Eight of Minnesota high school track and cross country standouts -- Shelby Pierce (Park Rapids HS), Lauren Bruha (Prior Lake HS), Meghan Henriksen (Mankato HS), Hannah Olson (Richfield HS), Maddie Schaeffer (Rogers HS), Erica Seidenkranz (Monticello HS), Kaelyn Williams (Robbinsdale Cooper HS), Mika LaDoux  -- have signed national letters of intent to attend and compete for the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2012-13 for both cross country and track.

Pierce she has participated in the Minnesota State High School Cross Country meet twice and the Minnesota State High School Track & Field meet twice, running the 4x800, open 800 and 4x400. Other awards to be noted are:  All Academic Awards, All conference, All Section, and most improved.  Shelby's personal records are 15:37 in the 4K, 2:20 in the 800-meter run and 1:01 in the 400 meter dash.

Bruha is a three-sport letter winner (cross country, basketball and track).  She currently is a member of the Student council, Junior Optimist Club and Student Athletic Advisory Committee.  Other award recognitions include: Seven Minnesota State High School appearances for cross country and track combined. Rookie of the year, Most Improved, Daggit Award, All Conference Track, All Conference Honorable mention in Cross Country, All Academic section and All Academic State.  Her personal records include: 15:46.00 in the 4K, 15.76 in the 100-meter hurdles, 46.41 in the 300-meter hurdles and 59.6 in the 400 meter dash.

Henriksen is a four year letter winner in both of these sports with a combined showing of four state appearances.  She has placed as high as 9^th individually at the Minnesota State High School State Cross Country meet and 4^th in the mile at the 2010 Minnesota State Track Meet.  In 2011 she held the honors of captain for her cross country team and was voted MVP for both cross country and track.  Her personal best times include 14:39 in the 4K and 5:12 in the mile.

Olson has participated in cross country for six years and track and field for five years.  During that time she has received All-Conference Honorable Mentioned in cross country and track three times and Al-l Conference 11 times. She was a Minnesota State Cross Country and Track participant for three years (2009, 2010, and 2011). Her personal records for cross country and track are 14:52 in the 4K, 19:42 in the 5K, 2:19 in the 800-meter dash, 5:17 in the 1600-meter run, and 11:28 in the 3200-meters.

Schaeffer competes in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles (46.7), 200-meters (26.3), 400-meters (60.3), 4x200-meter relay (team set school record in 2011), 4x400-meter relay and the pole vault (set school record in 2011).  Maddie was named team captain as a junior and senior.  She was named All-Conference each year (2008 thru 2012) and is a “Hamline Elite Meet” participant.  Schaeffer's other accomplishments include: co-captain of the volleyball team, All-Conference setter, Academic All-State recipient, and a Triple A  Award nominee. She is also involved in NHS, Peer Mediation, One Act Play, LINK, and Student Council. 

Seidenkranz is a four-time cross country Individual Conference Champion and All-State winner. She led her team to a State Championship title in 2011. Also in 2011, she helped her team to qualify for Nike Nationals in Portland, Oregon. Serving as a captain her junior and senior year, she ran a personal best and school record time of 14:15 for the 4K course. On the track side, so far Erica is a three-time 1600-meters and 3200-meters conference champion and state participant. Other accomplishments include: personal records in the 1600-meters (5:03) and the 3200-meters (11:03), she is involved in National Honor Society, Student Council, Wind Ensemble, Traveling Soccer, and won the Triple 'A' Award for Monticello.

Williams is a co-captained cross country and Nordic skiing.  She was an All-State participant in cross country, placing 25^th her sophomore year and 8^th her junior year, as well as a state participant in Nordic skiing as a sophomore and junior. Other athletic accomplishments include multiple school records for the 4K in cross country, course record holder, and consecutive three-year conference champion.  She received the Most Dedicated Runner award as a freshman and Most Valuable Runner award as a sophomore, junior, and senior.  In addition to her athletic involvements, Kaelyn was the Cooper standout student, is involved in the National Honor Society, and is a regular volunteer for the Courage Center and Three Rivers Park district. She is very interested in environmental conservation, outdoor recreation, and different arts.