They were the last races of the year. There won’t be a state. The Section 1A cross country meets were the end of the road for the running season. For one Journal-covered team and three individuals, an
unprecedented number during the Journal Era, their dream of making it to state was accomplished. They qualified. But because there will not be a state meet (per COVID), they won’t actually get to live the dream out of running in Northfield. There could’ve not been a season at all, or like a La Crescent and W-K, COVID-quarantine could’ve annulled their ability to compete. The 1A meets were held across two afternoons, Thursday and Friday. The meets simultaneously stood as the TRC’s official league meets. Squads again ran in team-groups of three or four. The boys started things on Thursday. Matt Kingsbury’s LARP guys took second for a second straight year, finishing as 1A Runner-Up. They qualified for state. Senior Luke O’Hare couldn’t three-peat as 1A individual champion. Teammate Tyler Rislov was the team’s top runner, taking third (16:42.5) overall. He cut his time a lot from a fifth place finish last year (17:18.4). O’Hare was right behind him, taking fourth (16:48.9). He was near dead-on last year’s 1st place run (16:48.7). Andrew Hoiness was right behind him, taking fifth (17:15.6). He cut a lot from last year’s 17th place run (17:50.1). But even though LARP had three in the top five, Lake City scored better as a team. The Tigers had the 1A champion, Reese Anderson (16:30.2), then four more in the top 20 (runners 9, 15, 18, and 19). LARP’s fourth (Tyler Betthauser > 18:54.6) and fifth runners (Grady Hengel > 19:09.8) finished 32nd and 44th. The Tigers (62) took first, LARP (88) second, and Lourdes (94) third. Chatfield (199), LFC (250), GMLOS (368), and Kingsland (392), took sixth, ninth, 13th, and 14th respectively (of 21 competing teams). Lourdes’ Kevin Turlington (16:40.5) took second individually. Kingsland stand-out Garrison Hubka (17:32.5) took eighth. Maybe the biggest mover from 2019 to 2020, Hubka took 78th last year (19:19.1). LFC’s stand-out Carson Ruen (18:06.4) took 13th overall. He got a little faster from last year’s 29th place finish (18:16.2). Hubka and Ruen were the fourth highest and eighth highest finishers not from a team. Each qualified for state. Ruen is the first LFC guy to qualify since 1991. Sisters Leah and Bailey qualified as part of LFC’s two team qualifiers in the mid 2010s. Elsewhere, Chatfield got three guys in the top 30, Treyton Lanning (20th > 18:30.4), Alex Wright (25th > 18:42.4), and Cody Guenther (29th > 18:50.6). GMLOS’ top finisher was Cohen Wiste (37th > 19:00.9). Due to the TRC Meet being run simultaneously, Rislov was that meet’s champion, O’Hare second, Hoiness third, Hubka fourth, and Ruen seventh. All of the above guys finished TRC top 21, making All-Conference. LARP’s boys were TRC champs.
A day later, girls teams descended upon Northern Hills Golf Course. Jayna Harstad’s Chatfield group was in the running for state, one of the top four teams coming in. The Lady Gophers came close. Cotter (68) ran away with the 1A team crown, getting five in the top 23. They had team places 5, 6, 15, 19, and 23. The Gophers (121) were edged by PEM (102) and took third place. Chatfield had team places 10, 16, 27, 30, and 38, the Bulldogs team places 9, 11, 17, 22, and 43. The teams had run against each other twice in the regular season with each winning once. Stewartville was narrowly in fourth (123). Individually, Z-M/K-W’s Natasha Sortland (19:08.4) took first over Stewie’s Haylie Strum (19:44.5), Lake City runners Jacey Majerus (20:00.4) and Peyton Meincke (20:09.4) taking third and fourth. The top county runner was Gopher Tessa McMahon, who finished 10th overall (20:43.9). She was the seventh finisher not from a top two team, and thus qualified for state. McMahon took 31st overall last year (21:35.5), improving a lot. LFC had the newcomer of the year. Seventh grader Lillyan Kiehne took 15th (21:17.5), the highest of anyone her age and sixth place of anyone freshman or younger. Chatfield 2019 state qualifier Aletta Strande took 17th (21:20.0). GMLOS’ McKenna Hendrickson took 22nd overall (21:54.4). Chatfield’s Abbi Gillespie (28th > 22:09.0), Belle Carr (31st > 22:17.3), and Katie Dornack (39th > 22:31), LFCs Kaylee Arndt (29th > 22:12.2), and LARP’s Lauren Honken (33rd > 22:19.4) also finished in the top 40. Dornack dove at the end to pass two Lake City runners, preserving Chatfield’s third place finish. Arndt ran her last race. It was her first full race of the year. She ends a three-time state cross country qualifier. McMahon took fourth amongst TRC runners, Kiehne seventh, and Strande 9th. All of the above finished TRC top 21, making All-TRC. Chatfield’s girls took TRC third.