Forrest Tahdooahnippah, a graduate of Minneapolis Southwest High School, will compete for the Golden Gopher men’s cross country and track teams this season after being accepted into the Minnesota School of Law. Tahdooahnippah graduated with honors from Stanford last June and has one season of both cross country and track eligibility remaining.

“We are excited to have Forrest join our team,” said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. “He’s a talented runner who will add a great deal of experience to our squad. We recruited him out of high school but lost him to Stanford. It will be nice to see him suit up in Maroon and Gold. The challenge to combine law school with competitive runner will be a tough one, but I believe Forrest is up for the task.”

Tahdooahnippah was a member of Stanford’s team that placed fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall. He was the Cardinal’s number-three finisher, placing 68th overall in a time of 32 minutes, 12.6 seconds. Tahdooahnippah also earned All-West Region honors in 2006.

During his high school career, Tahdooahnippah won the Minnesota Class AA title in the 3,200 meters in 2002. In cross country, he was the state runner-up as a junior in 2002 and placed third as a senior in 2003.

The Golden Gophers report to preseason training camp on Aug. 23.