Reimer Coaching Tree Has Deep Roots At 2022 State Cross Country Meet

(KDLM) – The MSHSL State Cross Country will be held this Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield. While the state meet is a celebration of competitive running across the state, it will also be a farewell of sorts to Jane Reimer-Morgan, who will retire as the head coach of Minnetonka Skipper Cross Country at the conclusion of the season.

Reimer-Morgan has been a track coach at Minnetonka since 1985, then began coaching cross-country in 1990, helping coach the Skippers to state cross-country titles in 1991 and 2014. She has also been named 6AA Coach of the Year five times and has been inducted into the Minnesota Cross Country Coaches, Minnesota Track Coaches, and Minnesota Coaches Hall of Fames.

Jane starred in basketball, volleyball, and track at Pillager High School in the early 1970s, setting multiple school records while playing for the Huskies. Her father, John, was her track coach and helped her advance to the State Long Jump competition in 1973.

The ‘Reimer’ name has long been synonymous with coaching success. John had a long coaching career in Pillager from 1970-1993 where he coached Huskie football, basketball, track and field and wrestling…all while teaching and serving as the school’s principal. His track teams won state championships in 1977, 1985, and 1993. After John passed in 2000, Pillager’s new track and field facility, which opened in 2001, was named in his honor, and the cross country team hosts the annual John Reimer Classic every August.

Jane and her two sisters Trish and Karla all became teachers and coaches. Jane’s first coaching job was at Brainerd High School in 1977 as an assistant track coach.

“After Brainerd, I got a teaching job in Staples,” Reimer-Morgan told KDLM. “After two years in Staples, I moved on to Parkers Prairie as their track coach. I started at Parkers when I was 24 years old and wanted to continue to coach track and field. I grew to love cross country, but Parkers didn’t have a cross-country program yet. Track and Field was my favorite sport. So I went in and told them I would love to coach. The girl’s track coach position was filled, but the boy’s track coach position was open, so I took it and coached the boys for grades 7-12.”

One of the cool connections for me, personally: my mom, Becky, was one of Jane’s students and athletes in Staples in 1978, and my dad, Bruce Fuhrman, ran track for Jane when she moved to Parkers Prairie in 1979.

“I coached Bruce at Parkers his junior and senior seasons,” Reimer-Morgan remembered. “He was a great 800m runner. I believe the 4x400m team he was on still holds the school record to this day.”

Bruce took over the Staples-Motley Cross Country program from Gene Matilla in the fall of 2005 and has the Cardinals at the state meet for the 18th combined time during his tenure as coach.

“It’s always great to see Jane at the state meets,” said coach Fuhrman. “Jane, her late husband Dan Duda, and her father John left a big impression on me in high school back in the 80s; to foster a passion in me to become a teacher and a coach. She is a well-respected leader and someone my wife and I hold pretty close in this fun, yet highly stressful coaching environment.”

Although Reimer-Morgan’s Minnetonka Skippers are in Class AAA and Fuhrman’s Cardinals are in Class A, they still cheer each other on during meets.

“We always try to line up some early meets on the schedule to review notes and meet each other’s teams,” says Fuhrman. “We cheer for each other and care for our athletes as if they were our own kids. It was the same as what I remember as an athlete coached by Jane at Parkers Prairie.”

But Fuhrman’s Cardinals won’t be the only running connection for the Reimers. Jane’s sister, Trish, is the head coach at Becker High School and will be competing in the Girls Class AA race after the Bulldogs won the 5AA championship. Jane’s daughter, Taylor, is an assistant coach at Alexandria, whose boys and girls teams are both competing in the Class AA races after they each won their respective 8AA titles. Although Taylor is currently on leave after having a baby, Reimer-Morgan is still looking forward to cheering on her “other teams.”

“It is going to be a fun day,” said Reimer-Morgan. “My girls will run in the Class AAA race at 9:30, then I’ll stick around for Bruce’s Class A races at noon, then finish with the Class AA races in the late afternoon cheering on the other teams I’m there to cheer for.”