Area runners advance to state

Even at less than 100 percent, Cannon Falls sophomore Emi Trost showed why she’s the best runner in Section 1A Thursday at Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester.

Trost won the section cross-country meet in 15 minutes despite having a fever of 101 the night before and fainting at home prior to the meet. Not only did she win the 4-kilometer race, she won it by a 15-second margin.

“She looked good until the last half mile and I could tell she was haggard,” Bombers head coach Ben Schopp said. “She maintained the course but didn’t have much of a kick in the end. She ran hard in the middle and kept that same pace in the end.”

Schopp knew Trost had a cold, but only learned of the severity 15 minutes before the race from Trost’s mother, Schopp said.

“She doesn’t like to get me worried or nervous,” Schopp said. “So she doesn’t come forward with her aches and pains or being sick.”

The win marked the first for Trost at the section meet and the third consecutive season she’s qualified for the state meet. Last year she finished 10th at the state meet.

Cannon Falls finished eighth as a team with 224 points. Katherine Hoffman finished 28th in 17:08.2, Emma Thomley took 41st in 17:33.1, Amber Edwards placed 72nd in 18:11.2 and Ashleigh Dralle finished 104th in 19:51.4.

La Crescent won the meet with 44 points and Rochester Lourdes secured the other spot to state with a second-place finish and 70 points.

Lake City placed sixth with 140 points and Lydia Taylor led the team with a 17th-place finish in 16:40.9. Alexis Befort finished 24th in 16:58.1, Madi Dwelle took 31st in 17:18, Hannah Alitz placed 39th in 17:32.5 and Taylor Siewert took 48th in 17:48.3.

Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyon-Wanamingo placed ninth with 254 points. Emily Karl led the team with a 33rd-place finish in 17:24.1, Tianna Beniak took 46th in 17:43.9, Kaitlin Bohn finished 60th in 18:00.4, Maddie Patterson placed 69th in 18:04.9 and Callie Ryan finished 71st in 18:06.5.

Lake City’s Dammann, Z-M/K-W’s Warneke qualify for state

Lake City’s Carston Dammann finished third Thursday in the 5-kilometer Section 1A race in a time of 17:08.3 to qualify for the state meet.

Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Nathan Warneke finished fourth in 17:09.7 to also qualify for the state meet.

Cotter won the meet with 62 points and Plainview-Elgin-Millville finished second with 63 to advance to the state meet as a team.

Z-M/K-W finished sixth as a team with 188 points. James Drettwan placed 24th in 18:16.1, Mitchel Lexvold took 46th in 18:49.4, Ben Nystuen finished 50th in 18:55.5 and Micah Grove took 64th in 19:38.7.

Chris Breuer finished 37th for the Tigers in 18:37.4, Sergey Duchelle took 43rd in 18:44.9, Carl Kozlowski finished 47th in 18:52.1 and Colin Fritz took 60th in 19:26.

Cannon Falls finished 15th with 399 points. Bjorn Pearson ran 67th in 19:52.9, Karl Ritzman placed 69th in 19:55.1, Jordan Erlanson took 82nd in 20:35.7, Tyler Wilson 89th in 20:53.8 and Connor Bennett 92nd in 20:58.

The state meet is Nov. 5 at St. Olaf College.

Tags: cannon falls, lake city, sports, prep, cross-country