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Talented Sophomore....

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Every winter the MTN Guys write about athletes who we believe are on the brink of regional stardom. Two years ago we predicted, like many others, that Wade Cruser would join our state's elite ranks. He then exceeded everyone's expectations; everyone's except his own.

Last year we predicted that Maggie Weiss and Kelly Trom would earn Team MInnesota berths. We were right.

These prognostications were not ballsy or prescient. Anyone who cared could see that those athletes were emerging.

Who will be this year's rising stars? We can think of several. We believe that this will be the year that KRISTINA SWENSON breaks out. EMILY MUELLNER also has, in our opinion, what it takes to be a star.

We plan to write more about these women soon, but today we are highlighting another athlete who we believe is ready to go to the next level.

His name is JAKE BRAAM. He's 27 and is from Elysian.

Jake was a strong Rookie of the Year nominee in 2017, placing 2nd behind Keeghan Hurley, who is currently in the process of acquiring a pro license. Jake's performances in '17 were very solid. Check them out:...

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Driven to Lead...

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From Securian.com

As a college sophomore, Heather Lendway pondered whether to stick with the swim team for a second year. She had no idea of how greatly the decision would impact her life. 

Heather had been swimming almost her entire life – she was three years old when she first entered the pool and began competing at age eight. Propelled by the excitement of consistent victory and her naturally competitive spirit, she continued on through high school and her first year in college. ...

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Are You Sabotaging Your Running?

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The surprising habits that get in the way of running well, and how you can get back on track.

 

By Jonathan Beverly (triathlete.com)

Your body knows how to run—smoothly, efficiently, injury-free. What’s more, the way it runs is tailored to maximize your specific dimensions and preferred movement patterns. Why then, do runners often fall into an inefficient and injury-producing running form? Believe it or not, the blame may lie outside of your training hours. Our modern lifestyles, full of comfort and convenience, conspire to compromise our flexibility, strengths, and balance. Here are five things you’re doing to sabotage your running form, and how to counteract them.

You sit too much.

The most insidious alteration of runners’ form stems from the posture we’ve been forced into most of every day since pre-school: sitting. Sitting keeps the hips in a permanent flexed position, with the thighs in front of the torso. Eventually, our hip flexors in front become short and stiff and the glutes in the back turn off and get weak, throwing off the alignment of our hips and making a natural, powerful, backwards-driving stride impossible....

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Triathlon is for Every BODY...

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By Adam Sczech (usatriathlon.org)

 

“Why not?”

I have uttered that phrase many times when talking with someone about triathlon. Like most people that have been doing triathlons for a long time, most of my wardrobe is made up of race T-shirts, and they are often a conversation starter. So often I hear “Oh, that’s amazing” or “I could never do that,” which are untrue. Just about anybody — with any body — can do a triathlon.

Triathlon is about doing the most with our unique body, no matter the size, shape or abilities. Short, tall, lean, muscular, young or wise, there is a place for each of us! Our sport includes physically challenged athletes, and I’ve raced with athletes with quadriplegia, skeletal dysplasia and visual impairments. When I hear someone say they could never do a triathlon, I tell them about my first triathlon....

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Empowerment & Back-Having...

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By Ruth Brennan Morrey (ruthbrennanmorrey.com)  

 

Mid-July, two enthusiastic players from my U10 girls soccer team excitedly set off to a 5-day local day camp. Improving ball skills, preparing for the fall season, and having fun was the objective. After the second day, however, one player had a mysterious stomach ache and was picked up from camp mid-morning, while the other player erupted into tears the moment she buckled herself into the back of her mom’s car upon noon pick-up.  Both players, independently, stated they never wanted to go back to camp. “We hate it” was the message—their shared attitude was the antithesis of what “Coach Ruth” grew to admire.  As it eventually surfaced, ‘mean kids’ were having a great old time targeting the two girls with incessant verbal teasing and distracting them from camp enjoyment. The 20-year old camp coach was oblivious to the dynamics....

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