Da Trials - Part 1

So, wo do we have from Montana that's running in the trials.

The big suprise to me is Chris Kimbrough. Her q time is 2:44:57 that she ran in winning the 2007 Lincoln Nebraska Marathon. I think she is ranked 95th of the qualifiers. Turns out she is a Billings native who gratuated from Billings Senior and Rocky Mountain College. She was a basketball (at 5-3 I'm guessing guard and not post) and volleyball player. Appears as though she didn't take up running until after moving to Austin, Texas. She's now coached by Carmen Tronosco (masters stud). There was a real good article about her in the Billings Gazette this morning. Even though she's now known as a Texan, she's still a Montana girl, so root for her. Hell, Alan King even put her in hi stop 3 picks. Here's the link to the Gazette article: http://billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/04/19/sports/local/25-kmbrough.txt

She was also included in a Runners World article (link here: http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/article/0,8029,s6-239-419-0-12543-0,00.html )

We also have an ex-MSU-B athlete. Heidi Schuette (nee Reider) ran for Dave Coppock's Yellowjacket squad in the mid '90's. I believe that Dave said that she ran is originally from Townsend. I also believe that he said that she was coached by Sam Sampson. Sam's son Brian was one of the premier high school distance runners from 1976-80. She qualified at the St. George last October. Her gun time was slightly over the q-time; but, her chip time was under. So, the committee let her in. She no lives out of state, but, again, we'll still claim her as our own.

If anyone else knows of a Montanan in the race let me know.

I do know that one other Montanan just missed making the cut. Sarah Graves, another ex-MSU-B runner, also ran the St. George Marathon and was less than a minute behind Heide. Unfortuately, her time was far enough away fromthe q-time that the committee didn't let her in. Fortunately for her, she did get an elite seed for the Boston Marathon on Monday. She is number F18 and will be at the separate elite women's start.

Sarah was always a solid runner; but, in the last 18 months she has really gone to a new level. She's been competitive in the Montana Mile and has run a 2:47 marathon. She's won several big races over the last year and has really moved up to the top of the ranks of Montana women athletes. Watch and cheer her on Monday morning.

TB