Mavericks run to remember Caty

By Dan Myers
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO October 07, 2007 01:34 am

— Land of Memories Park in Mankato was the site. And there couldn’t have been a more appropriately named place.
“Everything is OK in the end. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”
It was a quote said all the time by Minnesota State cross country runner Caty Delwiche, who died Tuesday when she was struck by a car near campus while running on a sidewalk.
Saturday’s Minnesota State Open, was the first competition for the team since the tragedy, and the first real opportunity to run since Tuesday. Caty wasn’t far from anyone’s hearts.
Each member of the cross country team, even the men’s team, wore shirts with Caty’s quote written on the back. On the front was a picture of Delwiche.
“They were thinking about her when they were running,” said Mavericks coach Jen Blue. “The kids ran today, but they weren’t on the top of their game.”
But on this day, none of it seemed to matter.
Before the meet, Blue announced a message she had received from Jeff Delwiche — Caty’s father — wishing the team good luck.
“I’ve been running against Caty since eighth grade and have known the family,” said Jenny Hoese, who finished second overall. “They are just really good people.”
The meet was in question until Thursday, when Jeff Delwiche phoned Blue and told her to run the meet as scheduled. It’s what Caty would have wanted, he said.
“They really wanted us to run because it was Caty’s favorite thing to do,” Hoese said. “It’s one reason I’m really happy we were able to come out here.”
Blue said she has been impressed with the support of other coaches and athletes at Minnesota State, on display again Saturday.
Softball coach Lori Meyer was present showing support. So was the Mavericks soccer team, swimming teams and men’s hockey team.
The women’s track and field team even decided to compete in the open event, although how they finished — or in some cases, finished at all — was not important.
“Normally, I would have never been out here,” said former Mavericks high jumper Kali Erlandson, now an assistant coach. “But everyone cares so much and it’s important to these cross country girls. Nobody has trained for this, but we all wanted to run for Caty.”
The track team normally serves as the course marshals for such an event. But with them running, it took another group of volunteers to step in.
Enter the men’s hockey team.
“Our athletic community is a family,” said hockey player Mick Berge, one of many volunteers from the team. “It didn’t happen to our team, but it happened to our program.”
Indeed, it was a unique day at Land of Memories Park, as the Mavericks will now attempt to move on and finish their season.
“These next few weeks are going to be hard,” Blue said. “It’s just a mixed bag of emotions — it’s sad, it’s inspirational. It’s just one of those things where you can’t really describe how you feel.”
At the finish line Saturday, there were even some smiles.
“That’s what Caty would be doing,” Blue said.

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