Regan Feit has been a mainstay on three Luverne Cardinals’ varsity teams since she was a seventh-grader.
“I started running cross country and track when I was a seventh-grader and also started playing varsity hockey when I was in seventh grade,” Feit said.
“I’ve been playing hockey since I was a third-grader though and have run in road races for as long as I can remember.”
The Luverne senior has been a member of six cross country teams that made the state tournament.
“We went to state every year as a team since I’ve been in cross country,” Feit said.
“We always came pretty close to being on the podium as a team, but just barely came short of placing third many times. When I was a junior, we placed second as a team at the state meet, which was very exciting.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minnesota State High School League did not hold a Cross Country State Meet this fall. If there had been a state meet, the Cardinals would have been one of the favorites to win the whole thing.
“I think that we had a very good chance of winning the team title at state this year,” Feit said.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to have a formal state meet through MSHSL. We did place first as a team at the ‘state’ meet we had which was put on through the coaches association this year.”
On the ice, Feit has been a member of three teams that made the Class A State Hockey Tournament.
In the spring, Feit has qualified for the state tournament every season since she was a seventh-grader.
All those individual accolades and team success makes her one of the most decorated athletes in Luverne school history.
“Regan is just a pure athlete,” said Luverne track and cross country coach Pete Janiszeski. “She’s very explosive and versatile.”
At the Class A State Track Meet on Friday, June 18, Feit competed in her final events for the Luverne Cardinals.
Feit placed 10th in the 300-meter hurdles and was a member of the 4-by-800 relay team that won its third straight state championship.
She was a member of all three of those relay teams that won the event at the state tournament.
“Not many can say that they are track state champions, but to be able to say that I am a three-time state champion in the 4-by-800 is something very special,” Feit said.
“It’s unfortunate that there was no state track last year due to COVID-19, but it gave us another year to improve ourselves and be as fast as we possibly can. I am so grateful for the girls that I got to run with in my senior year.”
As a seventh-grader, Feit qualified for the state meet in the 1,600.
The following year, she was a member of the 4-by-800 relay team.
As a freshman, she reached the state meet in the 1,600 and in the 300-meter hurdles. The following year, she placed seventh overall at the state meet in the 300-meter hurdles.
“She’s versatile,” Janiszeski said. “She can pretty much can do a lot of different distances and events. She’s pole vaulted for us in the past. She works hard at it. She’s very athletic. She’s very good at a lot of things. She has great leadership qualities and is willing to sacrifice individual things for relays and team things. She’s always been team-oriented.”
On the ice, Feit was a member of three hockey teams that reached the state tournament in 2016, 2020 and 2021.
“She’s just a very hard worker,” Luverne hockey coach Tony Sandbulte said.
“She’s very strong and athletic.”
One of Feit’s favorite memories during her time on the Luverne hockey team was when the Cardinals defeated Mankato West in the 2019-2020 section championship to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
“The game was really close and intense the entire time,” Feit said. “We had to work hard to try and win, which made winning the game that much better. Being able to make it to state in hockey three times has really been a blessing and was so much fun every time.”
Feit may be done competing for the Luverne Cardinals, but she’ll get a chance to become a decorated collegiate athlete at Winona State University.
“At Winona State University I will be running mainly the 400 hurdles and the open 400 as well,” Feit said.
“The hurdle race will be a little different at college than it is right now because at the high school level in Minnesota it is a 300-meter race with hurdles, but once you go to college it changes to a 400-meter race with hurdles. The 400 is brutal without hurdles so adding hurdles is going to be a challenge, but it is a challenge that I am willing to take and put the work into being the best I can be at it.”
There are people who are addicted to running, and it’s safe to say that Feit may be one of those individuals.
It’s something that she fell in love with from an early age, and she’s thankful that she’ll get the opportunity to continue to do something she’s passionate about for the next four years.
“I have been running ever since I was little, and I knew that I didn’t want to give up my love for running competitively after my high school career was done,” Feit said.
“Running in college was a must for me. … To be able to continue to run in college is so exciting for me and I am very anxious to get started and meet everyone on the track team.”
One thing that she said she loves about running is the camaraderie built with teammates and competitors.
“Being able to create more bonds with new people is something I look forward to doing at Winona this fall,” Feit said.
“I have found that you make some of the best and closest bonds with your teammates, and being able to continue to make those bonds with the track girls at Winona is something that I’m really looking forward to this fall.”
Feit said that it was her mother, Amy Feit, who got her started on the path of long-distance running.
“I have always watched my mom run as I was growing up and would always want to run in the races with her,” Feit said.
“My mom has definitely influenced me in becoming a distance runner. She runs a lot of marathons and she would always get up early to train and run before work. I grew up watching her put a lot of work into something she really loves. I think that is what influenced me to join cross country as a little seventh-grader.”
Feit said she is looking forward to forging bonds at Winona State but noted that she will miss the relationships that she built during her time as a Cardinal.
“Luverne has so many good people and I’ve always had such great teammates in all of my sports. We always support each other and try to help each other in any way we can,” she said.
“As a Cardinal you always know that someone is there to have your back for you when you need a little help. That is something that I will most definitely miss from the groups of people that I have had the opportunity to be with at Luverne.”