It’s a brisk Saturday morning, and as a pack of Stillwater distance runners finish up another tough workout, a lanky teenager emerges from the crowd. He is unassuming in stature and doesn’t evoke tons of confidence. He blends in with the rest of the group. It’s almost impossible to tell simply by looking at him exactly how important he is to the team.
That is Eli Krahn, a baby-faced kid who has the potential to become one of the best distance runners the renowned Stillwater program has seen.
Krahn knows he has a long ways to go before he can be considered among the best runners in school history. Stillwater has its own version of Mount Rushmore that consists of Andy Tate, Sean Graham, Luke Watson and Ben Blankenship — runners who starred with the Ponies and went on to have solid professional careers.
Krahn, a junior, wants to be a part of that group someday.
“That’d be huge for me,” he said. “I know if I’m a part of that Mount Rushmore group one day, it’ll … mean that I’ve accomplished a lot of the goals I’ve set for myself. I know I have to work hard to be a part of that group.”
That hard work will culminate over the next couple of seasons. Krahn has this season and next before he graduates and has time to continue to establish himself as an elite runner — and he’ll need to be one if he ever wants to be a part of Mount Rushmore.
“He will never go onto the Mount Rushmore until the day he graduates,” longtime Stillwater coach Scott Christensen said. “There are people right now that say, ‘He belongs on Mount Rushmore.’ He doesn’t. He might displace somebody once he’s finished here. That said, until we see an entire body of work, he won’t be up there.”
Krahn already boasts a few accolades. He won the Class 2A state 1,600- and 3,200-meter titles last season and captured the 1,600 crown two seasons ago with a national-record time for his age group.
“He got a great start,” Christensen said. “That alone isn’t going to put him up there, though. In a lot of places they might build a statue for someone like that. It’s not enough around this program.”
Krahn’s development has been notable considering he didn’t start running until he was about 13. He played soccer before he discovered his passion for running and growing up had no idea about the Stillwater tradition. Krahn quickly learned of that tradition, and soon after, his career took off.
“I remember when I started I was just going out there and running,” he said. “I didn’t understand the other stuff that went into it. I would go out there and run until I was tired. It’s definitely evolved into something a little more complex.”
Krahn, however, actually saw his one-mile time go up at last year’s state meet, which can be attributed to the fact that he ran the two-mile a day earlier. He talked a lot about improving his form as a way to shave seconds off his times.
Christensen sees other areas that could help him improve.
“It’s clear that running is easy for him,” Christensen said. “It’s being an assertive leader that is a struggle for him. He needs to learn that skill. That’s the next step in his progression. He needs to be the sheriff. He needs to be the go-to person. He needs to be ‘the guy’ for us this season.”
His teammates have noticed Krahn slowly stepping into a larger leadership role.
“He’s started to realize that he’s pretty far ahead of some of the other guys on the team, and more often than not those guys are looked upon to lead,” teammate Jonathan Breckheimer. “He’s been even more assertive this season, so that’s good to see. He’s going to be huge for us this season.”
Krahn knows Rob Finnerty of Burnsville holds the all-time state record in the one-mile race at 3:59.70 and Nick Schneider of Benilde-St. Margaret’s owns the state-meet record at 4:08.51. He said he hopes to break those records before he’s finished at Stillwater.
In the meantime, though, Krahn is focused defending his titles.
A spot on Mount Rushmore might not be too far off if he’s able to accomplish that.
