Minnesota women’s
officials have combined to run nearly 300 marathons
By Mark Macyk
wearing a marathon finisher’s t-shirt. He learned Hochstein had run 37 marathons, even qualifying for and completing the prestigious Boston Marathon. Hochstein let Nicholson in on a little secret: There were others. Out of curiosity, Nicholson set out to find exactly how many others.
The response was overwhelming. There’s Andrew Bartczak, who has run more than 120 marathons. And Jim Engelking, who crossed 45 finish lines. Jim MacGillis also ran the Boston Marathon. So did Diane Smith, who then set her sights on an ultra-marathon. Smith, Hochstein, Wendy Frantz and Steve Conery are among an elite group of runners who have done what Nicholson calls the triple crown: a marathon, a half marathon and a triathlon. There’s no age limit either. Libbie and Ella Engels, twin sisters and youth officials, completed a half-marathon together at age 16.
And they do this while officiating games that sometimes require four or five miles of back-and-forth running.
“Some of these guys amaze me, because they’ll do two lacrosse games and then do three hockey games,” Nicholson said. “And I’m thinking, ‘I hope you don’t do a soccer game.’”
pes A Publication of US Lacrosse
In Minnesota — the Gopher State, the Land of 10,000 Lakes and a place where at least an inch of snow covers the ground 110 days per year — the window for the women’s lacrosse season is tight. Officials may work more than 10 games per week. The hectic season leads to less time for marathon training, but sometimes that’s a good thing. The mileage racked up on the field can provide a training substitute, especially now that teams are getting better and scenes from Mel Gibson movies are getting rarer — more fast breaks and clean passes, fewer whistles and play stoppages. That’s good, because marathons are one thing — in 2011, only about 500,000 Americans finished one — but quality lacrosse officials in Minnesota are even rarer. The sport is growing at a sprinter’s pace. In 1994, Minnesota had one high school team (Blake School). Today, there are 86.
John Nicholson (right) flashes his racing hardware, also pictured above with (from left) Randy Hochstein, Diane Smith, Wendy Fratz and Jim Engelking.
November 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 47
Nicholson fell into officiating the usual
way. His daughter played and he wanted to know the rules.
“As parents we were standing on the sidelines not having any clue other than if it goes in the net it’s a goal,” he said. “I read a book and I got more confused.” Nicholson asked Janet Holdsworth,
the long-time coach of the University of Minnesota’s club team, a question about shooting space. She asked him to become an official.
“Believe it or not, it was the first time I realized there were markings on the field,” Nicholson said. “It wasn’t a rousing vote of approval. It was more of, ‘Mr. Nicholson you have a heartbeat. We’ll take you.’” The MLUA has found more umpires with similar stories every year, but growth of teams and players has outpaced them. They’ve gone from two youth teams in 2004 to 190 today.
More games mean more trips and less road running. Some officials have had to cut down to half marathons because of the sheer amount of lacrosse games. Still, they find ways to fit in high-mileage treks — even if they’re not on foot. It’s common for some officials to travel 150 miles from Minneapolis to Duluth just to cover a game. It’s a fact of life in a massive state where interest in lacrosse is growing faster than officials can be trained.
But you won’t hear them complaining. These stripes have a thing for long distances. LM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76