June 28, 2001 marked the introduction of the Minnesota Runner of the Year award, sponsored by GEAR Running Store. We felt that there was not enough recognition of the top high school runners in our state and we decided to do something about it. We modeled our program after some of the awards in other sports, like a Mr. Basketball or Ms. Basketball. We also added some elements of the Heisman Trophy and Hobey Baker awards as well.
We formed a committee of some of the top high school cross country and track and field coaches from around the state. We tried hard to get a representation from all areas of the state in both boys and girls cross country and track. The coaches selected 25 boys and 25 girls runners to be selected as semi-finalists for Runner of the Year. These runners were invited to the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis for an awards dinner. The runners received a copy of a certificate listing their selection as a Top 25 runner. Our coaches committe had also narrowed the list of Top 25 semi-finalist runners down to a group of 5 boys and 5 girls finalists.
As part of the evening, guest speaker Merrell Noden, a track and field writer who has covered the last 3 Olympics for Sports Illustrated, shared his views on the current and historical state of running. After a buffett dinner and a brief program featuring a inspirational video and the thoughts of our guest speaker, the 5 boys and 5 girls finalists were seated at the head table and presented with special finalists awards. From that group of finalists, our first Minnesota Runners of the Year were selected.
The winners of the first annual Minnesota Runner of the Year award were Nick Schneider of Benilde-St. Margaret's and Shannon Bergstedt of Hopkins. Schneider was an overwhelming choice among the coaches while the girls race was much closer, where Bergstedt edged out Vanessa Clarida of Bloomington Kennedy followed closely behind by Lisa Dyer of Moorhead.
The permanent award for the Top 25 runners as well as the individual award for the Runner of the Year is permanently on display at the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis.
For a complete list of 2001 Minnesota Runners of the Year candidates, click here
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| High School: Benilde-St..Margaret's
Resume: Schneider dominated the running scene for the last few years, winning everything in sight. He won state titles in both his junior and senior years in Cross Country, the 1600 and 3200. Schneider was the National Scholastic Champion in the mile, and set the all time state mark in the 3200 (8:53:29) and was second only to the legendary Gary Bjorklund in the 1600 (4:06.89) Schneider is now a promising freshman at Duke University, where he recently finished in the top 30 at the prestigious Griak Invitational, back home at the University of Minnesota. |
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| Shannon Bergstedt of Hopkins and Nick Schneider of Benilde-St. Margaret's. | |||||
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| High School: Hopkins
Resume: Only a freshman in 2000-2001, Bergstedt provided some incredible performances. Running for the strong Hopkins program, she was the state track champion in both the 1600 and the 3200, outdeuling Moorhead senior Lisa Dyer by less than a second in both events. Her 1600 time (4:53.69)was a AA state meet record, and 3rd best time in Minnesota history while her 3200 time (10:26.82) is the AA state meet record, the all time fastest in Minnesota history and was the 10th fastest time in the nation.
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