MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Danny DiMeo's foot was not going to get in the way of him winning the Minneapolis Half Marathon. Neither was anyone else's, for that matter. DiMeo, who missed most of his collegiate career with a broken foot and the complications that followed, won the Minneapolis Half Marathon on May 31, just one week after walking across the stage at University Stadium to receive his degree in economics.

He was certainly money in Minneapolis. DiMeo broke the tape in 1:15.04, bettering his nearest competitor, Evgeny Beletskiy of Minneapolis, by 12 seconds.

DiMeo just missed a top-20 finish at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships as a freshman and his future looked very bright. However, he missed most of the next two years of competition with the foot injury. DiMeo returned in 2007 and enjoyed a top-25 finish at the Chico Invitational and notched a 10K in the 33:20s at the Almond Bowl foot race.

In his final cross country campaign in 2008, DiMeo finished 78th out of more than 160 runners at the Aztec Cross Country Invitational in San Diego, and finished 13th at the San Francisco State Invitational, which proved to be his final collegiate race. DiMeo also served as the president of Chico State's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during the fall semester.

Thanks to the amazing amount of energy and work that DiMeo put into this team and the athletic department during his time in Chico, his victory in Minneapolis was felt all the way out here in Northern California. Congratulations Danny!