ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – When Robin Balder-Lanoue '91 was first considering continuing both her education and her athletic career at the College of Saint Benedict, the school didn't have a track and field program.
 
After competing on CSB's first-ever track and field team in 1988 and now having coached the program for more than 20 years, Balder-Lanoue has helped build Saint Benedict's track and field program into one of the most respected in the MIAC.
 
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the CSB athletic department will honor Balder-Lanoue for her dedication to and work in building up not only CSB's track and field program, but also the cross country program. All CSB cross country and track and field alumnae, as well as friends of the programs, the department and the college are welcome for a ceremony honoring Balder-Lanoue at halftime of the CSB basketball team's 7 p.m. game against Macalester. There will also be a short reception following the game.
 
A four-year member of both the cross country and track and field programs at Saint Benedict, Balder-Lanoue won the cross country team's MVP award as a sophomore in 1988. On the track, she earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention in the 5,000-meter run at the 1991 MIAC Indoor Championships, and honorable mention accolades in the 10,000-meter run at the outdoor championships that same year. She still has one of the 50-best 5K times in CSB cross country history.
 
After graduating in 1991, Balder-Lanoue taught high school math for several years before returning to CSB first as the head cross country coach in 1997, and later took over as head coach of the track and field team in 2000. In the 23 years since coming back to her alma mater, Balder-Lanoue has guided the cross country team to 13 top-five MIAC finishes, 16 top-10 NCAA Central Region finishes and one NCAA Championship team berth. Under her guidance, the track and field team has finished in the top five 13 times at both the MIAC indoor and outdoor championships.
 
She has coached 40 national qualifiers in track and field – along with 14 All-Americans – and five cross country national qualifiers and two All-Americans. She is a five-time MIAC Track and Field Coach of the Year.
 
While the list of her coaching accolades and accomplishments is long, the list of student-athletes Balder-Lanoue has coached, guided and influenced is longer. In 23 seasons, she has coached more than 700 athletes between the two programs, and had the opportunity to impact more than 700 lives. Not all of the athletes on her roster each year go on to set school records or earn MIAC titles, but Balder-Lanoue works with each athlete to make sure they receive the best coaching possible, and recognizes individual accomplishments throughout the season with her team awards, like the Alfalfa award for field athletes, or the Empty the Tank award for new personal-best times on the track.
 
Balder-Lanoue spends time in practice and in preseason training camp building team chemistry and creating an environment where all of her athletes feel comfortable and accepted. From lip sync contests in preseason training to daily team core and pre-practice meetings, her teams each year become a unit, bonded by their common love for their sport and the dance moves and spirited singing of their coach.
 
Not only has Balder-Lanoue recruited and coached more than 700 athletes in her career, she has also recruited more than 700 families. She is invited to weddings and baby showers, she gets Christmas cards from parents of former student-athletes, and she cheers on and even runs with CSB cross country and track and field alumnae during road races throughout the year. Her relay team, Baba Yaga, regularly includes alumnae from her time at Saint Benedict – including former student-athletes who didn't compete in distance races at CSB. With the help of her alumnae, Balder-Lanoue and Baba Yaga have become one of the top women's relay teams in the country, and more than once the team has been the first women's team to cross the finish line, and has also set several records over the years at the Hood to Coast Relay.
 
In an effort to make sure her student-athletes have the best possible experience at CSB, Balder-Lanoue created the Snowflake Shuffle as a fundraiser for the cross country and track and field programs. The 20^th shuffle was run in December 2019, and not only is it a fundraiser for the programs, it has become a tradition among CSB/SJU staff and Central Minnesota families – as well as alumnae and friends of the program – to come and race each December, and drink hot chocolate at the finish line.
 
Balder-Lanoue started her Saint Benedict career as one of the first athletes on the first track and field program in school history, and has created a legacy not only as the program's longest-tenured coach, but as someone who celebrates her student-athletes' successes on and off the track both while they're at CSB and long after graduation.