Hard training, eating right pays off

Faith Traen doesn’t take running lightly. She trains hard and eats right. And last week it began to pay off in a big way.

She finished first in the 3200-meter run at Worthington, capturing the grueling two-mile affair by 14 seconds over her nearest rival, Mikayla Johnson of Southwest MN Christian-Edgerton.

Traen finished in 12:58.6.

“She is always out running,” said her mother Robin Traen.

Her father Steve added, “She only eats the right foods. She is very particular about what she eats.”

She also runs the tough 4x800-meter relay and at Worthington helped her team to second place, 20 seconds behind champion Luverne.

Traen also has become a one-two long distance punch with teammate Grace Drietz, who won the 1600-meter (mile) run in 5:37.75 — and shares the limelight with Minneota teammate Lizzy Gillingham, who won the long jump at 15-8, besting Worthington’s Emma Thuringer, who finished at 15-7 1/4.

Gillingham also was fifth in the 200-meter run and was part of the 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams.

The girls finished second to Luverne, back by only 15 points and the boys were third behind Worthington and Southwest Minnesota Christian-Edgerton.

Traen is a member of the Canby-Minneota Cross Country team as well and she’s taken her training to another level since she ran last fall for the Canby-Minneota squad.