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'They are the face of Cloquet cross country'

Bushey and Z leave program after 19 years

To say Mike Bushey has put in his time as a coach in the Cloquet High School cross-country program is putting it mildly.

Last week Bushey announced via Twitter that he was resigning his position as head cross-country coach in Cloquet along with his assistant and wife, Jody Zeleznikar, known simply as "Z" by runners.

"I've been coaching for 31 years, first at Proctor with Dick Saarela, then at Cloquet when we were combined with Esko," Bushey said. "We restarted the Cloquet program on its own in 1998."

In 1999, Bushey was joined by Z, who has been coaching at his side ever since. The duo have ta...