Richfield Cross Country Star Hannah Olson Hopes for Another Title

senior has been a well-known name in the Minnesota running circles for years. She raced as an eighth grader, finishing finished second in cross country in the Classic Suburban Conference (CSC) and was first in the 3,200-meter run and took second place in the 1,600 at the conference meet.

Olson has continued that success throughout her high school career, winning the CSC the past three years and is gearing for a fourth straight title Tuesday at the St Croix Bluffs Regional Park in Hastings.

Olson said she comes from a running family. Her grandmother, Colleen Ramm, has completed 17 marathons and serves as her mentor.

This Year's Track Record

Olson finished 5th in the prestigious held at the University of Minnesota with a time of 19:42, running the longer distance of 5K. She was in 12th place with 300 yards left and traveling up a slight hill. However, she used a strong kick to finish fifth.

In addition, Olson was seventh overall in the 4K race in 15 minutes, 23 seconds. She was third in the Hudson Raider Invitational and won the CSC meet in September. She was 46th in the Class AA state meet last season and trained hard in the offseason to improve her performance.

“I worked really hard over the summer,” said Olson. “Working with the team has really helped me grow a lot. Summer is all about just mileage and getting that endurance level up. When the season started, we did lots of 800’s and hills, just to get that speed aspect into the running.”

Performing Well and Setting Goals

Olson feels that performing well in big meets has helped her gain confidence as a runner.

“It does give me confidence and that is a really good thing to have,” said Olson. “Going into the conference and section meets, I am pretty confident that I am going to be able to perform how I need to.”

Olson has certain goals that she is hoping to achieve in the upcoming section and state meets

“At sections, I just want to stay in that top 10 and be around fifth,” said Olson. “At state, I would like to get into the top 25 and get an All-State title.”

Keep Running

Olson, an “A" student, plans to continue her running career next season.

“I am planning on running in college and right now, I have narrowed my search down to the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.”

Ironically, Richfield head coach Marty Huberty ran at Eau-Claire.

“That is a coincidence,” said Olson. “I was looking at there. My grandma’s friend went to Eau Claire and he showed us around. It is a new school that we happened to look into and Coach ended up being from there, too.”

Huberty is a first year coach for the Spartans after serving as an assistant at St. Louis Park the last three years. Olson feels that his addition has helped her as a runner.

“He has been really open to the way I have been trained in the past and he has been really good at listening to the team and listening to me to what we need and still putting in a new aspect,” said Olson. “He is really connected with the team and always listening to us and helping us to get better with the 800’s and workouts and hills.”

Huberty is not just a coach, but is also a runner who competed in the recent , his 74th in his career. Olson thinks it is an advantage to have a coach who is an experience runner.

“It is always great having a coach who knows a lot about running, because you know that you are getting all this knowledge and experience from someone as a coach,” said Olson. “That can get you a lot better.”