Raised in International Falls, Minnesota, Tina Bahr was familiar with the many state hockey championships the town on the Canadian border had earned, but she probably had little inkling that she would bring not one, but two, individual cross country titles to her hometown.
Born in 1961, Tina is the oldest of four children of an active and supportive family. Her father, “Mickey,” worked at the Boise Cascade Mill, a pulp and paper facility, and her mother, Jeanette, owned a floral shop. Her brother, Ed, played tight end for the University of Minnesota (U of M), playing in all 11 games for the Gophers in 1986 and 1987. Her two younger sisters were active, too, but did not compete in sports.
It was a 6th grade annual track meet that spurred Tina to pursue running after she claimed the title in the 660-yard run, the least favorite event for students to participate. A friend encouraged her to consider going out for track the next spring (there was no girls’ cross country team) and they learned they could compete on varsity if they broke six minutes in the mile. Tina would become a member of the varsity track team in 9th grade, play violin in the school orchestra, and play varsity basketball for three years.
Tina and Anne Tarro approached the school’s athletic director about running cross country her sophomore year. He approved their request, but the pair would be running with the boys and the coach was not excited about the arrangement. A meeting before the first practice was conducted in the boys’ locker room and Tina and Anne were forced to wait in the hallway. The coach met them afterward and said if they wanted to run with the boys, they had better catch them—the boys had left through a back door—and they did! At the first meet in Proctor, the only option offered to change was on the bus while the boys were in the locker room. The coach eventually turned around and became positive—particularly when Tina placed 6th in the 1977 girls’ state meet won by Marta Wilson of Stillwater. “It was an overwhelming and exciting experience,” says Tina of the two-mile meet hosted at the U of M Golf Course in Falcon Heights. “I turned sixteen that weekend and we spent the weekend at the cities.”
The International Falls girls’ team had tied with White Bear Lake for the first Minnesota State High School League track and field championship in 1972—when the longest distance run by girls was 880 yards and the softball throw was an event–behind two crowns by thrower Sue Alstrom. Thus, there was support and history for the track team, but the school did not have a track until 1978. In the spring of 1978, she placed 4th in the mile in a time of 5:14.9, won by Leslie Seymour, the champion of the girls’ first state cross country meet in 1975. As a junior, Tina placed 3rd in the 1600-meter run and was runner-up to Nancy Gieske of Henry Sibley in the 3200-meter run her senior year (girls could only compete in one distance event at the time).
“Cross country was by far my favorite,” Tina proclaims. The results prove it: she captured the individual Class AA championship in her junior year by 4.5 seconds and edged Lani Granowski of Owatonna by .2 of a second her senior year in 1979 (and ahead of future Olympian Lynn Nelson of Mound Westonka).
Amazingly, Tina ran Grandma’s Marathon as a high school student—twice—despite never running more than 12 miles in training because of her track season! In 1978 she completed the second annual event in 3:42:19, the 19th finisher in the small field of 35 women. The following year she was 6th in the women’s division in a growing field of 114 runners.
Mail from college coaches began flooding to Tina’s attention addressed to the high school. “I thought maybe I can pursue this and see another part of the country,” says Tina. Among the recruiters was Gary Wilson, then coach at UW—LaCrosse and an assistant named Dave Franke. Franke would be going to Idaho State and Tina decided to accept academic and athletic scholarships there—without a visit. “I couldn’t have fallen into a better experience,” Tina says of her years in Pocatello, Idaho. “I had great teammates—we did a lot of things together and my best friend was with me all of the time.”
Her best friend is her husband, Tim, whom she married after high school graduation! Two years older than Tina, Tim wrestled at Itasca Community College until he sustained an injury. In Idaho, he was a sportswriter for a local newspaper and then hired for a position in the Idaho State Sports Information Department. Tim later earned a law degree at Hamline University in St. Paul, and become involved in legal studies, hockey, athletic administration, and counseling at the college.
At Idaho State, Tina qualified for the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division I Cross Country Championships her freshman year. Tina was excited to have her first airplane flight since the meet was in Seattle, and she accomplished her goal of finishing in the top half of the meet, one second ahead of Marta Wilson, now running for the University of Wisconsin. Her sophomore year, the 1981 AIAW Championship was hosted at Idaho State and Tina ascended to 12th place and thrilled to have her parents present for the first time to see her race collegiately. “Highland Golf Course was a tough course—so hilly,” Tina says remembering her runs there.
Tina declined the athletic portion of her scholarship her junior year due to a change in the running philosophy of a new coach but returned to run for legendary coach Jerry Quiller her senior year.
Tim and Tina returned to Minnesota and Tina accepted a primary grade teaching position in the Elk River School District where she remained until her retirement in 2021. They have a son, Collin, who is married to Alissa Mulvihill and the young couple has three children. Collin ran cross country, but his passion was hockey; he played in two state tournaments for the Elks, then played juniors for two years in Vermont.
“I just enjoy running. I have run lots of road races and search for them while traveling,” Tina says of her passion. In addition to the state high school cross country and AIAW national meets, Tina most remembers running the 2012 RRCA Grand Masters Half Marathon Championship of Alabama in 2012 with Meb Keflezighi presenting her the award for being a division winner; the overwhelming support for runners as she ran the 2013 (the bombing was a “traumatic experience”) and 2014 Boston Marathons; and competing in the MLK Games in Palo Alto, California, where “it was breathtaking being among such talent.”
Tina is now a substitute teacher in Elk River and an assistant coach for the local Girls on the Run team and has been inducted into the International Falls and Idaho State Athletic Halls of Fame. She expresses her deep appreciation of support from her parents and Tim. “What’s important to remember is where we come from and to open doors for others. I hope we continue to make it better for girls in the future.”
Minnesota Athletes 