DONNA GATHJE MUELLER: SUPPORT YOUR TEAM, SUPPORT YOUR COACH

April 26, 2022 Donna Gathje (pronounced get-key) believes she was blessed with great support and coaches.  Today, she promotes the healthy benefits of running and encourages the families of runners to support runners and their coaches. The Gathje family of Rochester, Minnesota, is known statewide and beyond for their running prowess, but parents Ron and

Gabriele Anderson Grunewald: Fighter

September 9, 2023 Today the sixth running of the Brave Like Gabe 5k and Gabe’s life were celebrated. Among the family members, I met Gabe’s father, Kim Anderson, and brother Caleb Anderson, both physical therapists. The Anderson family is from Perham, Minnesota, a recreational paradise in Otter Tail County in the northern part of the

JILL STEINBACH MICHEL: ENCOURAGE ATHLETES TO BE MULTI-SPORT

May 2, 2023 A three-sport athlete at Wayzata (a western suburb of Minneapolis) High School, Jill Steinbach Michel says, “From an athletic training standpoint, there are far lower rates of injuries, physiological reasons, a mental break, and more exposure to teammates and coaching styles when you try different sports.”  A kinesiology major with a graduate

ALICIA RUE PIERSKALLA: JUNIOR PAN AM POLE VAULT GOLD MEDALIST FELT THE CULTURE OF TRACK AND FIELD IN SÃO PAULO

April 18, 2023 “I wanted to copy everything my older sister, Jennifer, did,” says Alicia Rue Pierskalla while recounting her start in athletics, “and she was in gymnastics.  I started at age two or three.”  The younger daughter of Mark and Maureen Rue of Plymouth, a western suburb of Minneapolis, Alicia admits to having a

JILL SLETTEDAHL: MINNESOTA IS A 12-HOUR DRIVE FROM KENTUCKY HOME, BUT IT ONLY TAKES 3 HOURS FOR THE GRANITE FALLS RUNNER’S MINNESOTA ACCENT TO RETURN

August 24, 2022 “We were busy kids,” Jill Slettedahl Winter says of the childhood she shared with younger sisters Amy Northrop (Slettedahl) and Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson.  Jill became a state track champion and collegiate All-American, but the value of education shone through the daughters of Bob, a rural mail carrier, and Judy, an educator, too. 

Tina Bahr Ostroot: WHAT’S IMPORTANT IS TO REMEMBER WHERE WE COME FROM AND TO OPEN DOORS FOR OTHERS

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

ELIZABETH YETZER SPEHAR: NO MATTER HOW I PERFORM, I AM LOVED

With older siblings following their mother’s footsteps, Elizabeth Yetzer says, “It [running] was a big part of my parents’ lives and we saw that modeled.  Naturally, you just kind of hop in.”  Jake, Rebekah, and Annie were the older siblings and Mary Stepka, the state runner-up in the mile run to future World Cross Country

Megan Daymont Thomas: GRATEFUL FOR OPPORTUNITIES

When your early baby-sitters are Suzy Wilson, spouse of University of Minnesota women’s track and field coach Gary Wilson, and Leslie Seymour, a qualifier for two Cross County World Championships, and your mother, Chris Daymont, is a St. Olaf College Hall of Fame coach, and your father, Dick, is a longtime coach and track official,

MERRILY DEAN BAKER: SIX YEARS IN MINNESOTA AND THE U OF M LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK IN MY HEART

Coaches, officials, and administrators are recognized by the M Club and Minnesota State High School League, and it appropriate that they be profiled by the author of Minnesota Athletes too.  A lifelong athlete and sports administrator, Merrily Dean Baker played a significant role in the growth and development of University of Minnesota (U of M)

Bits of Sports News; Lots of Griak

Emily Shilson (Maple Grove), daughter of Margaret and Chad Shilson, qualified in wrestling for the Youth Olympics in Argentina in October. Emily has previously qualified for the state boys’ wrestling tournament the past two years and was recently crowned Cadet World Champion at 43 kilograms. Lots of Minnesota representation: Tori Dixon (Burnsville), Hannah and Paige

M Club Induction, Fall Sports Start

On Thursday, September 13th, eight Gopher athletes were inducted into the prestigious M Club at the University of Minnesota. Heather Kampf (Rosemount High School), a middle distance star and the first U of M female track athlete to be a national champion (2006, indoors 800-meters); Damion Hahn, a two-time national champion wrestler; fleet running back