Meet Team Chocolate Milk for the United Dairy Industry of Michigan! These athletes are passionate about nutrition and fitness and recover with chocolate milk after hard training sessions. Make sure you look for them at your next race!
Team Chocolate Milk
Tatiana Anthony
Tatiana Anthony is a surgical intensive care physician assistant living in Ann Arbor. She is big into the outdoors and tries to spend as much time at her favorite place in the world, Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix. She splits a lot of her time between triathlons, road riding, mountain/fat biking, and riding her cross bike. Most of her races are either mountain biking or triathlons with a few running races. She enjoys trail running/riding and competes in triathlons of all distances including Ironman Louisville in 2015.
Andrew Chapin
Andrew Chapin has taught Psychology, Health and Physical Education at Mason High School for 17 years. He was a 2015 Governor’s Fitness Award winner and the 2017 Excellence in Education Award winner. When Andrew is not teaching, he is either coaching youth sports, running or traveling with his family. He and his wife, Camy, have three young and active sons. Although Andrew has competed in many road races, the marathon is his favorite. He has completed 11 marathons, including the Boston Marathon in 2016.
Kaitlyn Cooper
Kaitlyn is a full-time student at Oakland University. She is a resident of Shelby Township where she also is a gymnastics instructor at Olympia Gymnastics. While balancing this schedule, she also juggles being one of the country’s top female Junior Olympic Weightlifting athletes. She has lifted competitively for two years and aspires to compete at the world level. When Kaitlyn isn’t training, at work, or at school you can find her hanging out at her house watching television or relaxing in the hot tub. Kaitlyn loves chocolate milk and always grabs a glass the second she returns home from a lift.
Mara Cook Greatorex
Mara Cook Greatorex is a Fitness Coach specializing in CrossFit, HIIT and Indoor Cycling in the Ann Arbor area. When she is not helping people get healthier, she is a mom of two (mostly) awesome kids. Although working out to stay in shape is a huge motivating factor for her, she loves to work toward goals. Training for races helps her stay on track. Mara has run three marathons, several half marathons, countless 10ks and 5ks and is currently working on getting back into triathlons. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and napping.
Derek DiGiovanni
Derek DiGiovanni has been a passionate physical educator for over twenty four years. He teaches the importance of physical fitness and nutritious food choices. He is an excellent role model for his students and athletes because he lives his life the way he teaches his students to hopefully live theirs. Derek has competed in over a hundred running races, triathlon, and adventure races, including the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii and the Boston Marathon. He has coached athletes in cross-country, swimming, track, baseball, basketball and soccer. He is married with three children who are also extremely active in sports.
Seth and Lyndsay Earl
Seth and Lyndsay Earl live in Ludington, Michigan with their two daughters McKenzie and Madisyn. Seth works for the United States Department of Agriculture as District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. A graduate of Michigan State University and Colorado State University, Seth finds his passion in fostering relationships with farmers and serving the agricultural industry. Lyndsay graduated from Michigan State University in 2009 with a degree in Animal Science. Following graduation, she began working for Michigan Milk Producers as a Member Representative. Lyndsay performs routine inspections and quality control on dairy farms across a five-county area on the west side of Michigan. In their spare time, they enjoy helping out on their family’s 500 cow dairy farm. Both Seth and Lyndsay are active Farm Bureau members and strive to help propel the agricultural industry to new heights. In their spare time, they enjoy hiking with their daughters and competing in adventure racing, a sport that combines two or more endurance activities with a goal of reaching as many checkpoints as possible within a set time range.
Cortney Freeland
Cortney Freeland is a Manager, Education and Community Partnerships at Milk Means More and oversees food bank relationships, youth wellness partnerships and sports nutrition programming. She received her bachelor’s degree in science, with a focus on health promotion from Arizona State University. She earned her master’s degree in public health from The University of Michigan and is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). Cortney also serves on the advisory board of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority at the University of Michigan. She has competed in two marathons, two half marathons, two half Ironman triathlons, several Olympic-length triathlons and dozens of community 5K, 10K and organized cycling events. In her spare time, you will find Cortney training for triathlons, enjoying time up north, traveling, adventuring with her husband, and learning how to navigate life as a new mom.
Darren Freeland
Darren is a physician assistant specializing in abdominal organ transplantation at the University of Michigan. He currently resides in the Ann Arbor area and prefers to adventure local and “opt outside” to live an active life! Darren enjoys running local 5K and 10K events in the community and participating in organized cycling events. When he is not working, he enjoys spending his time at his local gym, running, cycling, traveling and exploring with his wife.
Melissa Gerharter
As a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, Melissa manages and leverages partnerships with sporting teams, arenas, high schools, universities and races. She is also responsible for seeking out new opportunities to increase chocolate milk sales, including providing more extensive, in-depth nutrition education to athletes. Melissa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in dietetics from The Ohio State University, a Master of Science degree in nutrition from Eastern Michigan University, and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health. Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, hanging out in the gym and participating in races.
Lindsay DeLorme
Lindsay lives in South Haven, Michigan with her three boys, Enzo, Ciro and Caspian. She competed on the Eastern Michigan University Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field team for 4 years. She is a triathlete, teacher, high school cross country and track & field coach. Coaching is Lindsay’s passion, as well as promoting proper nutrition to athletes, which plays an essential role in athlete successes. Lindsay is a USA Triathlon All-American and has qualified for the USA Triathlon National Championships for five years. Lindsay has qualified to represent the USA in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2017; in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018; in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2019; and Edmonton, Canada in 2020 at the ITU Triathlon World Championships. Chocolate milk and dairy products play a major role in her nutrition as an athlete and is vital in the training recovery process.
Steve Harden
Steven Harden has been a small animal veterinarian at Clarke Animal Hospital in Spring Lake, Michigan, for over 25 years. Born and raised in the neighboring town of Grand Haven, he enjoys endurance training and everything the outdoors has to offer. He has ran the Boston Marathon five times in a row and ultra-distance races of varying lengths. Steven is a lifelong MSU Spartan fan and cannot be bothered during game time. He relaxes by hanging out with family and friends and vacationing with his wife, Lanette. Steven is currently making his “comeback” after an Achilles tendon rupture in October 2018. He truly believes chocolate milk is the ultimate post workout recovery drink.
Sean Hickey
Sean Hickey is a Traverse City-based marketing professional and outdoorsy type. When he’s not helping clients solve marketing challenges, Sean is a passionate mountain and gravel bike racer, downhill skier, and snowshoer. He completed his first Century a few years ago before switching from road to mountain bikes and taking up racing. Since then, he’s competed in the Iceman, Arcadia Grit & Gravel and Fat Chance races and is training for an increased race schedule. You can find him dodging trees on trails throughout Northwest Michigan and the Upper Peninsula on everything from a single-speed to a fat bike.
Jeremy Hudson
Jeremy Hudson is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who was unfamiliar with triathlon while living in Chicago in 2009 when a friend invited him to complete the Super Super Sprint race. When Jeremy, naive to endurance sports, crossed his first triathlon finish line, he hadn’t yet realized the crush he’d develop with a new sport — or three! Nine years later, after a nauseating amount of hours training and a financial investment in equipment and race fees he’d rather not think about, Jeremy has used his nutritional expertise to complete a plethora of endurance races of varying distances and disciplines. His racing highlights include racing three Ironman races and representing the United States at the ITU Long Course World Championships in Motala, Sweden in 2015. Jeremy attacks each day with the motto of late Navy SEAL Charlie Keating IV: “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards.”
Ralf Mielke
Ralf Mielke is a German-born fella living in the United States for the last 16 years. He currently lives in Ann Arbor and works in the machine tool industry. If he is not working, he can be found splitting time between his fat and mountain bikes. He also enjoys being outdoors, trying all sorts of craft beer, and hanging out with his four cats that he shares with his wife. He enjoys competing in bike races, triathlons, and has completed a full Ironman in NYC in 2012 and swam the Straits of Mackinac during the Might Mac Swim in 2019 together with his wife.
Abigail O’ Farrell
Running has taken Abigail O’Farrell many places and she can confidently claim she would not be where she is today without it. Abigail balances being a wife, mother of five children, dairy farmer, and runner. Her running tenure began in high school with all-star performances that culminated in two State Champion titles. It continued at North Carolina State University, where she ran Cross Country and Distance events in Track and Field both indoor and outdoor. Before she met her husband and had children, she competed in four marathons with a marathon personal record of 2:56.14. Children slowed down her running career, but she continued with a double stroller until 2016, when her running career halted. Now, after the birth of her fifth child, she is battling back from major health issues, including depression, and stepping back on to the treadmill to get in shape. She has her eyes on running the Bay Shore Marathon in the spring of 2019 and 5K’s and 10k’s locally, perhaps with her older children. She has been refueling with chocolate milk since she started running!
Joe Packard
Joe Packard lives in Manchester, MI with his wife Katelyn. He loves representing and promoting chocolate milk—the most nutritionally-rich recovery beverage out there! Joe graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science. He works for a dairy cooperative as a field representative and milking system specialist, servicing about 60 farms across six counties in southeast Michigan. His wife manages their family’s dairy farm with her dad and grandpa. They milk about 400 cows, and farm 800 acres to feed them. Joe helps out on the farm on the weekends, but in his free time he enjoys running, hunting and relaxing on the lake just across the street from our farm. His favorite dairy product is chocolate milk and his favorite flavor of ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food.
Jennifer Schrader
Jennifer Schrader is a web developer by day, mother and dairy farmer by night. She has been running regularly for several years. Her goal is to participate in one 5K a month, every month (even the awful wintery ones). Her greatest running accomplishment was completing a 5K at seven months pregnant with twins. She and her husband own a dairy farm in St. Johns, MI, and pride themselves on raising the next generation of dairy farmers. They have three children, a son Jonathan and twin daughters, Michaela and Lillian.
Sandy Sellers
Sandy is a Youth Wellness and Sports Nutrition Manager and Registered Dietitian with Milk Means More who holds a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from Michigan State University and a graduate certificate in Nutrition and Wellness from Bradley University. Passionate about educating the next generation about living a healthy lifestyle, Sandy loves working with schools to promote the nutrition benefits of school meals, including milk! She also enjoys educating athletes of all levels on sports nutrition and the benefits of chocolate milk in their training. Outside of work, Sandy enjoys spending time with her husband and two young daughters as well as running and practicing yoga.
Jaimie Strickland
Jaimie Strickland recently completed her veterinary residency and is now a Ph.D. candidate studying nutrition and immunology in dairy cows at Michigan State University. She enjoys teaching veterinary students, conducting research projects and working as a nutritional consultant for everything from Labrador retrievers to black rhinos. Jaimie runs not only to stay healthy, but also to relieve stress and to get lost (both metaphorically and sometimes literally) out on the trails. She recently completed a 50-mile ultra-marathon and hopes to one day complete a 100-mile race. She loves hanging out with her family and friends, exploring northern Michigan and playing with her two dogs, Bear and Thelma.
Mike Teske
Mike Teske is a force to be reckoned with. After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2000, he decided he didn’t want it to dictate his life. So in 2009, Mike started to learn how to swim. Shortly after, in 2010, he finished his first sprint triathlon. In 2016 he completed IRONMAN Wisconsin while unknowingly having a football-sized cancerous tumor in his chest. It’s no wonder this IRONMAN was his proudest accomplishment! After being diagnosed with cancer, Mike still completed the Chicago Marathon, then went into a successful surgery in December of 2017. He followed this up with swimming the Straits of Mackinac in 2019, from Mackinac City to St, Ignace, and in 2021 swam the Mackinac Island Swim which is an 8.2 mile swim around Mackinac Island.
David Queen
Since David Queen started running in 2000, he’s run 15 marathons and two ultra marathons. The Ann Arbor-based athlete juggles running and his career as a quality manager at Nissan Technical Center North America. David, who’s a father of four, also coaches youth soccer. In the last year, he achieved a personal record on his 5k, and ran three marathons.
Jennifer Queen
Jennifer Queen is an Ann Arbor-based marketing communications consultant. She’s also a certified personal trainer and kettlebell coach. For fitness, Jenn runs and does CrossFit and kettlebell classes. She’s completed three marathons, all of them with her friend she met while training and who is now her husband. She is also the mom of four.
Gertie van den Goor
Gertie van den Goor and her husband Geert are passionate about dairy farming. So passionate that in 1999 they moved to dairy-friendly Michigan from the Netherlands. When not working on the farm, Gertie loves to quilt, cook, eat and read. She started running a few years ago after having some heart problems. “When I started, I could not run from the back door to the mailbox,” Gertie says. “Now I try to run three times a week for three to five miles and a few races each year. To celebrate my 55th birthday this year I ran my first (and only) full marathon.”
Carla Wardin
Carla and her husband Kris own Evergreen Dairy in St Johns, Michigan. She is the sixth generation to be on her family’s farm. Carla hosts podcasts for the Michigan Ag Council, is the Essex Township supervisor, and works in marketing. Carla writes about the farm at Truth or Dairy and talks about farming at schools. The couple is raising three sons – twins Ty and Cole and their younger brother, Max. Carla loves running, hiking, swimming and being outdoors. She has competed in all sorts of races: Triathlons, agricultural-based obstacle races, marathons and a 50k (31 mile) ultramarathon. She sets new running goals every year – like running every day, running a race a month, or running races of all different lengths. Her favorite races of all are the ones her family runs with her.
Ross Williams
Ross Williams is from Homer, MI. He is the sixth generation on his family’s dairy farm where they milk cows with robotic milkers. Ross runs numerous races a year including 5k, half marathons, triathlons and mud runs. He is always focused on keeping as healthy as possible and is always on the move!