Dean becomes Brainerd's top dog

Every No. 1 runner has a teammate who pushes him.

• Photos

Last year, Thomas Ruttger, the Brainerd Warriors' top runner, was pushed by Jimmy Dean.

With Ruttger having graduated it's Dean's turn to be No. 1 with teammate Chris Knutson pushing him.

Jimmy Dean

"It's definitely different," Dean said of being No. 1. "I'm just going out there and running my race, trying my hardest and whatever happens, happens."

Good things have happened for Dean, winning the season's first two meets. Last week he beat Knutson for the title at Bemidji. On Sept. 3 he paced the Brainerd Invite at Northland Arboretum.

Jimmy Dean

Sport:

Year: Senior

Age: 17

Height: 5-11

Weight: 145

Other sports: Track and field, distance events

Career highlight: Member of third-place team at state in 2007

Grade-point average: 4.0

Favorite food: Cheeseburgers

Favorite TV show: "Seinfeld"

Future plans: Attend college

Athlete he admires: Steve Prefontaine

Parents: Dan and Judy Dean

"It seems when we get a top dog most of the time there's a pretty good No. 2 runner," Warriors coach Dave Herath said. "I bet Jimmy would be the first to say Chris has really helped him out this year.

"It's great to have a front-runner. We've had a long line of them, and we've been fortunate to have that. Jimmy got the torch passed to him and Chris has stepped up into that (No. 2) role. They are guys that are leading the team out front, when we get to races and at practice."

Dean won the Bemidji event with a time of 16:44.58. Knutson finished second at 17:05.59.

"I started out and just wanted to see who was there," Dean said. "I knew Chris would be there. I tried to see if I could pull away and I kept the pressure on."

Herath said Dean and Knutson were together for much of the race.

"About the last mile Jimmy stretched it out a little bit, and

ended up winning by about 21 seconds," Herath said. "He was over a minute ahead of the third-place runner.

"That's about how it went the first meet as well. Jimmy's been going out fairly relaxed and picking up the pace as the race goes on."

Dean, a three-time state meet participant, won the season opener with a time of 17:35 while Knutson was third.

"It was the same kind of game plan," Dean said. "See who's there, and just go with it."

Herath said the meet at the arboretum is always "tricky" because it's run on possibly the season's most difficult course.

"The first meet out, particularly your senior year, there's a tendency to crank on it in the first part, and the hills catch up with you," Herath said. "It shows the maturity of Jimmy because a couple rabbits went out quick but he didn't panic. He relaxed and built into the race. He had a fantastic second half of the race.

"Jimmy's always had the physical ability, now he's put with that some race sense. He sees where he's at and where the competition's at. He knows when to make a move. It takes a number of years to figure that out."

Herath said the way Dean is running is an accumulation of many years of hard work and that sets an example for teammates.

"I think our younger kids are starting to figure that out, that that's why we've had the success we've had recently," Herath said. "It's not one season, it's when you start in ninth grade and continue to build on that.

"Senior year is when we hope guys and girls will be at their best, their strongest. Jimmy's epitomizing that right now. He's getting close to his state meet times from previous years. He's right there."

Other notable efforts:

• Siri Smith and Sarah Dens, swimming, both won two events against Rocori.

• Kyle Crocker, football, returned a punt for a TD and had 118 receiving yards and a TD against Bemidji.

• Reid Mimmack, football, passed for 154 yards against Bemidji.

• Zoe Houle-Taylor Headlee won the No. 1 doubles title and Kathryn Chandler-Katie Southard won the No. 3 doubles title in the Brainerd Invite.

MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.