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Lisa Baumert is one of the most accomplished distance runners in Wheaton cross country and track history. A four-time team MVP for the Thunder women's cross country team. In 2007 she finished first at Aurora University's Spartan Classic, was second in the CCIW conference and was the only runner from the Wheaton women's cross country team to compete at the 2007 National Championship, earning All-America honors. In 2008, she was team captain for the Wheaton cross country team that qualified for Nationals. On the track, Baumert won the 2009 CCIW Indoor Championship in the one-mile run and finished 12th at the 2009 NCAA-III Indoor Championships in the 5,000-meter run. Her school record in the indoor women's 5,000 meters still stands today. She won the conference title in the 10,000-meter run at the 2009 CCIW Outdoor Championships and competed at the 2009 NCAA-III Outdoor Championships in the 5,000-meter run.
Lisa recalls, "Through my time running at Wheaton, I learned the invaluable worth of true friendship. The relationships I made through running at Wheaton…have endured to this day and remained my most valuable." When asked for a favorite athletic memory from her time at Wheaton, she mentioned, "The Annual Week of Pain." Lisa graduated in 2009 with degrees in Political Science and Theology. She earned an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and while there, worked as an assistant coach for the women's track and field and cross-country teams. She continues to compete in running, qualifying for the 2012, 2016, and 2020 U.S. Olympic team trials in the marathon. She lives in Minnesota, and in 2017 was named the USATF Minnesota Female Runner of the Year. She is Senior Director of Donor Advancement for PRX, a public media organization that distributes radio programs and podcasts. Lisa and her husband, Jaron Balgaard (class of 2008), have a four-year-old son, Julian.
