1 week Ago By Jeremy Millsop
BRAINERD — April will be a month to remember for Alli (Kosobud) Burgstahler. The 2013 Brainerd High School graduate just returned from her honeymoon only to plan a return trip to the Brainerd lakes area to be inducted into the Brainerd Warriors Athletic Hall of Fame Monday, April 28. Kosobud will be joined by Warrior Alpine ski coach Jim Ruttger, assistant girls’ swimming coach Ann Stenglein, activities secretary Michelle Hilborn and fellow former athletes Mitch Feierabend and Jason Howard as the 2025 inductees at the Warrior All-Sports Banquet at the Gichi-Ziibi Center for the Arts.
A meet and greet is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., followed by the 6:30 p.
m. banquet. ADVERTISEMENT “I was very surprised,” Burgstahler said upon hearing the news from Brainerd activities director Jack Freeman.
“I feel like, as I’ve gotten older, it’s been weird to have that part of my life behind me. It’s been sad to leave it behind, but now that I’ve been reliving it a little bit, it’s been exciting. “My husband and I were looking up some of these things together and I was trying to remember back and it seems like a really long time ago.
There has been a lot of life lived between high school and now. It was fun to look back at everything.” Burgstahler was the Female Athlete of the Year in 2013 after a high school career that included six state meet appearances, MVP honors for the track and field team in 2012 and 2013, cross-country MVP in 2012 and Nordic ski MVP in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
She was a team captain for all three of her sports. Dave Herath worked with Kosobud for two seasons as the head cross-country coach and the distance coach for the track and field teams. He saw her transformation as a leader and team captain “I often think the best leaders are the ones that start by being the best workers,” Herath said.
“Alli was one of those examples of that. She had the work ethic and she grew into being the vocal leader of the team.” Mary Claire Ryan coached Burgstahler in Nordic skiing.
She agreed with Herath’s words. ADVERTISEMENT “She was an excellent captain,” Ryan said. “She was very kind and wanted to get everyone involved.
She looked over the whole group, not just individuals. She was the one kid who, when we would come back from sections and we would announce that we wouldn’t be having practice the next day, would say, ‘Oh, great. I have a lot of homework to catch up on.
’ Here’s this kid who is a super athlete and super competitive, but is a straight A student, too.” She was a two-time All-State runner in track. She was Academic All-State four times, All-Central Lakes Conference seven times, Academic All-Conference seven times and won the 800-meter run at the Hamline Elite Meet in 2013.
“Alli was with us since the ninth grade and she was just a gifted 800 girl for us and became a good 400 and miler as she developed,” Herath said. “I remember Alli just exploded through her freshman season and she never let up to the point where she was almost a state champion her senior year. She was a couple of strides away from being the 800 state champion after helping our 4x800 relay team do well at state.
“She was a great cross-country kid as well. She came in as a pretty good product, but what I recall, she was never satisfied and always striving to improve what she was doing. She was a thoughtful kid.
” Burgstahler still holds Brainerd’s 800-meter record with a 2:12.94 she ran at the 2013 Class 2A state meet. She anchored Brainerd’s record-holding 4x400 relay.
She teamed with Hannah Lundstrom, Sarah Yeh and Jenny Hendrickson to post a 4:02.52 in 2012. “I was looking back at some of the early articles and I was remembering some of the athletes that I looked up to as a freshman on the team and what they were able to accomplish, like Anna Gessell and Megan Holmes,” Burgstahler said.
“How could I even be on the same team as them. I had them up on this pedestal, but as I got to know them and run with them, I realized they’re human just like all of us. It’s fun to think back on getting to know them and being able to be included in their group.
” Her name is sprinkled throughout the Warrior Honor Roll. She’s fourth all-time in the 400 dash with a 58.59.
She’s second in the 1600 run with a 5:10.21. She’s a member of three top 15 4x800 relays, including the fourth-best all-time and she’s a member of another 4x400 relay in the top 15.
ADVERTISEMENT Burgstahler, with Shelby Zimmerman, Lundstrom and Courtney Ryan, holds the school record in the 800 sprint medley relay and she’s on the fourth-best 1600 sprint medley relay. She was a four-year state participant in Nordic skiing. “She and Sarah Fairbanks went consistently as individuals,” Ryan said.
“That was about the time that our boys' teams were starting to get rolling and we were still working on the girls’ teams. She was a great Nordic skier. She was one of those athletes who you would look at and you would think she wasn’t going very fast, but she was so efficient, so she was moving quite rapidly.
She made it look effortless. She was a great technical skier.” Burgstahler said her fondest memories were being with teammates, especially on long workout runs and the conversations they had.
After high school, Burgstahler attended The College of St. Benedict and was awarded the Rookie of the Year honor in 2014 for the women’s track and field team. She was a four-time MVP and the college’s Athlete of the Year in 2017.
She was an All-American in the 800 run. She was named to the Top 30 NCAA Woman of the Year. She holds, or held, school records in the 800 (for both indoor and outdoor), the 1,000 run, the 4x800 relay and the distance medley relay.
She was a seven-time NCAA Division 3 National qualifier and a four-time United States Track and Field All-Academic selection. I had great coaches both in high school and in college,” Burgstahler said. “Brainerd allowed me to fall into running and enjoy it as I was growing up, as opposed to feeling like it was something that I had to do.
Even though I didn’t come into college with a lot of distance history behind me, I was able to build up my miles. I could handle things because of some of the workouts I had been through and how I was able to overcome some of the injuries that I had. ADVERTISEMENT “I think the mentality is one of the biggest things in running that you have to build throughout your career and I think Dave Herath did a really good job coaching me on that.
” Burgstahler recalled the preparation for the state 800 run her senior year. Herath and Burgstahler broke down the race by 200s, which is how her brain works and the strategy worked. “He helped me visualize the race and that was something I continued to do in college,” Burgstahler said.
Herath said, “She ran that race perfectly. I’m always proud of all my kids that really do their best in whatever they do and however it ends up, but she did that race spot on. It was very successful and I remember it like it was yesterday.
” Her academic accomplishments might surpass her athletic prowess. Burgstahler currently works as a physician assistant at Maoy Clinic, where she works with patients with leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. “I think it’s going to be really fun to be back in that environment,” Burgstahler said about the all-sports banquet.
“I remember attending the banquet each year. It’s an honor to be back and to have the people who have supported me throughout all of this be supporting me still. It really makes me reflect on how lucky I’ve been.
” JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 218-855-5856 or [email protected].
Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .
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