in this week's coaches' polls. St. John's lost two places in NCAA Division III, while Minnesota State - Mankato fell two spots in Division II.

The Johnnies fell to #7 in D3 after a 3rd place finish at the Willamette Invitational last weekend. The Johnnies had been ranked #5 since pre-season ratings appeared. Carleton reoccupied it's #27 spot from the pre-season poll after falling to #31. Hamline joins the rankings for the first time this season at #35.

Mankato, which had spent the season at #9, fell to #11 in the D2 men's rankings after winning the Maroon II division at the Roy Griak Invitational. The University of Minnesota - Duluth, runners-up to Mankato at Griak, enter the poll for the first time this season at #16.

The St. Olaf women gained a spot in the D3 women's poll, rising to #17. St. Thomas remained #24 in the poll, Gustavus Adolphus entered the rankings for the first time at #34, and Carleton fell out of the top-35 after starting the fall at #19.

For D2 women, the University of Minnesota - Duluth women fell out of the top-25 but Minnesota State - Moorhead entered the rankings at #25.

Absent from Luncheon, Present in Rivals' Minds: Abdirahman Tabbed 10 Mile Favorite

Although prohibitive Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile men's favorite Abdi Abdirahman wasn’t at today’s TC-10 media luncheon, his rivals in attendence certainly felt the two-time Olympian's presence.

None of the athletes on the dais – not 2006 USA 10 Mile runner-up Andrew Carlson, not last year's 3rd place finisher Jason Lehmkuhle, not Abdirahman’s training partner Ryan Shay who finished third in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon last year – thought anybody but the defending USA 10 Mile champ deserved the favorite’s mantel.

“I’ve been training with him up in Flag,” Shay said referring to his Flagstaff, Arizona home, “so I’m probably a little more familiar with his fitness level. He’s out for blood.”

Being the defending USA 10 Mile champ, the reigning USA 10,000 meter champion, and the man who ripped a 1:00:29 at the NYC Half Marathon in August has a way of making one's presence felt from afar.

Noting the fast half marathon Abdirahman ran in New York, Lehmkuhle put a number on Abdirahman’s potential on Sunday.

“That’s an incredible half marathon time,” Lehmkuhle said. “He probably went through ten miles there in 45-something.”

The fastest time recorded from the eight runnings of the TC-10 is 48:44 by Chad Johnson in 2004.

With a force like Abdirahman in the field, hometown favorites Lehmkuhle and Carlson stressed that they needed to focus on themselves rather than the three-time USA 10,000 meter champ.

“My strategy coming into these races where it’s very competitive is to just concentrate on my race and how I should be running it. I try not to focus too externally on how other people are running.”

“In the last couple years I’ve finished pretty consistently in that 3rd to 5th range [at USA Championships] employing that kind of strategy," the 3rd place finisher at last month's USA 25K Championship added. "A lot of times guys go out to the front and I know that I can’t handle it, but I also know that occasionally other people get dragged along at a pace they’re not comfortable with and I end up picking off guys at the end.”

Lehmkuhle's Team USA Minnesota teammate Carlson is hoping his faster self shows up for the race.

“I’m a bit of a head-case,” he admitted. “so it kind of depends who shows up on Sunday. If 'Fast Andy' shows up, it will probably be a pretty good one and I’ll probably have an advantage. If the other guy shows up – he’s shown up a few times this year – it’s going to be hard.”

Carlson does have the advantage of being one of the few runners in the field not in the midst of high mileage training for the November 3 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. While Shay and Lehmkuhle ran 145 and 150 miles, respectively, last week in preparation for the marathon in New York City, Carlson, who will end his 2007 campaign on Sunday, could have the freshest legs on the startling line.

“I think I have an advantage because I’m not coming off a 150 mile week,” he allowed, “but at the same time you can derive a lot of confidence training that hard.”

The Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile starts at 7:10 on Sunday morning.

An elite startlist for the USA Men’s Championship can be found HERE.

USA Track & Field’s media release for the event is HERE.

Results of last year’s USA Men’s 10 Mile Championship, held in Louisville, Kentucky, can be found HERE.

Goucher: "I was kind of in Carrie Tollefson's shadow, to be honest."

USA Track and Field hosted a media teleconference with this week's USATF Athlete of the Week, Kara Goucher. Goucher, of course, beat marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe in a half marathon last weekend. In August she earned a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the IAAF World Championships.

Goucher, who is currently the #6-ranked distance runner in world according to THESE comprehensive ratings computed by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians answered a wide range of questions, including those below.

You can fine the entire teleconference transcript HERE.

Q: Tell us about your race this weekend.

Goucher: It was something that was proposed to me to go run there after Osaka. My coach and I talked about it, and he said 'I think you should do it. You're prepared and there are no expectations.' I came back to Portland for 7 days after I ran in Berlin. I did a long run, and I did a 9-mile tempo run. Heading into the race we thought I could handle 5:10 [mile pace], and then I kind of kept running.

Q: Can you track your path from growing up in Duluth to Colorado?

Goucher: I started running in the 7th grade, back in Minnesota. I was kind of in Carrie Tollefson's shadow, to be honest. I won quite a few state titles, but I was second more than first. I went to the University of Colorado and loved it there. I struggled a lot with injuries the last three years, but I've been in Portland the last 3 years. I didn't go home to Minnesota for Christmas this year, for the first time. Adam and I decided to fly everybody out here so we wouldn't have to train in the cold. That turned out to be a good decision.

Q: It's been an unbelievable year for you. What sticks out as the best of all of them? How are you dealing with all of this?

Goucher: It's hard to pick a favorite moment. Running in Boulder [at the USA Cross Country Championships], I wish I would have won there. But just running there was so great. At U.S. nationals [the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships] I ran a very conservative race, but I made my first World team and was so emotional. Then it was Osaka, and that was great ... it kind of hasn't sunk in because I've been going, going, going. It's been a little bit overwhelming, but all in a good way.

Q: Any thoughts of running a marathon?

Goucher: I have to say the half-marathon is really hard. The thought of going twice as far right now, No thanks, at least right now. But there's' definitely a part of me that's intrigued now. If I could put the time in and the mileage in ... I feel like I could have handled those last two miles better. But a marathon, I'm still definitely not ready to do it.

Q: Do you know what your next plans are?

Goucher: I'm not running for a while, I'm taking a break and kind of letting my body have a rest. Because I've been running so well, it's been really hard not to see my family. We're going to go out and see Adam's family as well.

Caty Delwiche: Fond Memories, Few Answers

"She had a wind underneath her sails," Caty Delwiche's former youth pastor tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune in a story today remembering the Minnesota State - Mankato runner who was killed Tuesday when struck by an automobile.

In the Star Tribune story HERE and one in the Mankato Free Press HERE, the freshman cross country runner is portrayed as a vibrant, hardworking student-athlete eager to begin life as a college student.

"She was the kind of child every parent wishes was their own — you wish every kid could turn out like her," a family friend said in the Free Press story.

In another Free Press story, HERE, Mankato coach Jennifer Blue said, "She was just a great kid, and I want everybody to know that."

Details are unclear as to just why an SUV driven by Dale Hoechst crossed a lane of traffic and struck Delwiche and teammate Laura Palmer from behind while they ran and biked on the sidewalk. Alcohol does not seem to be a factor, according to media reports, although distracted driving is offered as a possibility.

Details on Delwiche's funeral, Friday, can be found HERE on the McLeod County Chronicle web-site.

Photo of Caty Delwiche courtesy of MSU - Mankato.

Grandma's Champ Ngetich Out of Twin Cities

2007 Grandma's Marathon champion Wesly Ngetich has withdrawn from Sunday's Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, according to TCM race officials. Ngetich, who ran 2:15:55 last June to become the 5th two-time winner of the Duluth race, pulled out of Twin Cities with a calf muscle injury.

Ngetich's withdrawal means that Andrew Musuva's claim to fame as the only male athlete to complete the same-year Grandma's/Twin Cities double will go unchallenged. Musuva turned his "double-play" in 1999. Grandma's 2007 women's champ Mary Akor, however, can become the first woman to complete the same-year sweep. She was the TCM runner-up in 2006.

The men's field still boasts 2004 TCM champ Augustus Kavutu of Kenya who sports a 2:11:39 marathon best. Fellow Kenyans Thomas Omwenga (2:10:44), Jonathon Ndambuki (2:10:58), and Fred Mogaka (2:12:03), Russian Mykola Antonenko (2:13:00), who finished runner-up to Kavutu at TCM in 2004, and Ethiopian Abebe Yimer (2:13:52) will be among those vying for this year's title.

Akor, who has a 2:33:27 PR from last year's race, will face Svetlana Ponomarenko of Russia, the fastest female entrant in the field at 2:29:00, Tatiana Borisova of Kyrgyzstan who has run 2:30:39 and Magdelena Lewy-Boulet of the USA has marathoned 2:30:50.

Our Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Coverage ... Down the Backstretch will offer extensive Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon coverage starting with tomorrow's Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile/USA Men's 10 Mile press conference. We'll have the latest news leading up to this weekend's races and finish-line coverage of the TC 5K, the TC-10, and, of course, the marathon itself.

Other than running in a race, there's no better place to experience TCM than with DtB!

Round-Up: Gopher Women Rise to #4; Men Drop to #25; Class AA Girls Muddy Again

On a sad day for the sport in Minnesota, here's a round-up of the latest news ...

Gopher Women Ranked #4 ... On the strength of their narrow, homestretch-won victory at the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, the University of Minnesota women find themselves ranked #4 in the latest NCAA Division I coaches' poll. It's the highest ranking the team has ever achieved. The team edged #6 Arizona State by three points thanks, in no small part, to Heather Dorniden's point-eating, closing kick as the team's 5th scorer.

Gopher Men Fall to #25 ... The Golden Gopher men dropped to #25 in the Division I rankings after finishing 4th in their home invitational. The men had been ranked #18 going into the event. Minnesota ran without Mike Torchia who was nursing an injury. Chris Rombough, who finished 3rd overall still has high hopes for his Gophers come nationals, according to THIS Flotrack video.

Chaska Meet Muddies Class AA Girls' Picture ... Same as it ever was, your guess is as good as mine as to who the top Class girls squad is. Eden Prairie which seemed to be setting itself apart with a string a close victories over top competition -- they finally earned the #1 ranking in Monday's ratings -- placed 3rd in the rain-soaked Victoria Lions Invitational in Chaska yesterday behind winners #5 Lakeville North (the pre-season #1) and #3 Minnetonka.

Eden Prairie's Cassie Opitz did win the individual race over #1 ranked individual Danielle Berndt of Bloomington Kennedy, and earned some nice ink in the Star-Tribune today.

I'm Trying to Qualify for the Olympic Trials Here ... Melisa Gacek tells DtB that the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday where she qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials was sort of weird: "It was the quietest race I've ever been in. After the half marathoners split from us, I was completely alone ... not a soul in sight or coming behind me. Very strange and curious ... especially with 1/2 to go and being at a very safe 1:22 at the half."

Gacek caught Lisa Harvey and hoped the two of them could work together. "Her idea of working together was to sit directly behind me for the next 9 miles," Gacek said. "I guess I would have preferred to take turns or run side by side, but I was glad she was there, if nothing else, a relentless competitor behind me."

"I am proud to say I ran this all by myself," she concluded. "I can only imagine what I could have run had I had a pack to go with. The pace was never hard ... "

And Finally ... There's a recent Star-Tribune story about Rob Finnerty and Antonio Vega, his assistant coach, HERE ... Steve Cram wrote a column about Kara Goucher's training methods HERE and there's a video clip of a BBC interview with Goucher after her ripping half marathon HERE ... And, the Star-Tribune's Kent Youngblood wrote THIS fine feature story on Interstate 35W bridge collapse survivor Marcelo Ordaz-Cruz, who will compete in Sunday's Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.

MSU - Mankato Cross Country Runner Killed

The Mankato Free Press is reporting that a member of the Minnesota State - Mankato women's cross country team was killed Tuesday afternoon when she and a teammate were struck by a vehicle.

You can read the paper's breaking news story HERE.

The story does not name either victim, but reports that both are freshmen at the school.

Wednesday Morning Update: The Mankato Free Press now identifies the victim killed in the accident as Catherine Delwiche of Glencoe. Laura Palmer of Pittsville, Wisconsin received minor injuries in the accident.

The updated story explains that the vehicle that hit the two athletes "crossed the northbound lane of traffic and went onto the sidewalk where it struck Delwiche, who was running, and Palmer, who was on a bicycle."

Delwiche finished 4th in the MSHSL Class A 3200 meters last June in 11:21.0. She was 20th in the Class A state cross country meet the previous November. As a high school sophomore in 2004, she was a member of Glencoe-Silver Lake's Class A state champion cross country team.

Wednesday Evening Update ... Additional coverage of the story from the Mankato Free Press is HERE.

Six Team USA Minnesotans in TCM Events

Six members of Team USA Minnesota will participate in Twin Cities Marathon events this weekend, the organization announced. Three will compete in the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship contested in conjunction with the Medtronic TC 10 Mile.

Andrew Carlson and Jason Lehmkuhle, who finished second and third, respectively, in the 2006 USA 10 Mile Championship, are hoping to finish high in the standings again. Earlier this fall, Carlson placed fourth in the USA Men's 5k Championship, while Lehmkuhle was third in the USA Men's 20k Championship.

Carlson has a 10 Mile PR of 48:51; Lehmkuhle's best is 49:19.

Chris Lundstrom, the 4th place finisher at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon last year, is also entered in the USA 10 Mile. Lundstrom finished 6th in the Pan Am Games marathon this summer. He has a 49:41 PR for 10 miles.

Both Lundstrom and Lehmkuhle are using the 10 mile race at Twin Cities as a tune-up for the U.S. Olympic Men's Marathon Team Trials to be held in New York City on November 3.

Kristen Nicolini Lehmkuhle will run in the Medtronic TC 10 Mile as well, although the race is not a championship event for women. Nicolini Lehmkuhle will be making her debut at the 10 mile distance. In September, she won the Cow Harbor 10K for the second year in a row.

Emily Brown and Antonio Vega will compete in the Medtronic TC 5K race that will be held on Saturday at the State Capitol grounds in St. Paul. Both athletes joined Team USA Minnesota this summer after completing their collegiate careers at the University of Minnesota.

Brown, who was second at the Women Run the Cities 10 Mile last month, has a best in the 5000 meters of 16:28 and in July, posted 16:57 in her first road 5K. Vega has a best in the 5000 meters of 14:10 and earlier this summer ran a road 5K in 14:35.

Prep Update: New #1's and Finnerty's Top-3

Saturday's Roy Griak Invitational was a bit like a cross country blender: lots of nice harrier ingredients went in and stuff came out well and newly mixed. Good teams ran great; good teams ran poorly. Individuals have fine days ... and days they're eager to put behind them.

You can watch video of the whole cooking show HERE via Flotrack.

The Minnesota high school rankings show the effects of all the processing this week. Brand new #1's top both Class AA polls. Griak Gold Division champions Wayzata hold the top spot for boys. The Trojans have been a well-respected #2 since the first meet of the season. Wayzata's ascension came in tandem with former #1 Rosemount's decline at Griak. The Irish finished 7th in the Gold hampered by Obai Hussein's pained DNF in the race. The Irish fall to #3. Brainerd, 5th at Griak, is ranked #2. Stillwater, not at Griak, is #4 and Edina, 8th there, is #5.

It will be interesting to see how the NTN Heartland region rankings change off of Griak. Look for those ratings to appear later in the week.

In Girls Class AA, Eden Priairie which eschewed Griak, assumes the top spot in the ratings, a spot they've seemed deserving of since the Faribault Invitational. Burnsville is now #2 after knocking off previous #1 Brainerd at Griak -- the Blaze finished 4th in the Griak Gold, Brainerd was 7th. Burnsville is the cross country equivalent of a really small town -- blink and you miss them! They sported a 10 second 1-5 spread at Griak! Minnetonka, White Bear Lake, and Lakeville North are now #3, #4, and #5 in the ratings.

(If you're not busy this afternoon, you can watch the #1, #2, #4, and #5 ranked Class AA Girls teams in action in Chaska!)

Class A team ratings remained largely unchanged -- Perham and Adrian still lead the way. The biggest shift was prompted by Donny Wasinger of Winona Cotter's defeat of Kevin Lachowitzer of Perham at Griak. Wasinger is now the #1 individual in Class A boys, with Lachowitzer falling to #2.

Finnerty's Choices ...

Along with the race videos on Flotrack, there are some nice interviews ... including this one with Gold Division individual champ Rob Finnerty. I'm probably doing what they call "burying the lead" in this post, but Finnerty reveals that he's narrowed his college choices to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Oregon.

I wouldn't mind covering him at close range as a Gopher. Torchia, Mead, Finnerty ... sounds like the heart of a killer team in the autumn of 2009!

Gacek Qualifies for Olympic Marathon Trials

Melissa Gacek, the 8th place finisher at Grandma's Marathon last June, qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon with a 2:45:06 performance at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday.

Gacek finished 8th in Toronto as well. The Run N Fun star split 38:25, 1:22:11, and 1:57:24 for 10K, half-way, and 30K en route to her PR performance.

Gacek had clocked 2:47:59 in difficult conditions at Grandma's -- 59 seconds off the Olympic Trails standard of 2:47:00. (DtB chatted with the St. Thomas graduate after that effort HERE.)

Gacek's Toronto performance ranks her 75th on the list of Trials qualifiers. She is the seventh Minnesotan to punch a ticket to the Trails by running sub-2:47.

Other Minnesotans qualified for the race are: Katie McGregor and Michelle Lilienthal of Team USA Minnesota, Turena Johnson Lane a Brainerd native, Stephanie Herbst-Lucke a Chaska native, Johanna Olson a Wadena native, and Jenna Boren of the TC Running Company.

Also qualified for the Trials, by virtue of her 10,000 meter performance on the track, is Kara Goucher.

The Olympic Trials will be held in Boston on April 20, 2008 -- one day before the Boston Marathon.