U's Tahdooahnippah takes new course

Forrest Tahdooahnippah's life was going well at Stanford last spring. The former Minneapolis Southwest long-distance runner was going to graduate with honors, with a bachelor's degree in public policy. He was looking forward to law school in the fall and his final cross-country season.

Tahdooahnippah had helped the Cardinal take fourth place in the 2006 NCAA meet. He was Stanford's third runner and finished 68th overall out of 250.

His priorities changed on April 12, the day his best friend committed suicide. The friend, Maurice Morsette, was a Stanford sophomore from New Town, N.D., and an Indian like Tahdooahnippah, who is half Comanche.

Tahdooahnippah, who was accepted into law school at both Stanford and Minnesota, decided to return home. He wanted to be closer to family and friends.

On Saturday, his running career comes full circle when he competes for the Gophers in the Roy Griak Invitational, their only home meet this season.

Five years ago Tahdooahnippah, then a high school senior, won the boys' race in the Griak meet. It was a victory that changed his life.

Stanford, which won the NCAA cross-country title that fall, began recruiting him. Eager for the athletic and academic challenges in Palo Alto, Calif., Tahdooahnippah chose a prestigious college he had not been considering before. After a redshirt year, he competed for the Cardinal for three years.

Tahdooahnippah will use his final year for cross-country and track at Minnesota under the NCAA one-time transfer rule, which allows Division I athletes in all sports except football, basketball and men's hockey to be eligible immediately upon switching schools.

"He had a very tough final semester at Stanford," said Teresa Whitman, Tahdooahnippah's mother. "His close friend committed suicide. There was a lot of sorrow on the Stanford campus for him."

As a sign of mourning Tahdooahnippah had shoulder-length hair cut short. On his trip back to Minnesota last spring, he stopped in Sacramento to visit with Billy Mills, one of his boyhood heroes who has become a mentor.

An inspiration

Mills, raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, was a virtual unknown when he won the 10,000-meter run in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Tahdooahnippah was in junior high when he met Mills in 1999. He went to hear Mills speak at an Indian business conference at Mystic Lake. Hoping for a handshake, Mills instead invited him to lunch, and they talked several hours.

Their paths crossed again during Tahdooahnippah's high school years. Both were involved in the Wings of America program, which sends young Indian runners to national cross-country meets.

For inspiration before big races, Tahdooahnippah used to watch "Running Brave," a 1984 movie on Mills.

"Forrest is one of the brightest young men I have ever met," Mills said, "and I have been to 91 countries and been around the world half a dozen times. When he finds his passion and zeroes in on it, he has the potential to be among the elite."

During their most recent visit, Mills talked about his own troubles in college at Kansas, and about channeling anger and grief into positive goals. "If you ever need to talk, call me," he told Tahdooahnippah.

Heavy workload at the U

So far, all has gone well for Tahdooahnippah after his transfer.

Minnesota cross-country coach Steve Plasencia, who tried to recruit Tahdooahnippah out of high school, calls him a great fit for the Gophers. Plasencia's only concern about Tahdooahnippah was his rigorous workload between running and law school.

"As far as those two things go, I have adequate time," Tahdooahnippah said. "I give my max to both of them. But if you want to call me during the week, I'm not answering my phone, I am not watching TV, I'm not doing anything. I do not have any other hobbies. Just those two."

He runs 90 miles a week, with his teammates whenever possible. As for law school, he takes his five required classes.

In the Gophers' one meet so far, Tahdooahnippah was the team's fourth runner at the BYU Autumn Classic on Sept. 8. He passed two Brigham Young runners in the last 200 meters, enabling Minnesota to edge runner-up BYU by four points.

"He's a tough kid," Plasencia said of the 5-9, 135-pound Tahdooahnippah. "He has an air of confidence about him that certainly helps us. And he's a bright person. You can't have too many of those around."

Tahdooahnippah, whose name means "The Boy Who Wakes Before Dawn" in Comanche, has large tattoos on each of his arms reflecting his ancestry.

On his right forearm are two eagle feathers and a wolf paw. Elders have given him two actual eagle feathers. The first, from his father, Cornell, was presented to him after he won the 3,200-meter run in the Class 2A state meet as a junior. His father was a state champion in the mile in Oklahoma. He received the second for graduating from high school.

The wolf paw? During his years of running Tahdooahnippah has often seen wildlife, including wolves and coyotes. "I always see a lot of crazy stuff," he said.

The back of his left arm has the letters NUMUNU, which means Comanche.

True to his heritage

Being so open about being an Indian has sometimes made Tahdooahnippah the target of racial taunts from fans and even other athletes. He just ignores them. What does bother him is Indians being forgotten by society.

"People ignore our existence," he said.

Tahdooahnippah said he hopes to use his knowledge of the legal system to assist Indian communities someday.

Currently, it's the Gophers he wants to help. Tahdooahnippah said the way Plasencia was building the program impressed him before his transfer decision. Now as a Gopher, he said the team's talent level is underrated and some runners just need more confidence.

At Stanford, his own career was hampered by self-doubt and injuries -- a stress fracture, tendinitis, nagging aches.

"My biggest pitfall was insecurity, which led to a lot of racing in practice, which in turn led to a lot of injuries," Tahdooahnippah said.

He is smarter now. "You don't have to prove yourself every day," Tahdooahnippah said. "You've got to prove yourself on the days that count."

Roman Augustoviz • raugustoviz@startribune.com