The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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July 5, 2009

Former prep stars win Freedom Fun Run

Sibley East's Thies, New Ulm Cathedral's Sieve win men's, women's brackets

By Chad Courrier

ST PETER — The last time that Greta Sieve ran, it was at the NCAA Division II national meet.

While the competition wasn’t nearly as tough Friday at the 10th annual Freedom Fun Run at St. Peter, it was still fun to win.

“I wasn’t sure what the field would be like,” she said. “I guess I was hoping for a little more competition, but I was real happy.”

Sieve, 21, who went to high school at New Ulm Cathedral and will be a senior at St. Catherine’s, finished the eight-kilometer race in 30:28.1, more than three minutes ahead of the rest of the women’s field. It was the seventh-best time of the 227 participants, of which 201 finished the race.

At the national meet in May, Sieve said she was seeded 18th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but she improved to 12th.

“This is my first race since nationals,” she said. “I’ve got one more scheduled. Other than that, I’ve just been getting mileage.”

Kristin Gustafson of St. Michael was second among the women at 33:33.6, while Stephanie Price of Mankato was next at 33:42.3. Danielle Stack of Mankato was fourth at 33:42.7, and Jill Brager of Mankato rounded out the top five at 33:57.2.

Eric Thies, 20, of Arlington was the overall winner at 27:19.5, defeating Todd Landgraff of North Mankato by 1:10. Andy Fillmore of Montgomery placed third at 29:03.6, followed by Jensen Orlow of Jordan at 29:17.5 and Kale Burton of Mankato at 30:06.7.

Thies, who went to high school at Sibley East, will be a junior at the University of Nebraska, where he competes on the track and cross country teams. It was the seventh time he’s competed at the St. Peter run, drawn back each year by the competition. It’s the only race he’ll run this summer.

“I used to do a lot of these, but since I’ve been training for college, I don’t do as many,” he said. “I ran with (Landgraff) until about halfway, then I tried to pick it up and take off.”

Thies’ 16-year-old brother Andrew placed sixth in 30:23.7.

In addition to the 227 participants in the 8K race, about 40 runners competed in the five-kilometer event and 50 competitors took part in two kids runs.

“You always have a few glitches, but I think everything went well,” race organizer Rachel More said. “We had good participation, and it’s nice to see some of the familiar faces that show up every year.”

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