DAY 3: MIAC OLYMPIAN LIST GROWS BY ONE AS MATT WILKINSON OF CARLETON COLLEGE PLACES 2ND IN US OLYMPIC TRIALS STEEPLECHASE

June 24, 2024 Spreading his arms wide in elation as he crossed the finish line of the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon in second place of the grueling event with a water jump and four high and sturdy barriers to hurdle over each lap, Matt Wilkinson of Minnetonka High School

BOB WAGNER: RAN FOR COACH GRIAK AT ST. LOUIS PARK HIGH SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

September 27, 2023 “I was one lucky athlete to end up in St. Louis Park,” is how Bob “Wags” Wagner, born in 1946, describes his family’s move from Charles City, Iowa, to the Minneapolis western suburb when he was in 9th grade.  In phy ed class, teacher Roy Griak saw the new kid not wearing

David Van Orsdel: RUNNER TURNED EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST NOW “ALL IN” AS HE RIDES ON EMOTION

November 16, 2022 “I was always obsessed with sports,” says David Van Orsdelwho moved to Hopkins, Minnesota from Minneapolis at the age of one. One of two sons of Lil (Lundeen) and Scott Van Orsdel, a sprinter at Concordia College in Moorhead, David, born in 1984, grew to 5’ 8” by 8th grade—and has remained

STEW THORNLEY: WRITING AND SPEAKING ARE WAYS TO CONTINUE YOUR INTERESTS

A man with many interests, Stew Thornley has discovered a multitude of ways to share his interests in regional sports, baseball in Minnesota, skydiving, and graveyard hunting. Writing and speaking have allowed him to transform from a research consumer to a research producer. Stew’s father, Howard, was a prisoner of war at the famed Stalag