Cook County Viking runners and fans traveled to St. Olaf College in Northfield on Saturday, November 7 for the Minnesota State championship meet. Left: The girls’ team excitedly checking in with a Minnesota State High School League official before their race at St. Olaf College. Above: Recovering from the flu, Kieran Scannell finished his race in 18:57 for 134th place in the 160-runner field.
The Viking cross country team headed down to the Minnesota State championship meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield with lots of enthusiasm after a big send-off at school, well wishes from local fans and a couple of neat good luck signs at businesses in Two Harbors. Our expectations were realistic. The girls’ team was second in a section that didn’t have any top 10 rated teams and section champ Kieran Scannell, a legitimate candidate for All State honors, was significantly weakened by a five-day bout with the flu. Still, getting to a state meet is a huge accomplishment in high school athletics, with everyone there a winner.
The weather for Saturday afternoon’s races suddenly changed from the cold, wet weather we had for most of October to sunny and 65 – great for spectating, not the best for distance running. Our caravan of 25 team members and coaches plus another 20-plus family and friends was met by numerous Cook County High School cross country alumni and fans, including current collegiate runners Heidi Sande and Dan Schield plus last year’s star Losha Senty. It always amazes me how many people from small towns on the North Shore show up at high school athletic events. Per capita, we had the biggest, loudest group there.
Kieran was first for the Vikings, running in an exclusive 160-runner field. We weren’t even sure he was going to run until he did a hard warm-up, to help evaluate his health. He hadn’t run in the nine days since sections, and two boys who were sick had collapsed in the morning’s Class AA race.
As he came back to me, he said he felt okay—then immediately went into a coughing spasm.
We agreed to let him run, but advised him to start out conservatively for the first mile then adjust from there. As usual, he stuck with the plan. Unfortunately, that meant racing two minutes slower than normal, finishing in 18:57, 134th in the field. As a reference, the second place finisher at section was 21st, with the top 25 being All-State. As a ninth grader, Kieran wasn’t too disappointed though, as he will have many more chances.
After a good warm-up, the girls seemed ready to go. By random draw, we ended up right next to our main rival Esko. I thought that would have been helpful for pacing, since they have been to state three years in a row. I hobbled down towards a good viewing point about 200 yards from the start (a recent running injury had claimed this old coach), and I will never forget the start.
160 girls off at the starter’s pistol crack. Runners streaming by, with everyone trying to pick out their runners. I must have missed Signe Larson, who should have been at least in the middle. Same with Ailee Larson and Sonja Peterson, who are usually close behind. Gazing to the back of the field, I spotted our other four runners, Mercedes Leininger, Anna Schield, Michelle Weitz and Shelby Ahrendt. They like to start slower, and would be finishing back in the field. Right in front of them were our three top runners.
Oh–oh, we were in positions 154-160. This was not going to go well. In a normal race you can run an even pace and pick off fading runners. At the state meet, the field is jammed together and passing is much harder. You get jostled and cut off—a big pace breaker. Needless to say, they did move up. But most of them ended up about 30 seconds off their projected time.
Signe finished 59th in 16:28. Ailee was 89th in 16:54, Sonja 111th in 17:12, Mercedes 120th in 17:22, Anna 132nd in 17:39, Michelle 154th in 18:37 and Shelby 155th in 18:46.
As a team, they finished 15th with 299 points, two points out of 14th and only 47 points from a top 10 place. We were a little disappointed, but hardly shattered. We were hoping for about a 12th place finish, and could have done it with a little better strategy. Still, it was the state meet, we weren’t last, and there is next year.
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