DAY 9: MINNESOTA ATHLETE THROWERS MAGGIE EWEN AND MARCUS GUSTAVESON FLEETINGLY HOLD MAGICAL 3RD SPOT BEFORE FINISHING 6TH; IT’S THE PEOPLE!

June 30, 2024 Maggie Ewen, the thrower from St. Francis, Minnesota, has had a storied high school and collegiate athletic career.  She has also competed internationally, most recently placing 7th  in the shot put with a throw of 18.96 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in March.  A similar throw still

DAY 8 AT THE US OLYMPIC TRACK & FIELD TRIALS: MAGGIE EWEN MAKES THE FINALS IN WOMEN’S SHOT PUT; CLOSE UPS WITH PAST AND PRESENT OLYMPIANS

June 29, 2024 The highlight for Minnesota athlete fans was Maggie Ewen advancing to the finals of the women’s shot when she launched her second of three throws 60 feet-9 ¼ inches (18.52 meters) for 5th place.  All four athletes who finished ahead of Maggie had throws surpassing 63 feet (19 meters).  The 2013 St.

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

AARON BARTNIK AND CARLI SCHULZ BARTNIK: NOW HAVING A DIFFERENT APPRECIATION OF WHAT RUNNING HAS BROUGHT TO THEIR LIVES

March 2, 2022   Eden Prairie cross country, nordic skiing, and track and field athletes Aaron Bartnik and Carli Schulz connected through their community school and sports and are now married.  The pair have many similarities:  they both first competed in soccer, remember finishing second in the phy ed mile run—and missing out on a

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,

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

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

BACK ON THE TRACK (AND FIELD) AT THE OLYMPIC TRIALS

Two Minnesota athletes advanced to the finals of the men’s 5,000-meter run as Garrett Heath (Winona) and Hassan Mead (Minneapolis) both finished in the top 5 of their respective heats and will be competing for the three spots to go to Tokyo. Garrett led the heat going into the bell lap and the 4-time Olympic

HURRAH STEEPLECHASERS AND MINNESOTA MEMORIES OF THE 2016 OLYMPIC TRIALS

The three men with Minnesota connections who were competing in the steeplechase at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, all qualified for the finals! Alec Basten (U of M; Green Bay) had the 4th fastest time overall with a personal best time of 8:22.22 while Mason Ferlic (Roseville and Mounds Park Academy) and Obsa Ali

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

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

RILEY PELLIGRO MACON: ATHLETIC CAREER HIGHLIGHTS WERE WITH TEAMMATES

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Riley Macon has returned to his birthplace as he pursues a master’s degree at Middle Tennessee State University.  But in between, Riley spent his formative years in Minnesota and became an elite high school runner with a state title in the 1600-meter run in 2012 and a runner-up finish in 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

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

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