DAY 2: PAYTON OTTERDAHL JOINS DAKOTAH LINDWURM AS MINNESOTA’S FIRST 2024 TRACK AND FIELD SUMMER OLYMPIANS; AND THE GOLDEN BEARS ARE WELL REPRESENTED

June 23, 2024 The 4th shot put throw by Rosemount athlete Payton Otterdahl edged him into 3rd place in the Olympic Track & Field Trials finals, and a 5th throw of 73 ft and ½ inch (22.26 meters) secured his return to a spot on the US Olympic team behind Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs. 

Woohoo! Minnesota Woman Qualifies for Olympics as Dakotah Lindwurm takes 3rd! Reed Fischer 9th in Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials

February 3, 2024 Originally scheduled to start at noon, the US Olympic Marathon Trials were thankfully moved ahead two hours due to heat and humidity concerns expressed by the runners.  With a gun-start after 10:00 in Orlando, Florida, at 54° F and temperatures expected to rise significantly, many Minnesota athletes with Minnesota connections raced the

US Olympic Marathon Trials: Women Qualifiers with Minnesota Connections

January 1, 2024 To run in the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials women’s division in Orlando, Florida on February 3rd, a time of 2:37:00 (or 1:12 in the half-marathon) or faster must have been recorded in the past two years (one year for the half-marathon) in a certified race.  A total of 173 women have

AMANDA ANDERSON SCHOENING: ST. FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL THROWER PROMOTES MANY PURPOSES OF SPORT AS COACH AT ALMA MATER

October 17, 2023 Located 40 miles north of Minneapolis, St. Francis is a city of 8,000 residents straddling Anoka and Isanti Counties on the Rum River.   As the hometown of 2016 rhythmic gymnastics Olympian Kiana Eide, Olympic Trials marathon qualifier Dakotah Lindwurm (Bullen), and 7-time state champion and 2023 national champion shot putter Maggie Ewen,

CHICAGO MARATHON HAS MINNESOTA HIGHLIGHTS

October 8, 2023 This morning proved that breaking two hours in the marathon is not far in the future as Kevin Kliptum of Kenya completed the Chicago Marathon is an astonishing 2:00:35, with a negative split! The highlights for the Minnesota running community included three Minnesota women finishing 11th, 12th, and 13th (4th, 5th, and

COOL, WET SPRING STILL SHOWS IMPRESSIVE ROAD, MOUNTAIN RACE RESULTS

May 1, 2023 April’s wildly varying weather may have curtailed training, but Minnesota’s distance runners continue to forge ahead. Conditions were even worse at the USATF Mountain Running Championships in New Hampshire for Tom Sederquist of Duluth who finished as the 21st male on a muddy course as he survived steep ascents and treacherous descents

NYC HALF MARATHON RESULTS: BOTH DAKOTAH LINDWURM AND ANNIE FRISBIE FINISH IN PRIZE MONEY

March 20, 2023 A previous post mentioned the continuing success and exploits of Minnesota Distance Elite runners Dakotah Lindwurm and Annie Frisbie who were competing today in the New York City Half Marathon. Daktotah finished 6th in the women’s division, edging 2016 Olympian Molly Huddle and finishing 4 seconds behind the first American woman, Desiree

THREE MINNESOTA WOMEN PLACE IN TOP TEN AT USATF 15K CHAMPIONSHIPS

Heat and humidity created challenging conditions for Minnesota runners at last week’s USATF 15K Championships in Jacksonville, Florida. Nevertheless, 27-year-old former hockey goalie Dakotah Lindwurm (originally from St. Francis, Minnesota) stuck with the pack chasing Olympian Emily Sisson, eventually claiming 4th place in the women’s division with a time of 52:03. Minnesota Distance Elite teammate

GABI HOOPER ROOKER: COMMITMENT

January 17, 2023 The American public would not generally associate an Olympic or All-American gymnast to become a national-caliber marathoner, yet that is exactly what Gabi Hooper Rooker has accomplished.  Born in State College, Pennsylvania in 1987 to Kate and Simon Hooper, Gabi (Gabriella) is the third of four children.  Her older sisters Lucy and

DAKOTAH LINDWURM: PASSIONATE HOCKEY PLAYER BECOMES GRANDMA’S MARATHON CHAMPION

Beginning to play hockey in 2nd grade, Dakotah Marie Lindwurm (nee Bullen) has long had Jim Craig, goalie on the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic hockey team, as a favorite athlete. “Hockey was my heart and soul and my Olympic dream beginning,” says the 5’ 1” and 105-pound native of St. Francis, Minnesota. “Everything revolved

HAPPY GRANDMA’S (MARATHON) DAY, Dakotah Marie Lindwurm!

A year ago, 2021 Grandma’s Marathon champion Dakotah Marie Lindwurm (Bullen) graciously consented to an extensive interview. Today the reigning champion repeated and won the title in an eye-catching time of 2:25:01, a time that is receiving national attention. In honor of Dakotah’s achievement, the profile featuring her is being reposted. Of course, all runners

RESULTS: BLAZING 10K IN DES MOINES; AND OLYMPIC TRIALS IN WRESTLING AND ROWING

Minnesota Distance Elite runners Joel Reichow (White Bear Lake) and Dakotah Marie Lindwurm (St. Francis) won championships in the men’s and women’s division at the Blazing 10K in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, April 11. Reichow claimed the victory with a time of 29:13 while Lindwurm, age 25, took the title in 33:53. Other notable

MINNESOTA MARATHONERS IN ACTION

On Sunday, December 20th, several Minnesota runners competed at The Marathon Project race in Chandler, Arizona, with positive results. The women’s field especially had many recognizable names in the top 20 with Minnesota connections. Emma Bates (Elk River) led the elite group with a 4th-place finish with a time of 2:25:40–she had finished 7th in

MISSY BUTTRY ROCK: THE FAMILY PICTURE IS SOMETHING TO BEHOLD!

“A unique thing about our family is that there are sixteen children,” Missy Buttry Rocks says with quiet understatement.  Yes, sixteen children; Missy is one of three biological children and has 13 siblings who were adopted by her parents who live in Shendandoah, Iowa, in the southwest quadrant of the state. Missy’s parents ran the

MINNESOTA ATHLETES AT THE US OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS

Minnesota has a rich heritage in long-distance running with many state athletes competing on the world stage. People sometimes forget that qualifying for an Olympics Trials is a tremendous achievement that involves running thousands–probably tens of thousands in many cases–of miles, overcoming injuries, perseverance, and time management and balancing life for years. University of Minnesota

HISTORY AND RESULTS OF GRANDMA’S MARATHON

The running scene of Minnesota shines at Grandma’s Marathon events in Duluth. Debuting in 1978 with 150 participants, the marathon was first sponsored by Duluth-based Grandma’s Restaurant. The setting, hospitality, and Minnesota running community helped it explode in popularity. Distance running icons Garry Bjorklund (Proctor), Barney Klecker, and Dick Beardsley (Excelsior) won 5 of the

MINNESOTA VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS ON NATIONAL TEAM; GRANDMA’S RACE THIS WEEKEND

Minnesota has impressive representation on the 25-player USA Volleyball Nations League (VNL) roster: Sarah Parsons (Eden Prairie), Tori Dixon (Burnsville), Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul), and Paige Tapp (Stewartville) are on the team and all but Tapp are returning members. Sarah Parsons and Paige Tapp recently helped a professional team in Stuttgart claim the German league

BRAVE LIKE GABE 5K

We are going to interrupt our series on MIAC Olympians to address the Brave Like Gabe 5K race and mission. Gabriele Anderson Grunewald (Perham) and her husband Justin Grunewald started a race to raise funds with the mission of to “support rare cancer research and empower all cancer survivors through physical activity.” People in the

RECENT APRIL RESULTS FOR THE MINNESOTA RUNNING AND WRESTLING COMMUNITIES

A posting before a series of columns on #MIAC athletes who became Olympians features many Minnesota athletes who performed will at the Get in Gear Race along the Mississippi River and Marine Corps US Open (wrestling) in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the premier 10K race, four Minnesota athletes finished between 4th and 7th within 23