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When Sarah (Renk) Thorsett won her first state title as a freshman on the 4 x 800-meter relay team for the Winona Senior High School girls track team in 1985, little did she know what that feat would propel her to do.
"In high school, I never really thought about going on," Thorsett said via telephone interview from her home in Salem, Ore. "I knew I wanted to run in college, but I never thought about running after college.
"There were glimpses. I had a science teacher in ninth grade that said 'You'd be great in 1988.' I think he was referring to the Olympics. It wasn't something that I thought about all the time."
Running in the Olympics is about the only goal that eluded the 1988 WSHS graduate in her brilliant running career. Her accomplishments are mind boggling. She is, without a doubt, the finest middle-distance track and cross country runner Winona High coach Jim Flim and the program ever produced.
Here's the proof. Her high school cross country resume includes:
n Big Nine Conference champion in 1985, '86 and '87.
n Section 1AA champion in 1985, '86 and '87.
n 1985: Third-place finisher at state; team placed second.
n 1986: Second-place finisher at state; team won state title.
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n All-state team: 1985 and '86.
n All-Big Nine runner: 1984, '85, '86, '87.
n Winona High's most valuable runner: 1985, '86, '87.
n Her WSHS course record of 11:05 still stands.
Her high school track resume includes:
n All-Big Nine performer: 1984, '85, '86, '87, '88.
n Nine-time Section 1AA champion.
n 1984: 2nd place at state in 4 x 800 relay.
n 1985: State champion in 4 x 800 relay; 3rd in 800-meter run.
n 1986: 2nd place in both 800 and 1,600.
n 1987: State champion in 800 and second place in 1,600.
n 1988: State champion in both 800 and 1,600.
n Team most valuable runner in 1985, '86, '87, '88.
n Still holds school records in 800 (2:13.2) and 1,600 (4:56.87).
Please see THORSETT/7B
Capturing four state track titles speaks for itself. But for Thorsett, her biggest high school memory was the 1986 state cross country team title because she got to share it with some of her closest friends and co-runners. The team included Christine Abbott, Jackie Lindseth, Kris Schultz and Mary Fick.
"That meant more to me back then," Thorsett said. "We were a close-knit group of girls. It was fun to bring it all together. We were good friends outside of cross country and track. You looked forward to going to practice."
Thorsett received a track and cross country scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where she ran for two years before transferring to Wisconsin. That's where her collegiate career took off and she was a six-time All-American.
In 1992 and '93, Thorsett was a member of the Badgers' 4 x 800-meter relay team which won national championships. She also placed fifth in the NCAA national meet in the 1,500 in 1992. A year later, Thorsett was again fifth in the 1,500 in the NCAA indoor national meet, while placing sixth in both the 1,500 and 800 in the outdoor national meet.
"I didn't feel like I was reaching my potential," Thorsett said about her decision to transfer from Minnesota to Wisconsin. "That was the best decision of my career. I took the chance and it worked out. It was great to run with runners better than you.
"I did much more than I ever, ever thought I'd do. I had a great background going into it. A lot of collegiate runners didn't have the kind of coaching that I had. I had better coaching than 90 percent of athletes. For myself, Coach Flim had instilled knowledge on why you do things. I asked a lot of questions in college. That helped me grow more as an athlete physically and mentally."
Thorsett graduated from Wisconsin in 1993 with a degree in molecular biology. Prior to that, she was named the Wisconsin NCAA Female of the Year for Athletic, Academics and Extracurricular Involvement. She also married David Thorsett that year.
Her running career, however, was far from finished. Thorsett placed fifth in the U.S. Track & Field Championships in 1993 in the 800 meters and was fourth in the 1994 U.S. Track & Field Championships in the 1,500.
In 1995, things really started to blossom. It started when Thorsett won the 1,500-meter run in the Pan American Games in Argentina. Later that year she placed third in the U.S. Track & Field Championships in the 1,500 and was ranked 25th in the world. Her third-place finish gave her a spot on the U.S. World Championship team that competed in Stockholm, Sweden. Thorsett made it to the semifinal round in Stockholm.
She also made the U.S. World Championship team in 1997 and was able to compete against the world's best runners in Athens, Greece.
Oddly enough, the year in between, 1996, was the Olympic year. She placed fifth that year in the U.S. Track & Field Championships and failed to make the Olympic team in the 1,500 by two seconds.
"I was fortunate that I had the opportunity prior to the 1995 World Championships to run in some big international races," Thorsett said. "You're never really fully prepared for the crowds. It's unbelievable. The biggest thing was putting on the USA uniform and people cheering for you. It's an opportunity not many people get to have. I was very competitive at that point. My best time was around 4:05 and most of the world was running around 4:02 at that time.
"I think the Olympics was the ultimate dream, once I knew I had the potential to get that far. If the other two years would have been Olympic years, I would have been there."
Thorsett was coached by her coach at Wisconsin, Pete Tengen, until 1997, when she switched coaches.
"It seemed like from that point on, I had a lot of injuries," Thorsett said. "I'd come back from an injury and be running great, then I'd get another injury. My last race was in February of 2000. It's been three years since I competed."
Now at 33 years old, Thorsett is by no means old for a female middle-distance runner. But now her life revolves around two young sons she and her husband care for.
"The only thing I really miss is the competing," Thorsett said. "As strange as it is, I miss the hard workouts. There's nothing like finishing a workout or a race. There's nothing that can compare to it. When you're running at that level, I'd be gone all of the summers. That was hard being away from my husband. That's what I don't miss."
Thorsett raced all around the world in meets with world-class athletes, but she'll never forget where it all started - at Winona Senior High under Coach Flim.
"I truly believe that's where I got my start and the attitude to believe in what I could do," she concluded. "That's what makes you successful."
Next week: Kermit Selke.
