Capping off a decade of dominance by its girls cross country team, Annandale won a sectional championship in Mora Thursday, Oct. 26, to earn its 10th consecutive trip to the Minnesota high school state cross country meet.
The Cardinal boys narrowly missed joining the girls team at state, finishing just four points behind second-place Heritage Christian Academy. The top two teams at sectionals qualify for state.
As it was, the Annandale boys team had to settle for sending two of its members to state. Seniors Christopher Groth and Justin Heimkes each earned a spot in the state field.
The Cardinals had participated in the Mora Invitation Oct. 10 at Spring Brook Golf Course, giving the runners a sense of confidence in knowing the course.
"Running the course at Mora only a couple weeks prior was incredibly beneficial," Heimkes said. "It allowed us to see which parts of the course would be best for us to pass other runners and where we should just tuck in behind them."
The spectators were tucked in, too, as temperatures by the time of the latest meet had tumbled into the upper 30s.
"It was really cold out," said freshman Emma Fashant. "While teams from other schools were wearing leggings, headbands or hats, we did not."
Annandale Head Coach Scott Massmann said his team wasn’t phased at all by the cold.
"Our team would much rather have temperatures in the 30s than in the upper 80s," he said.
Girls take first
Fashant was the medalist, coming in ahead of 137 other girls. It will be her second trip to state meet. In 2016, as an eighth grader, she also led Annandale to a section championship.
"Last year was my first section race and I did not know what to expect," Fashant said. "This year I felt no pressure. I knew what to expect and I knew my competition."
Cross country meets are amazingly well-attended by parent, grandparents, other students and fans. Fashant loves seeing the spectators along the course.
"There were people at every spot on the course to cheer," she said. "I could see so many familiar faces from Annandale as I ran."
Massmann said that Fashant had not been feeling well the day before the race. On the way to Mora, he and the other coaches tried to figure out their strategy if Fashant could not race.
"We decided to let her warm up and see how she felt," Massmann said. "Never in our wildest dreams did we think Emma would be the meet medalist; third maybe."
He indicated that the consensus among his fellow coaches was that any of five teams could have taken the top two spots at the section meet.
"The competition was great," Massmann said. "Our girls ran really great."
Boys take third
The Cardinal boys placed third behind Mora and Heritage Christian Academy, with Groth and Heimkes punching individual tickets to state.
"I’m incredibly grateful to have been able to qualify for state," Heimkes said. "But it is hard not having made it as a boys team. We really are a family."
Groth led the Cards, placing third overall. It will be his third state trip and Heimkes’ second.
"We were beat by two very talented teams," Heimkes said. "There were a lot of really talented runners, many who ran much better than they had all season."
Section 5-1A championships – 5K
Spring Brook Golf Course – Mora
Boys team scores: Mora 72; Heritage Christian Academy 107; Annandale 111; St. Cloud Cathedral 113; Spectrum 151; Pine City 200; Watertown-Mayer 226; Rockford 236; Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 237; Rush City 254; Northwest Homeschool 291; Providence Academy 308; Maple Lake 333; Lester Prairie 347; Maranatha Christian 401; Milaca 419; Hinckley-Finlayson 462; North Lakes Academy 488.
Boys medalist: Cooper Lennox, Mora 16:30.23.
Annandale boys results: 3. Christopher Groth 16:58.5; 10. Justin Heimkes 17:14.4; 24. Payton Lund 18:05.7; 27. Isaac Herrmann 18:10; 47. Zack Sykora 18:25.8; 52. Jack Massmann 18:35.7; 53. Cam Edmonson 18:40.3.
Girls team scores: Annandale 63; Maple Lake 96; Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 101; Mora 104; Rockford 119; Providence Academy 123; Heritage Christian Academy 191; Milaca 209; Northwest Homeschool 260; Pine City 286; Spectrum 287; St. Cloud Cathedral 323; Hinckley-Finlayson 396; Lester Prairie 429; Watertown-Mayer 431; Mille Lacs 478; Rush City 517; North Lakes Academy 522; Marantha Christian 537; Braham 635.
Girls medalist: Emma Fashant, Annandale 19:32.3.
Annandale girls results: 1. Fashant 19:32.3; 11. Jessica Scheer 10:14.9; 14. Keily Wheeler 20:27; 16. Josey Marquette 20:37.4; 21. Emily Kasper 20:51.5; 31. Briana Canesi 21:09.3; 38. Avery Kenning 21:36.4.
Up next
■ Saturday, Nov. 4, is the Minnesota Class A cross country race at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Race time for Class 1A girls is 1 p.m., and the boys’ race begins at 2 p.m.
Sixteen boys teams and 16 girls teams will compete at the state meet. In addition to the seven runners from the top two teams from each of eight sections, there are also 64 individual runners, eight from each section, who qualified.
The following Annandale girls will be competing (seven running and two alternates): Briana Canesi, Emily Kasper, Maddie Marohn, Jessica Scheer, Mollie Schlafke, Keily Wheeler, Josey Marquette, Avery Kenning and Fashant.
This will be the first state meet for Schlafke, Kenning and Wheeler; the second state meet for Josey Marquette, Marohn and Fashant; the fourth for Briana Canesi; and five straight state meets for Scheer and Kasper.
While most of the girls have experience running a state meet at St. Olaf, Massmann does not want to see them be too relaxed.
"A good athlete will have some butterflies before any important event," he said. "If you are not nervous for a meet like this, you are not prepared."
This next week the coaches will try to prepare each runner with individual and team goals.
"There will be a lot of competition, but we will do our best," Massmann said.