Sunday, December 07, 2014
NXN: Hunting for the Red Jerseys
For Wayzata's Jared Carpenter the mission on Saturday at the NXN XC Nationals was simple: "Manlius was in red," said Carpenter. "The mission was to keep them in sight." Once they were in sight the job became to hunt them down and pass them.
Carpenter and 2014 Minnesota State High School cross country champion Connor Olson both saw the foursome in red in front of them. They ran them down and finished in front of all the red jerseys to help the team vault into second place. Teammate Ian Eklin joined the duo by hunting down all but the top three of the Manlius men, two of whom finished only a second in front of him.
Statistically the difference between the two team was not much. Manlius averaged 16:03 per scorer, Wayzata 16:06. The spread between their top five finishers was 49 seconds for Manlius, 56 for Wayzata. The biggest difference between the two teams was that Manlius stayed with their tried and tested race tactic of going out hard and hanging on. Wayzata's Kraig Lundstrom, the team's post season coach, advised them not to "go out too hard."
The slippery footing, the hills favored strength runners, smart runners, those who could manage their effort and apportion it as needed throughout the race. Alas the "hare" beat the "tortoise" on this occasion, but not by much. Hopkins' Joe Klecker, whose style mirrors Manlius', was not so fortunate. "At the beginning I got out too slow, said Klecker, who estimates he was in 15th or 20th at a mile and a half in close proximity to the leaders, but not in the front pack.
"I probably worked too hard, too fast," in an effort to attempt to get to the front," he said. "I probably needed more patience." For Nick Wareham the race was also a valuable tutorial on racing against national level competition. The race "was definitely one of the toughest I've ever run. Very competitive conditions. I've never dealt with that before, but I imagine it's what it's like at top level NCAA meets."
Wareham was informed late that he had a spot in the field as he was on the bubble for an at-large spot, so he hadn't prepared as he might have had he known he was going to be able to race NXN earlier. But that really wasn't much of a factor, he said. "I wanted to get out quicker than I did, but it felt like a sprint...I was back in around 40th and I was hoping to get into the top 30. I tried to work my way up."
Wareham finished 37th.
For Edina's team, the goal was to get in the top ten."The main thing was not to do anything different," said Lance Elliott, a top Minnesota Masters runner as well as the team's post season coach. "I ran with them every day. A couple of them were struggling with nagging injuries, but that all worked out. The weather was not in our favor. Last year we were able to train on the track and on the trails. This year it got cold really quick and there wasn't many clear roads.
"We had to go indoors under the dome. We ran some 1000 repeats on the West River Road. We were ready for the race. The plan was to get out at a moderate pace and pick off runners as the race went on. I was watching the race from the top of the last two uphills (that were right before the finish straight). I saw runners pass ten people on that short stretch. If you had your legs at that point, you could really make up a lot of ground."
"We decided to be smart," said Logan Ramlet, the team's top finisher who was 60th in 16:13. Not get caught up in any single element of the race, the course, or the competition. "It worked out really well," Ramlet said. Another thing that appeared to work out well was the course. Coaches and athletes described the change as a big plus for the event, that it was a "true cross country course."
"The main idea," said Carpenter, who could have been speaking for any of the Minnesotans running on Saturday. "was to have a good time. Have a blast." They succeeded.
Carpenter and 2014 Minnesota State High School cross country champion Connor Olson both saw the foursome in red in front of them. They ran them down and finished in front of all the red jerseys to help the team vault into second place. Teammate Ian Eklin joined the duo by hunting down all but the top three of the Manlius men, two of whom finished only a second in front of him.
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| Wayzata boys with their trophy. Photo by Kraig Lungstrom |
The slippery footing, the hills favored strength runners, smart runners, those who could manage their effort and apportion it as needed throughout the race. Alas the "hare" beat the "tortoise" on this occasion, but not by much. Hopkins' Joe Klecker, whose style mirrors Manlius', was not so fortunate. "At the beginning I got out too slow, said Klecker, who estimates he was in 15th or 20th at a mile and a half in close proximity to the leaders, but not in the front pack.
"I probably worked too hard, too fast," in an effort to attempt to get to the front," he said. "I probably needed more patience." For Nick Wareham the race was also a valuable tutorial on racing against national level competition. The race "was definitely one of the toughest I've ever run. Very competitive conditions. I've never dealt with that before, but I imagine it's what it's like at top level NCAA meets."
Wareham was informed late that he had a spot in the field as he was on the bubble for an at-large spot, so he hadn't prepared as he might have had he known he was going to be able to race NXN earlier. But that really wasn't much of a factor, he said. "I wanted to get out quicker than I did, but it felt like a sprint...I was back in around 40th and I was hoping to get into the top 30. I tried to work my way up."
Wareham finished 37th.
For Edina's team, the goal was to get in the top ten."The main thing was not to do anything different," said Lance Elliott, a top Minnesota Masters runner as well as the team's post season coach. "I ran with them every day. A couple of them were struggling with nagging injuries, but that all worked out. The weather was not in our favor. Last year we were able to train on the track and on the trails. This year it got cold really quick and there wasn't many clear roads.
"We had to go indoors under the dome. We ran some 1000 repeats on the West River Road. We were ready for the race. The plan was to get out at a moderate pace and pick off runners as the race went on. I was watching the race from the top of the last two uphills (that were right before the finish straight). I saw runners pass ten people on that short stretch. If you had your legs at that point, you could really make up a lot of ground."
"We decided to be smart," said Logan Ramlet, the team's top finisher who was 60th in 16:13. Not get caught up in any single element of the race, the course, or the competition. "It worked out really well," Ramlet said. Another thing that appeared to work out well was the course. Coaches and athletes described the change as a big plus for the event, that it was a "true cross country course."
"The main idea," said Carpenter, who could have been speaking for any of the Minnesotans running on Saturday. "was to have a good time. Have a blast." They succeeded.
News: USATF MN All Comers; Justin Grunewald Wins Cayman Islands Marathon; Cal International Marathon; NCAA DII Summary
Results from USATF Minnesota's All Comers meet are HERE.
Justin Grunewald wins the Cayman Islands Marathon HERE. Justin holds the marathon course record and Gabe Grunewald the women's half marathon record HERE. Marathon results are HERE.
Lisa Baumert finished 26th at the California International Marathon in 2:43:38, just missing the US Olympic Trials B standard of 2:43:00. Laura Paulsen, who spent some time in Minnesota as a Senior Innovation Fellow at the U of M Medical Devices Center, ran 2:39.54 and was the 12th female finisher. Sandra McClellan was 30th in 2:45:31. Stephanie Price was 55th in 2:52:25. Marissa Lindsay finished 77th in 2:58:30.
For the men, Eric Loeffler was 18th in 2:18:18, just short of the men's B standard of 2:18:00. Donnie Fellows was 22nd in 2:19:47. Jake Marotz 23rd in 2:20:16. Ben Schneider was 35th in 2:25:34, and Daniel Ducharme 69th in 2:33:16
Results are HERE.
USTFCCCA summary of the NCAA DII races HERE.
UMD's "fun in the mud" video HERE.
Justin Grunewald wins the Cayman Islands Marathon HERE. Justin holds the marathon course record and Gabe Grunewald the women's half marathon record HERE. Marathon results are HERE.
Lisa Baumert finished 26th at the California International Marathon in 2:43:38, just missing the US Olympic Trials B standard of 2:43:00. Laura Paulsen, who spent some time in Minnesota as a Senior Innovation Fellow at the U of M Medical Devices Center, ran 2:39.54 and was the 12th female finisher. Sandra McClellan was 30th in 2:45:31. Stephanie Price was 55th in 2:52:25. Marissa Lindsay finished 77th in 2:58:30.
For the men, Eric Loeffler was 18th in 2:18:18, just short of the men's B standard of 2:18:00. Donnie Fellows was 22nd in 2:19:47. Jake Marotz 23rd in 2:20:16. Ben Schneider was 35th in 2:25:34, and Daniel Ducharme 69th in 2:33:16
Results are HERE.
USTFCCCA summary of the NCAA DII races HERE.
UMD's "fun in the mud" video HERE.
NXN: Manlius Wins the Title, Minnesotans Continue to Impress
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| The Wayzata and Willmar girls pose for a group photo. |
While Manlius ran off with the top trophies, the consensus among the Minnesota contingent at NXN XC Nationals in Portland was that all the Minnesota teams and individuals demonstrated the quality of high school cross country running in the state.
For the girl's teams this year's race was their apprenticeship. Unlike last year when a veteran Wayzata team halted Manlius' almost total domination of the race, this year both Wayazata and Willmar were young teams where most if not all of the teams' runners were newbies to the NXN experience. Jerry Popp, the Willmar team's regular season coach, had noted in prior interviews during the cross country season that the Willmar girls team had not even won a meet in seven years until three years ago.
At NXN they finished fourteenth in the US. Tara Bernhagen took the team through the transition from the "regular season" through the "playoffs," and nationals. And, as in the Minnesota HS season, the team ran as a tight pack and had "interchangeable parts." If one team member was having a bad day, another stepped up to fill the void during the season, said Popp. At NXN, it happened again as the team's top finisher was eighth grader Serena Monson and the team's leader throughout the season, senior Samantha Hanson was the fifth scorer.
Hanson said in a pre-race interview: "We just want to have fun and do our best. We really don't know what we can do yet." They were aiming to be somewhere in the top 15. The difference between their pack and Manlius' was how fast the first runner in their respective packs ran, as the others would follow in a tight group.
It was a year where the individual entrants dominated the field. Nineteen of the top twenty finishers were individual qualifiers. Thirty-five of the top 46 finishers were individual qualifiers. Manlius' leader of their pack, Olivia Ryan, finished forty sixth, followed within eleven seconds by all five of the team's scorers. Willmar's spread between their first and fifth finishers was nine seconds. Munson placed 108th. Hanson was 118th.
Manlius' pack of five averaged 18:40 per runner. Willmar 19:24. Wayzata, whose pack of seven last year was just as tight at Manlius and Willmar this year, but was more spread out in 2014. A minute and twenty-three seconds separated Anna French, who finished thirty-fourth, and the team's fifth scorer Samantha Lettenberger was 148th, three spots in front of Manlius' seventh runner.
Both Willmar and Wayzata's girls got out slow. Willmar's slow start was in part due to their start position near the left side of the course, where the first turn nearly 400 meters into the race pinched those who didn't rocket off the starting line. Wayzata's girls were impeded by runners in front who slowed to avoid mushy parts of the course.
The Wayzata girls "got off the line pretty poorly," said Jake Hallen, their coach for the post season. As a result, Hallen said, they had to battle the rest of the race playing catch up. French had only worked her way up to fiftieth with less than a mile to go, said Hallen, and she rallied to pass sixteen runners by the finish. French, who finished eighth last year "was having an off day," said Hallen. But, instead of giving up, Hallen added, French adjusted her goals and finished as fast as she could for the team.
"I think they learned a lot," said Hallen, who was sitting near the Manlius coach Bill Aris on the bus drive back to the hotel. He overheard Aris tell one of the other coaches: "The next season just started." Mission accomplished. Time to get ready for next year. "Five of our runners said: 'We've got a Nordic(XC Ski) race this week.'" said Hallen. After the race the Wayzata girls did a promo jump in a puddle of muddy water for one of the online running video sites and got into an impromptu "mud fight" with Davis, a team from Utah. "We won that," said Hallen laughing. "So we came away with one win this weekend."
In a deep field of top individual runners Alexandria/Jefferson's twins Megan and Bethany Hasz continued to move up the field. Having finished thirteenth(Bethany) and fifty-third(Megan) last year, the first year the juniors had run together at NXN, the pair used their experience and patience to climb to fifth(Megan) and ninth(Bethany). The pair had been up with the leaders at the mile, but when the lead pack broke away in the second mile, the Hasz twins didn't try to cover the move.
They slipped back to around fifteenth, but that slide didn't last long as they soon launched their drive for the finish picking off runners who had pushed too hard, too early. Instead of keying off the field, they keyed off each other to successfully climb into the top ten. It was a year of change for the twins. They changed high schools and coaches, though their new coach had coached them in junior high so it wasn't a tough transition. the one constant was their routine. They train together and race together, and that experience served them well in the middle of the race when they made the decision to be patient and wait until starting their drive for the finish.
Minnesota was well represented in both the individual and team races with only two seniors in the team and individual competition. The State continues to make its mark at NXN and the stiff competition to even qualify for the event signals that Minnesota's impact on the event will continue to be significant in years to come.
Hanson said in a pre-race interview: "We just want to have fun and do our best. We really don't know what we can do yet." They were aiming to be somewhere in the top 15. The difference between their pack and Manlius' was how fast the first runner in their respective packs ran, as the others would follow in a tight group.
It was a year where the individual entrants dominated the field. Nineteen of the top twenty finishers were individual qualifiers. Thirty-five of the top 46 finishers were individual qualifiers. Manlius' leader of their pack, Olivia Ryan, finished forty sixth, followed within eleven seconds by all five of the team's scorers. Willmar's spread between their first and fifth finishers was nine seconds. Munson placed 108th. Hanson was 118th.
Manlius' pack of five averaged 18:40 per runner. Willmar 19:24. Wayzata, whose pack of seven last year was just as tight at Manlius and Willmar this year, but was more spread out in 2014. A minute and twenty-three seconds separated Anna French, who finished thirty-fourth, and the team's fifth scorer Samantha Lettenberger was 148th, three spots in front of Manlius' seventh runner.
Both Willmar and Wayzata's girls got out slow. Willmar's slow start was in part due to their start position near the left side of the course, where the first turn nearly 400 meters into the race pinched those who didn't rocket off the starting line. Wayzata's girls were impeded by runners in front who slowed to avoid mushy parts of the course.
The Wayzata girls "got off the line pretty poorly," said Jake Hallen, their coach for the post season. As a result, Hallen said, they had to battle the rest of the race playing catch up. French had only worked her way up to fiftieth with less than a mile to go, said Hallen, and she rallied to pass sixteen runners by the finish. French, who finished eighth last year "was having an off day," said Hallen. But, instead of giving up, Hallen added, French adjusted her goals and finished as fast as she could for the team.
"I think they learned a lot," said Hallen, who was sitting near the Manlius coach Bill Aris on the bus drive back to the hotel. He overheard Aris tell one of the other coaches: "The next season just started." Mission accomplished. Time to get ready for next year. "Five of our runners said: 'We've got a Nordic(XC Ski) race this week.'" said Hallen. After the race the Wayzata girls did a promo jump in a puddle of muddy water for one of the online running video sites and got into an impromptu "mud fight" with Davis, a team from Utah. "We won that," said Hallen laughing. "So we came away with one win this weekend."
In a deep field of top individual runners Alexandria/Jefferson's twins Megan and Bethany Hasz continued to move up the field. Having finished thirteenth(Bethany) and fifty-third(Megan) last year, the first year the juniors had run together at NXN, the pair used their experience and patience to climb to fifth(Megan) and ninth(Bethany). The pair had been up with the leaders at the mile, but when the lead pack broke away in the second mile, the Hasz twins didn't try to cover the move.
They slipped back to around fifteenth, but that slide didn't last long as they soon launched their drive for the finish picking off runners who had pushed too hard, too early. Instead of keying off the field, they keyed off each other to successfully climb into the top ten. It was a year of change for the twins. They changed high schools and coaches, though their new coach had coached them in junior high so it wasn't a tough transition. the one constant was their routine. They train together and race together, and that experience served them well in the middle of the race when they made the decision to be patient and wait until starting their drive for the finish.
Minnesota was well represented in both the individual and team races with only two seniors in the team and individual competition. The State continues to make its mark at NXN and the stiff competition to even qualify for the event signals that Minnesota's impact on the event will continue to be significant in years to come.
Saturday, December 06, 2014
News: NCAA DII Photo Album; Chuck Peterson Open Results:;St. Scholastica Opener Indoor Track; SDSU Open; Bumbalough
USTFCCCA's Kyle Terwiliger's NCAA DII photo album is HERE
MSU Mankato summary and compete results for the Chuck Peterson Open are HERE.
Results from the Opener indoor track meet at St. Scholastica are HERE. UMD men's summary HERE, St Scholastica's women's summary is HERE, men HERE.
Dakota Duals results are HERE.
Results from the SDSU Open are HERE.
Wall Street Journal report on reinstatement of Andrew Bumbalough is HERE.
MSU Mankato summary and compete results for the Chuck Peterson Open are HERE.
Results from the Opener indoor track meet at St. Scholastica are HERE. UMD men's summary HERE, St Scholastica's women's summary is HERE, men HERE.
Dakota Duals results are HERE.
Results from the SDSU Open are HERE.
Wall Street Journal report on reinstatement of Andrew Bumbalough is HERE.
NCAA & NXN: The Men's Side: Augustana Third in NCAA DII; Wayzata Boys Second at NXN
NSIC champion Augustana matched UMD's third place finish in the men's team race. Full results are HERE. Augustana summary is HERE. NSIC Summary is HERE
Official results in Wayzata second in the teams with 159 points. Manlius sweeps the titles with 111. points. Edina finishes ninth. Nick Wareham was 37th in 16:00; Joe Klecker 47th in 16:05. Wayzata boys' interview with MileSplit is HERE.
Full results are HERE.
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| Augustana men's team |
Official results in Wayzata second in the teams with 159 points. Manlius sweeps the titles with 111. points. Edina finishes ninth. Nick Wareham was 37th in 16:00; Joe Klecker 47th in 16:05. Wayzata boys' interview with MileSplit is HERE.
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| Wayzata and Manlius on the Podium |
Full results are HERE.
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| Wayzata boy's and girl's teams |
NXN & NCAA Women's: Race for the Mudders: UMD third in NCAA DII, Wayzata Sixth at NXN
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| UMD celebrate their third place finish. |
The new course for NXN has received a lot of enthusiasm from the coaches and has been labeled "fair," and a "strength runners' course" by Toni Reavis, who is doing the commentary for the webcast. Jacob Hallen and Jamie Testa, two former Wayzata runners, who are coaching the defending champion Wayzata girls' team, said that the team is looking forward to the challenge. It's a different team than last year, said Hallen, and their approach is not to get caught up in the fact that they are defending champions. That it's just another race.
Willmar's girls have a similar approach, and since it is their first trip to NXN, Samantha Hanson from Willmar said that they "Just want to have fun." Absorb the experience. Elliott Heath, Winona grad, is doing the on the course commentary, riding in the "gator(golf cart)" in front of the race. The weather has temperatures in the high 40s, low 50s with a variable wind.
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| Mud Leap!!! |
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| UMD women on the awards stand. |
At the NCAA DII UMD finished third in the women's team race with four All Americans. Sam Rivard was the first Bulldog across the line in fourteenth in 21:38 with Emi Trost eighteenth in 21:42.3. U-Mary's Alexis Zeis was 21st in 21:49.3. NCAA results are HERE. Winona State 17th in team race. UMD summary is HERE. Winona State summary is HERE. NSIC Summary is HERE.
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| Winona State 17th in DIII team race. |
Friday, December 05, 2014
NXN: Picture Album
NXN pre-race picture album by Lance Elliiott HERE (Click on NXN square photo in the upper left hand corner of the page.
NXN: Condition of the Course
By Eric Jahn
A few of the coaches were talking about the run-through and thought that some items were worth noting:
A few of the coaches were talking about the run-through and thought that some items were worth noting:
- Light rain has left most of the course soft-to-mushy.
- It may rain more tonight and until mid-morning.
- Athletes were kept off the running surface itself, and they ran on the path parallel to it that will be used by the gator tomorrow.
- There is a mud pit that has formed just past the 1 K mark that was getting some major attention this afternoon with squeegees and maybe some sand.(Photos 4 and 5 on the RT link)
- Team camps are set up inside a large maintenance structure, with new carpet and temperature about 60 degrees.(Photo 3 on the RT link)
- Lanes - Wayzata boys and girls both have lane 23, which is about 3/4 of the way to the outside of the first hard turn to the left, about 370 m into the race. Seems ideal. Edina boys and Willmar girls are in lane 4, near the left (inside) edge. Edina doesn't mind, given their racing style.(Photo 1 on the RT link)
For photos of the course including the start, the inside of the "team camp" where the runners are housed before and after the race, as well as the "mud pit," Go to the Running Times photos posted on their site HERE.
NXN Pre-race Interviews, Course Preview; Projections and Rankings; Webcast
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| Edina boy's at NXN. Photo by Lance Elliott |
#NXN course report: soggy and windswept, but not too much mud--yet. #werunxc
— John Davis (@JDruns) December 5, 2014
Running Times course preview(eight photos) is HERE. Rankings are HERE(girls') and HERE(boys')Dyestat's team and individual rankings page is HERE. Team "projections" are HERE.
Live Webcast of the races starts at 11:30 CST on Saturday with the first race at 12:05. More info HERE.
Thursday, December 04, 2014
News: NSIC; Chris Reed; NXN Preview; Brian Anderson; Beer Mile; NPR coverage of the MSHSL Transgender Policy
NSIC indoor track coaches preseason poll for teams, Athletes of the Year is HERE. Radio interview with MSU's Chris Reed on football is(starts 7:30 in the program, goes to 17:30) HERE.
Running Times NXN preview is HERE.
Saturdays kit #NXN pic.twitter.com/JQfWjkek9g
— Klecker (@JoeKleckerxc) December 4, 2014
St. Thomas' Brian Anderson selected as a recipient of the NCAA DIII Elite 89 Award HERE.
NPR coverage of the Beer Mile HERE. FloTrack interview with Elizabeth Herndon, former TCTC member, new WR holder for women's Beer Mile HERE.
Increased prize money for US Olympic Trials Marathon HERE.
MSHSL approves Transgender policy HERE.
Commentary: It's All About Trust
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| Courtesy of Clipart Panda |
It's all about trust. For the anti-doping system to work, all involved have to trust that the system does what it is supposed to do. That athletes and their enablers who cheat through doping are subject to the same laws, oversight, testing, and sanctions. That the alphabet agencies that oversee the anti-doping process are treating every case the same, fairly, transparently, and according to the legislation in place to police doping in sport.
The major failure in the system highlighted by the German expose is the alleged collusion to protect certain athletes from punishment for doping. In effect those who were supposed to enforce the rules became doping enablers. This is not new, back when I first started covering the issue of doping in sport in 1987 the same flaw plagued the sporting world. Those in charge of the various international and national sporting federations were lax in their enforcement of the rules.
Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a middle distance runner and lawyer who, along with Edwin Moses and Harvey Glance, attempted to rewrite the rules for anti-doping for the US track & field federation, now called USATF, said that the rules on the books in the early 1990s "looked like they were written by someone who didn't want to catch anybody." There were huge loopholes, many ways to cover up positive tests, and/or allow athletes who cheated and were caught to get away with it.
The US was not alone in this doper protectionism. The shared feeling among the sports "super powers" was that the other countries were doing it, so we have to do it. Dr. Don Catlin, who was a pioneer in drug testing within the IOC and the US compared the situation to nuclear disarmament. Neither side in this "war" was willing to "demilitarize," take away one of their most potent weapons, doping, because the other side would "win."
There was no belief that athletes who didn't dope could or would be able to compete with those who did. And no trust that those who were caught by the meager drug testing program in place at the time would be punished. As doping scandals kept erupting, the IOC knew it had to act to protect their "brand." The anti doping system was polarized. The labs would get positive tests only to see the athlete whose sample they tested continuing to compete and win medals in international competition.
Some of these cover ups were eventually exposed. The scandals generated enough momentum that the IOC was forced to act. They created WADA as an independent oversight agency charged with policing the drug testing system that, at that time didn't exist. Over the years more alphabet groups were formed within nations to act as independent testing and enforcement agencies. To take the countries' sports federations self interest in attempting to win medals and championships out of the doping business. USADA, UKAD, ASADA, and all the other domestic anti-doping agencies were created to police doping in sport.
Over that time, roughly about 20 years, trust has been established that within countries with functioning agencies would not "look the other way" when that country's star athlete was busted for doping. Athletes who doped could no longer count on sports administrators making their doping offenses "go away." The biggest problem that remained was that not every sports power had a functioning anti-doping agency. Third World countries, such as Kenya or Ethiopia, that dominated segments of sport, such as distance running, still do not have such agencies.
So rumors and innuendo continued among athletes that the African athletes' success was due to the inability of the IAAF, the international federation charged with overseeing, promoting, growing the sport, to bring the various countries in line with the WADA Code that attempts to "harmonize" the anti-doping system. To make sure that each country has, at the very least, an independent doping deterrent in place. As the other current doping scandal has exposed, Kenya is not immune from the spread of doping, but in a relatively short period of time, some progress has been made in this area.
The World Marathon Majors, a coalition of major marathons throughout the world, has funded some testing in an attempt to do what the various countries and sports federations have not been able to do, provide out of competition testing in areas with no operating anti-doping agency in place to deter athletes from doping. That the WMM has had to do this is indicative of the lack of adequate funding for the entire anti-doping industry. When Paula Radcliffe was asked what she would do if she were in charge of the anti-doping program for the IAAF she responded that she'd triple the IAAF's anti-doping budget.
The old investigative mantra of "follow the money" as a tool for examining institutional or individual shortcomings is apropos of one of the major weaknesses of the current anti-doping system. Chuck Yesalis, who has followed the ups and downs of the anti-doping movement over decades, has said that in the fight to minimize doping in sport the anti-doping forces are fighting a war where the other side has guns and they have pea shooters.
The most important asset for the anti-doping movement, however, is something money can't buy. It's trust. Trust from the public that what they are watching is not a drug riddled circus. Trust that anti-doping agencies cannot be bought or influenced to "look the other way" because a highly marketable athlete is caught doping. Trust that the sports federations and other groups with influence over the athletes are doing their jobs in policing doping, enforcing the rules.
Thus the current revelations about what has alleged to have been going on in Russia go to the core of the doping problem. They undermine the trust within the athletic community that all that can be done is being done to protect clean athletes, enabling athletes to compete on equal footing, not having to worry that the athlete next to them on the starting line is pharmacologically enhanced. The anti-doping system cannot function properly without that trust.
When Ben Johnson was caught doping in 1988, Catlin thought this would demonstrate that the testing system was one all athletes could trust. That the fact that the most marketable athlete in the then most marketable sport in the Olympic Games was busted for doping would turn the tide in the anti-doping battle. Instead, shortly after Ben was busted a mother and her son came into a pediatrician's office in the Twin Cities and asked the doctor to prescribe for her son some steroids so he could be a better wrestler. This was not an isolated incident. At least one message delivered by the Seoul Olympic bust was that "steroids work."
There were minimal disincentives to dope back then. There was no WADA. no USADA, and now that RUSADA, the Russian anti-doping agency, is implicated in the allegations swirling around the doping scandal in Russia, the anti-doping efforts will take a hit. Some trust will be lost. The challenge is to reestablish that trust. Without it the athletes will still be tempted to take "short cuts," to dope. There will continue to be doping scandals. There will continue to be parents who want the "magic potions" for their kids, and sport as we know it could morph into a modern day gladiator fest. "Entertainment" that attracts paying audiences rather than one that celebrates and showcases athletic skills.
Athletics could become a freak show of doped up individuals, replaceable parts in a traveling roadshow, a circus of sports that makes money for the owners and operators of the franchises, but treats "athletes" like indentured servants. Is this rather dystopian vision what we want our sports to become?
--by Jim Ferstle
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
NXN Course Challenging
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| Map of the three loop course. Map courtesy of Nike |
While it doesn't have as many turns as the Griak course. It is "up and down" with two "fairly abrupt"(short and steep) hills within a minute of the finish, said Jahn. There's also longer, gradual uphills near the 3K mark of the race. Rain is projected for Friday, but it shouldn't have the same impact as the very wet conditions two years ago that favored "mudders."
All the Minnesota teams will be arriving on Thursday. Wayzata's boy's and girl's teams, Willmar's girls, and Edina's boys will all be on the same flight. Nick Wareham and Joe Klecker will be individual contestants, while Bethany and Megan Hasz will be in the girls' race.
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| Edina team on their way to Portland. Photo by Lance Elliott |
News: Doping/Russia; Cazzola; MSHSL Transgender Debate; Beer Mile
ARD, German television, documentary on doping an corruption in Russia, portrayed as the new GDR in terms of systemic doping HERE.
Profile of Wisconsin's Christy Cazzola and her "non traditional" road to running success HERE.
More on the continuing debate over MSHSL policy regarding transgender athletes HERE.
Former TCTC runner @emh824 just won the inaugural Beer Mile World Championship! New WR of 6:17! Cheers to you, Beth! 🍻
— TwinCities TrackClub (@TwinCitiesTC) December 4, 2014
Tuesday, December 02, 2014
News: Rivard Interview; NCAA Central Region Awards; Wayzata Girls; Gopher Women's Intrasquad Meet; Mixed Gender Events
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| UMD team leave the snow for NCAA DII Nationals. Photo courtesy of UMD |
Running Times article on Wayzata's girls HERE
Gopher women intrasquad meet on Friday HERE.
Synchronized Swimming and Diving will have mixed gender events (team competition with men and women participating on each team) at the 2015 FINA World Swimming Championships HERE.
Monday, December 01, 2014
Grant Wintheiser: Why Mess with Success
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| Grant Wintheiser wins the MIAC men's race. Photo courtesy of St. Olaf |
Grant's only exposure to the sport had been the fact that his dad was a runner, and he was not keen on the idea. The first time Rupp approached him Wintheiser turned him down. Rupp was not deterred. He visited Wintheiser's health class and asked if Grant could be excused so he could talk with him. "You don't have to make a commitment," Rupp said. "Just come to one practice." OK, Wintheiser replied. He came. He ran. He was hooked.
While Wintheiser was not a prodigy, didn't immediately rise to the top of the high school running world, he had a major impact on Cathedral's cross country team. Rupp, who has been coaching at Cathedral for 43 years, said that Wintheiser "changed the culture of the team." He has the ability to focus on a task and commit to what is necessary to accomplish what he sets out to do, said Rupp.
Wintheiser pushed himself and he became the model for the others on the team to follow. Again, this was not an instant change. "There was some blow back," Rupp said. The other kids didn't buy into the commitment, the workload necessary to get the best out of oneself. As Wintheiser's work ethic delivered results, however, the others took notice. Wintheiser led by example.
"He's a Stearns County kid," said St. Olaf coach Phil Lundin, "A hard working guy." Wintheiser also has what Lundin calls "a quiet confidence." He takes a pragmatist's approach. Going into the DIII nationals Wintheiser had been undefeated against DIII runners. He'd run his fastest time ever for 8K XC at the Region meet, which "helped me go into Nationals with a lot of confidence." And North Central's John Crain, who had been Wintheiser's chief rival in 2013, had graduated.
Despite all those positive signs Wintheiser didn't go into the race believing he had a lock on the title. Nobody gives you a national title. You have to earn it. Through nearly all of the race Wintheiser played the role of the hunter, not the hunted. He didn't take the lead until the end. After runner up Colin Cotton of Williams College broke open the race in the last mile, Wintheiser followed him and took the lead with a little more than a half-mile to go and won by six seconds.
Wintheiser had taken what he'd learned over the previous two seasons and executed his race strategy to perfection. There was relief, joy, and satisfaction as he crossed the line. "As a sophomore I didn't expect to get third," Wintheiser said. "(Last year) I was a little complacent." This year he was ready and able. He doesn't plan on stopping with the XC title, however. There is unfinished business in track. Ultimately, he'd like to finish his collegiate career with a triple: XC, the 3K indoors, and 5K outdoors. He's also hoping to combine talents with some of his teammates to run together on a distance medley relay team. Beyond that is a big question mark.
In addition to being an outstanding athlete, Wintheiser is also an exceptional student. His classes in biology and neuroscience convinced him to apply to medical school and he was accepted at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. There he will explore what specialty in medicine he'll pursue, and he'll continue to run. Recreationally if the school commitment only allows that, but one of the contingency plans is to be able to train enough to run competitively in 10Ks or half marathons. See if there is a future in the sport, if Olympic aspirations are a realistic goal.
If so, he may try and follow in the footsteps of another Minnesotan, Dr. Bob Kempainen, who made two Olympic teams while getting through medical school. As in high school and college, Wintheiser will be pushing the boundaries, exploring his capabilities, and aiming for the top. It's a plan that has worked for him thus far, so why mess with success.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
NXN Teams At-Large Teams Selected; Chiba Ekiden
Saturday, November 29, 2014
So Close But Yet So Far
Last Saturday the St. Olaf men's team attempted to duplicate what they had done a year ago. Win the DIII men's team title. Building up to the meet, the Oles had run two of the "most impressive performances" in school history. said coach Phil Lundin. They had dominating performances winning the MIAC title with a nearly perfect score, and the Central Region title with another commanding performance.
Their number one runner, Grant Wintheiser, was undefeated against DIII competition. He was hoping to stop being the "bridesmaid" and win the Ole's first men's NCAA individual crown. Wintheiser, buoyed by the confidence he'd gained during the season and a personal best run at the Central Region meet, won the individual title. The Ole team finished second.
"We knew we could do it(win the title)," said Lundin of the team's view going into the race. They also knew that their vulnerability was depth. All five of their scorers had to run as they did during the MIAC and Central Region meets or better for St. Olaf to fend off DIII power North Central, who were aiming to rebound from their loss to St. Olaf in 2013. They had the luxury of having any of their top five having an off day because they had two runners who could potentially pick up the slack, said Lundin.
On the muddy, slippery course there were falls. Both North Central and St. Olaf had men go down, and in the end North Central handled the conditions and the challenge slightly better than the Oles to take the title 130to 143. Lundin and Wintheiser were both philosophical after the race noting that North Central handled the challenges better than they did, but that the first and second place finishes of the last two years transformed the team from just another competitor to a legitimate contender for the title.
You know the program has come a long way, Lundin said, when you're disappointed with finishing second. The defeat was hard to take, said Lundin, because they knew they had a legitimate chance to repeat, to do what North Central has been doing for years, finding a way to win. "How many chances do you get?" said Lundin. North Central has shown that every National meet is a new opportunity. They focus on Nationals from the beginning of the season.
Such is their aura that it is often enough to make the difference. St. Olaf was not awed by the challenge. They relished it. This year didn't have a fairy tale ending, but the team members will use what they learned from this experience to continue to improve, said Lundin. Wintheiser will focus on indoor and outdoor track goals. Jake Bown, who fell late in the race, is already in training for the cross country ski season. "It's his (best) sport," said Lundin. "He's a tough competitor. He did the best he could(at Nationals). We wouldn't have done what we have (done) without him."
Disappointment will be replaced by determination. One of the allures of sport is that you don't have a lot of time to bask in the glow of your victories or fret about your defeats. As waiting for you is another race.
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| The Ole men after winning the 2014 NCAA DIII Central Region title. Photo courtesy of St. Olaf |
Their number one runner, Grant Wintheiser, was undefeated against DIII competition. He was hoping to stop being the "bridesmaid" and win the Ole's first men's NCAA individual crown. Wintheiser, buoyed by the confidence he'd gained during the season and a personal best run at the Central Region meet, won the individual title. The Ole team finished second.
"We knew we could do it(win the title)," said Lundin of the team's view going into the race. They also knew that their vulnerability was depth. All five of their scorers had to run as they did during the MIAC and Central Region meets or better for St. Olaf to fend off DIII power North Central, who were aiming to rebound from their loss to St. Olaf in 2013. They had the luxury of having any of their top five having an off day because they had two runners who could potentially pick up the slack, said Lundin.
On the muddy, slippery course there were falls. Both North Central and St. Olaf had men go down, and in the end North Central handled the conditions and the challenge slightly better than the Oles to take the title 130to 143. Lundin and Wintheiser were both philosophical after the race noting that North Central handled the challenges better than they did, but that the first and second place finishes of the last two years transformed the team from just another competitor to a legitimate contender for the title.
You know the program has come a long way, Lundin said, when you're disappointed with finishing second. The defeat was hard to take, said Lundin, because they knew they had a legitimate chance to repeat, to do what North Central has been doing for years, finding a way to win. "How many chances do you get?" said Lundin. North Central has shown that every National meet is a new opportunity. They focus on Nationals from the beginning of the season.
Such is their aura that it is often enough to make the difference. St. Olaf was not awed by the challenge. They relished it. This year didn't have a fairy tale ending, but the team members will use what they learned from this experience to continue to improve, said Lundin. Wintheiser will focus on indoor and outdoor track goals. Jake Bown, who fell late in the race, is already in training for the cross country ski season. "It's his (best) sport," said Lundin. "He's a tough competitor. He did the best he could(at Nationals). We wouldn't have done what we have (done) without him."
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| Jake Brown(231) and Grant Wintheiser(240) during the Central Region Championships. Photo courtesy of St. Olaf |
Disappointment will be replaced by determination. One of the allures of sport is that you don't have a lot of time to bask in the glow of your victories or fret about your defeats. As waiting for you is another race.
Friday, November 28, 2014
News: HS Rankings; Transgender Athletes; Spirit Store; Dayton Honors Runners; NCAA/Gophers
MileSplit HS Team rankings for girl's HERE, boy's HERE. Girl's individual rankings HERE, boy's HERE. .
Stillwater Gazette article on the MSHSL discussions on the issue of transgender athletes is HERE.
Sun Current article on the opening of the Edina Athletic Booster Board's opening of the Spirit Store inside the Neighborhood Ice Cream Shoppe in Edina HERE
Perham Focus article on Governor Dayton honoring HS cross country runners Kailee Kiminski, Tierney Winter, and Jennifer Christopher HERE.
Minnesota Daily story on the NCAA DI Championship races HERE.
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