Good times spent together doesn’t seem so much like a work out

This past Saturday morning the WSHS Girls swim team workout included an option to run in the Morrie Miller 5K Run/Walk to benefit the Morrie Miller Foundation. The Morrie Miller Foundation has been supportive of competitive swimming in Winona, most recently helping to make new starting blocks in the HS pool a reality. So Coach Burt, rightfully so, thought it important to give support back to such a great organization and made Saturday’s run a workout option for the swimmers and divers. 

If you are curious, from http://www.morriemiller.com,  Morrie Miller was a standout athlete at Winona Senior High School, Morrie participated in football, basketball and track and field. Morrie's gracious sportsmanship was matched by his tenacity on the field and his fierce competitive spirit. Morrie was not only a phenomenal athlete who went on to play football at the University of Minnesota, but also a true scholar who earned his Doctorate in Education. Morrie doggedly pursued his passions in life, and he would be proud of how fervently the community has come together to help Winona's youth. 

While truly a gifted athlete and scholar, Morrie's true passion in life was his family, especially his wife Cindy and his beloved children, Sarah and Jacob. Family always came first for Morrie, and when times were tough and his mother needed him to help run the family business, Morrie gave up his life as an academic and returned home to Winona without a second thought.

Sadly, the only obstacle Morrie could not overcome was his battle with a rare form of cancer that took him from us far too soon. 

The Morrie Miller Athletic Foundation, though, carries on Morrie's great legacy by providing area youth athletic opportunities in over 20 different programs. The Foundation embraces Morrie's life philosophy of helping children and leaving the world a better place. The Foundation provides state-of-the-art strength and conditioning training to youth of all ages, and, more importantly, gives them a chance to belong to a team. Morrie believed extracurricular activities could provide opportunities to learn life's lessons that could not be taught in classrooms, and the Foundation embraces this idea.

So a dozen or so of the team members turning out for Saturday AM practice, did so in “Huffnback” shirts to run instead of swim, all for a good cause. The girls embraced the challenge of running 5 kilometers, doing stretches and limbering up on the pool deck with Coach Burt. Outside on the WSHS grounds, the girls did a few swim team cheers to announce their presence to the other Morrie Miller benefit runners. With varying degrees of apprehension, anticipation and in some cases dread, the girls lined up for the start with a few parents to their rear walking/running in further support of a great program. With the gun, the “Huffnback” shirts headed off down Lake Drive toward a full lap around the West Lake and then back down Lake Drive to a finish line at the HS. Results are not yet available, but initial reports had a few Winhawk swimmers in the front of the overall pack, with a number of the girls sticking together through the run.

There was a report of Tom Slaggie, ( Former Winona Mayor) mid-run continually urging the pack of swimmers turned runners on with some good humor and interjected encouragement. 

In the end, the girls and parents helped to support a great cause, and had a great team building experience. As far as Saturday mornings go, it was a really good one!!