Team USA Minnesota Names Former Elite Marathoner Chris Lundstrom As The New Distance Coach
Press Release
Minneapolis/St. Paul – Sept. 8, 2016 – Team USA Minnesota has named Chris Lundstrom – a former elite athlete with the team as well as an experienced coach and Ph.D. graduate of the University of Minnesota – as its new head coach, effective Sept. 1.
“We conducted a national search this summer for a new head coach and as is sometimes the case, we found exactly what we were looking for in our own back yard,” said Pat Goodwin, president and founder of Team USA Minnesota. “We are beyond excited and feel we have selected an awesome individual who will rebuild our team as we start our fifth Olympic cycle.
“We are confident that Chris has the knowledge and experience to coach our athletes on the track, in cross country and on the roads at a variety of distances. We look forward to the future and to even greater accomplishments and performances from our athletes.”
Lundstrom, a native of Northfield, Minnesota, who competed on the NCAA Championship track and cross country teams at Stanford University in the late 1990s, was an original member in 2001 of the Team USA Minnesota distance training center. During his years as a competitive runner, he finished third (2001) and then fourth (2006) in the USA Marathon Championships, was a three-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (2004, 2008, 2012), and represented the U.S. in the 2007 Pan-American Games marathon and in the 2010 World Mountain Running Championships, with the team capturing the silver medal.
As a coach, he has 18 years of experience at the high school, college and post-collegiate level including coaching seven women to the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon, and coaching track and cross country at San Francisco State University in 2004-05 when he was on leave from Team USA Minnesota. He also coached cross country and track at Como Park High School in St. Paul from 2005-2012 and was named St. Paul City Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2006, 2008 and 2010. More recently, he has coached at Washburn High School in Minneapolis the past three years and helped take the boys cross country team to state where it placed second in 2015.
Lundstrom has his Ph.D. in Kinesiology (2015), with an emphasis in exercise physiology, and did his dissertation on running performance. He is well published and a well-regarded researcher and, in addition to coaching and competing, has been on the faculty for 10 years at the University of Minnesota, where, among other classes, he developed the marathon training class and taught some 700 novice marathoners.
“Being an elite athlete presents challenges that may be difficult to understand for those who have not lived the experience,” said Lundstrom. “My years of ‘living the dream’ will help me guide this generation of athletes and provide the support, attention and feedback they need to achieve their goals.
“My vision for this next Olympic cycle is to retain, recruit and develop excellent distance runners and help them fulfill their potential. We have a great core of athletes to build upon at Team USA Minnesota and the common goal among them is to perform well at national championships and qualify to represent the USA in international competition, including the ultimate goal of competing in the Olympic Games.
“My coaching philosophy is to dream big but focus on the little things each day which eventually lead to the big results. Our athletes have great support within our local community and nationally, and utilizing those resources effectively will give us an advantage in maintaining the smart, consistent training over time that is necessary to reach one’s highest potential. Our athletes are highly motivated and I am excited to work with them as well as to bring more promising athletes on board as we focus not only on the coming year but on 2020.”
Over the past 15 years, Team USA Minnesota has developed an Olympian and 24 national champions. placed athletes on 28 worldteams and achieved 75 top three finishes in U.S. Championship events. Its winning U.S. championship performances have occurred in the 1500 meters, mile, 3000m, 10,000m, 4k, 8k and 10k cross country, 10k road, half marathon, 15k, 20k, 25k and marathon.
About Team USA Minnesota
Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Founded in 2001, the purpose of the training group is to improve the competitiveness of post-collegiate American distance running and to develop Olympians. The athletes are coached by Chris Lundstrom. Team USA Minnesota’s major sponsor is Twin Cities In Motion. Its silver sponsors are the Houston Marathon Foundation and the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Marathon. For more information, visit the team’s web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.