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Merga Gemeda

Residence: Minnetonka, MN

Date of birth: 8/14/1999

Hometown: Sioux City, IA

Occupation: Sports Marketing

College: University of South Dakota, Sports Marketing and Media, & Computer science - 2023

Favorite Pre-Race Meal: Otmeal with peanut butter, banana and honey 

Favorite Pump-Up Song: Wolves by Big Sean ft. Post Malone

Funniest Mid-Race Thought: They should put motivational quotes on the back of every mile marker, like “You’re not dead yet!”

Personal Bests

3000m

5,000m

10,000m

10 Mile

​

8:16.11

14:00.86

28:58.12

48:35

​

Achievements

12x Summit league athlete of the week

Merga is from Sioux City, Iowa where he attended Sioux City North High School. He and his family moved to the United States from Ethiopia when he was 12 years old. As a high school runner, he was a conference champion and placed 5th in the state cross country meet. His personal bests in high school were 15:25 (5k cross country), 4:22 (1600m) and 9:28 (3200m).

 

Merga attended the University of South Dakota from 2018-23, where he majored in Sport Marketing and Media. His collegiate career highlights include qualifying for the NCAA West Regional Championships in the 10,000m, setting a school record in the 10,000m en route to a win in his heat at the Raleigh Relays, and taking runner-up finishes in his conference championships in the 5000m (both indoor and outdoor) and 10,000m (outdoor). His personal bests in college included 14:00 (5000m) and 28:58 (10,000m).

 

Merga joined Minnesota Distance Elite in October of 2023.

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