Award Honorees

Jane Reimer-Morgan has been a cornerstone of the District’s athletic department and a pioneer in Minnesota women’s athletics. Her decades of teaching and leadership have impacted thousands of Skipper students and athletes, inspiring them to be tenacious, hard-working, grateful and gracious in their endeavors.

Reimer-Morgan grew up surrounded by both sports and education, inspired by her father, who was a three-sport athlete, a school principal and a track and field coach himself. She started attending meets with him at age 4, outfitted with her own “clunky” stopwatch, she recalls. By high school, Reimer-Morgan was a dedicated competitor in the sport, traveling to South Dakota from her home in rural Minnesota so that she could compete in all-comers meets, before Title IX paved the way for varsity high school opportunities for girls. In 1972, she participated in the first ever Minnesota girls’ state track and field meet in the long jump.

She began her career with Minnetonka Schools in 1985, coaching girls volleyball and serving as an assistant coach for track and field alongside then-head coach Bob Rogness, who became a mentor to her. In 1990, she was asked to be the assistant coach for the high school’s girls cross country team, and in 1999, she was named head coach for girls cross country and girls track and field. Reimer-Morgan taught health and physical education in the district from 1997-2012, working with students at both middle schools and Minnetonka High School. “I loved teaching at all levels, but especially middle school,” said Reimer-Morgan. “Their spontaneity, spunk and desire to do things is just amazing. I loved their energy!”

Her advice to the students she works with, and to all Skippers, is to get practice advocating for yourself, your needs and your goals. “Sports get you ready for failures and for when you do well, for when things go your way and when they don’t. It happens in our athletic activities, just like it will happen in our lives,” said Reimer-Morgan.

Between cross country and track and field, Reimer-Morgan has coached 10 state champion teams, and the 2023 girls track and field team she led has the all-time scoring record for a state champion victory in the sport. She has earned numerous honors as section and state coach of the year, and in 2024, she was a finalist for National Track and Field Coach of the Year. She says, “The winning and the awards, it’s all really nice, but it’s my friendships that stand out the most."