Matt Wilkinson crossed the finish line in second place in the final of the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials and, realizing what had just happened, the 25-year-old Flagstaff resident extended his arms with a look of pure shock.
He had punched his ticket to Paris.
“He’s a really excitable guy. He’s always been that way,” said Jeff Renlund, who first spotted Wilkinson in elementary school and was one of his high school coaches. “He set the sophomore school record in the two-mile and he was the same way. I had a coach from another team go, ‘What just happened?’ And I just said, ‘Matt got the sophomore school record.’ ‘And he’s that happy about it?’ ‘Yeah, that’s Matt.’”
“Those expressions showed Matt. That’s just how he is. And that’s why he has continued success because of that enthusiasm for running around faster.”
Wilkinson was a good runner at the high school level at Minnetonka High, located 17 miles west of Minneapolis. He made the state championship meet in cross-country, finishing seventh. But he didn’t find the same type of success in track and field, never making it to the state meet during his high school career.
But he still got the attention of Carleton College, a small liberal arts university located south of Minneapolis that competes at the Division III level. There, he worked his way up to become a national champion in the steeplechase and 5,000 meters.
He later got the attention of another in-state school, but this time it was Minnesota, where he transferred as a graduate student. Wilkinson quickly took to the NCAA level, winning the Big 10 championship in the steeplechase and 5,000 meters.
After qualifying for the NCAA championships two years in a row in the steeplechase, he got on the radar of Stephen Haas, the coach of Under Armour Dark Sky Distance Group — a professional running team based in Flagstaff, where he now trains.
Now the kid who never qualified for a state track meet in high school is headed to the Paris Olympics.
Wilkinson’s running journey began with Renlund, who teaches PE at Excelsior Elementary and is entering his 25th season of coaching at Minnetonka.
Wilkinson never intended to turn professional, even while running at Minnesota. He was getting his master’s in public health and planned to work in that field. Wilkinson was even applying for jobs right up until before he signed with Under Armour.
“I think there’s definitely been a chip on his shoulder, which is a great thing,” Renlund said. “He’s been hungry. He’s like, ‘I didn’t have much interest from Division I coming out of high school and I got something to prove here.’ He went D-III, he had something to prove. Ends up at the University of Minnesota for grad school, a Big 10 champion. And something to prove when he joined Under Armour in Dark Sky.”
Renlund was in the stands near the startling line in Eugene at the Olympic Trials watching his former athlete achieve what once seemed improbable.
Wilkinson ran 8:23.00 to finish second, securing his spot on Team USA.
“Our team is very proud of him. The community is very proud of him. There’s a real strong sense of pride, especially as a distance runner. We know the work that goes in. A lot of it is unseen, it’s not in the limelight,” said Renlund.
While Wilkinson didn’t have the Olympic standard time of 8:15.00, he was high enough within the World Athletics rankings (26th) to make the team.
Also watching in the stands was Haas, who saw enough in Wilkinson to offer him a spot with Under Armour. Some may have considered it risky to bet on a former Division III runner, but the bet has paid off handsomely.
“I was impressed with the Big 10 championships,” Haas said. “The 5k and the steeple, it’s not a double that a lot of people do. That went a long way. (I) knew his coach fairly well at Minnesota, who had given me a lot of input on his training and where he was in his development. And I felt like there was a lot of room to grow. Wasn’t afraid of mileage or working hard, and those are always good people to add to your group.”
Since arriving in Flagstaff last fall, Wilkinson — who had spent some time in Arizona before with his grandma living in Gilbert — has adjusted to the 7,000 feet of elevation.
The city is well-known for its destination as an ideal training location for distance runners due to the altitude, where there is less oxygen available. When athletes spend time above sea level, the body adapts to less oxygen. Once they head back to sea level with more oxygen available, the body uses that extra oxygen almost like a power-up boost in a video game. Modern athletes have been using Flagstaff as a training ground stretching back to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, which were held at elevation.
“He’s gotten a lot of benefit moving up to altitude,” said Haas, who moved to Flagstaff 12 years ago.
Wilkinson heard stories about Flagstaff before moving. It’s lived up to the billing.
“Flagstaff is an amazing place. I love it,” Wilkinson said. “I’m so glad I’ve been able to call that my home for the last year. Hopefully, for another four years leading up to the next Olympics, I’ll also be able to call it my home.
“The craziest thing is going out on runs and seeing dozens of other professional runners, being able to hop in with anybody at any time and linking up at workouts. The culture is incredible in terms of making me feel at home in my rookie season within the professional world. That’s been shocking, how open everybody has been and how supportive people are, even if they are your fiercest competitors.”
Of the 30 distance runners who qualified for Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics, eight of them live and train in Flagstaff (Nikki Hiltz, Weini Kelati, Woody Kincaid, Nico Young, Abdihamid Nur, Hobbs Kessler and Bryce Hoppel). There are even more who spend time in the city training but don’t live there.
Wilkinson is the next runner to add to the legacy of Flagstaff.
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, ASU and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@gannett.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@LSscribe.
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