The Annandale cross country team will send two athletes to the state tournament at St. Olaf College in Northfield on Saturday, Nov. 3. Cardinal sophomore Connor Gjevre won the Section 5A title for the second year in a row Thursday, Oct. 25, at Pierz, and eighth-grader Taylor Alama finished seventh to advance. Gjevre knew going in that it wouldn’t be easy to defend his title. Many older, more experienced runners were gunning for the win and a state meet berth. Daniel Merritt of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted put up the best fight. He ran with Gjevre through most of the race before falling behind. In the end, Gjevre was able to reclaim the title with 10 seconds to spare. First in school history? Alama’s performance Thursday broke a dry spell for the Cardinal girls team that has lasted at least since 1991 and possibly earlier. In fact, as far as coach Scott Massmann knows, Alama could be the first girl runner in the history of the school to go on to the state cross country meet. She ran 50 seconds faster than her time on the same course last year despite wet terrain, and came out on top, trailing a mix of state-ranked runners by only 17 seconds. "She put it all together among some really great competition," Massmann said. The top 10 athletes will advance to state. Once there, Alama’s goal will be to place in the top 40. But since there isn’t a whole lot of difference between the 40th girl and the 25th, which is the all-state cutoff, Alama has hopes of taking home another honor. ‘Crowning achievement’ "That would be our crowning achievement for the year," Massmann said. Last year, Gjevre placed 12th at State. This year he wants to improve upon that and maybe bring home some hardware. "The top six get medals, the rest are told good job, but they don’t get to take anything home," Massmann said. "We’re shooting for a medal." Going for a medal means getting out with the top 10 kids from the start of the race. Massmann fears there are three or four elite athletes out there who might still be over Gjevre’s head, but he still sees him as among the top 10 runners in the state. "I know Connor will give us everything he can," Massmann said. The Class A girls race will begin Saturday at St. Olaf at 1 p.m. and the boys race will follow at 2 p.m. The 2A races will be in the morning. The awards will follows the conclusion of the single A competition.
