Tiebreak, LFC Girls Back to State

It was dicey for the defending Section 1A girls cross country champs. Third-ranked L/FC came into the Section meet the favorites. Fifth-ranked Stewartville, a team LFC twice beat in the regular season, appeared their biggest adversary. But then they ran the race. In a sport that scores five runners, it came down to a sixth to decide Section 1A’s second state bid. Last year’s runner-up Lake City (4, 13, 15, 25, 27 > 84) came away champs. Seventh grader McKenna Beltz tipped the tide (4th amongst team runners, 5th overall). Beltz didn’t run when LFC and Lake City met at the D-E Invite, where the Burros went 2-3-4-6-7, all ahead of any Tiger runners. Stewartville and LFC thus battled for second, the second state spot. Had Abby Orvis, a multi-race champion, not gone down late, Stewartville would’ve trekked to Northfield. She did, allowing the Burros (11, 12, 18, 23, 26) and other Tigers (1, 7, 9, 35, 38) to tie at 90 (with D-E in fourth at 98). The tiebreaker was the sixth runner. The seven-deep Burros suspired due to Bailey Ruen. The junior’s finish (30th amongst team runners) topped Stewie’s sixth runner (65th). For the second straight year, LFC is state bound! L/P’s Kayla Christopherson took first (19:42.9). Senior Kiera Olson (20:26.7 > 13th overall) and 8th grader Kaylee Arndt (20:32.3 > 14th) led the Burros. Leah Ruen (20:54.7 > 20th), Emily Snyder (21:08.6 > 25th), Maddie Smith (21:15.3 > 26th), and B-Ruen (21:20.1) also scored. Olson, Arndt, and L-Ruen were each 30-plus seconds faster than a year ago. Arndt improved by three-plus minutes (91st place to 14th). Fourteen girls finished in under 20:35. Only three did last year (semi-attributable to the second year of girls 5,000-meters). Barely but surely, the goal, state repeat, happens for Ellen Cullen’s crew.