For the second year in a row, the entire International Falls girls cross country team will be competing at the Class A state cross country meet at St. Olaf College.
The Broncos placed runner-up at Thursday’s Section 7A meet amid snowy weather at the Cloquet Country Club to earn a return trip to next Saturday’s state meet as one of the 16 teams statewide — two from each of the eight sections, not including the individual qualifiers.
“It has been a long time since we’ve had a girls team make it back-to-back to the state meet,” said Falls head coach Paul Hjelle. “This is an accomplishment they will remember the rest of their lives.”
Esko repeated as the Section 7A champion with the top team score of 45, followed by the Falls with 103. All five Esko runners who counted in the team standings finished in the top 20.
The Broncos edged out the third-place South Ridge by 13 points for the final state-qualifying team spot. Mesabi East came in fourth with 132, while Crosby-Ironton rounded out the top five at 134.
“We knew the other girls teams would be gunning for us because of Esko’s team being so good,” Hjelle said. “Our girls responded and ran the race they needed to. It wasn’t easy though. South Ridge, Mesabi East and Crosby-Ironton all wanted it, too.
“Times were slower because of the snow and howling winds, but we battled through it and did what we needed to do.”
The top individual finish by a Falls runner came from eighth-grader Lexi Erickson, who placed fourth on the 4,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 50.9 seconds, 20.6 seconds behind the top time of Esko senior Marisa Shady.
“The team did really good and we accomplished our goal of going to state,” Erickson said. “The snow and the wind were hard to run in, but it was something different.”
The Broncos had another runner finish in the top 10 when junior Sydney Raboin placed seventh in 16:04.4.
The three other Falls runners whose finishes counted toward the team standings included: junior Amy Auran, 22nd in 17:05; senior Amber Harms, 28th in 17:13.7; and senior Rachel Foss, 48th in 18:09.1.
“Amy Auran was a difference maker for us (Thursday),” Hjelle said. “Beating South Ridge’s No. 3 and 4 runners at the finish was a four-point swing in our favor. We needed that kind of effort (Thursday).”
The Class A girls state meet Falls will be competing in at St. Olaf College begins next Saturday at 11 a.m.
“Amber and I really wanted to go to state this year, it being our last chance,” Foss said. “We are so proud of our team for making it two years back-to-back, and now we are just hoping to place better in state than last year.”
The Broncos had placed 16th at the 2011 state meet.
Bronco boys ninth
Falls’ boys didn’t qualify anyone individually or as team for the 2012 state meet as the Broncos came in ninth with 215 points.
“With a little luck (Thursday), we could have been in the top five, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Hjelle said.
Proctor’s boys won the Section 7A title with the top score of 53, edging out runner-up Esko by two points. Crosby-Ironton came 16 points short of the final state team qualifying spot in third place.
Falls senior boys runner Marco Griffith described the meet competition as “really gnarly.”
“Everyone ran really hard and we didn’t quite make our goal, but I’m still proud of the team and thankful for the humbling experience,” Griffith said.
The best individual finish for the Falls came from senior Cade MacKay, who placed 23rd on the 5,000-meter course in 18:33.4, 2:14.4 behind the Section champion, Proctor senior Matt Welch.
The four other Bronco runners who counted toward the team standings included: senior Logan Veillieux, 37th in 19:09.1, Griffith, 39th in 19:19.4; junior Wyatt Ulrich, 61st in 20:05.8; and senior Corin Wenger, 62nd in 20:08.7.
“My goal all season was to run at Sections, so I was pretty happy to be here (Thursday),” Wenger said. “I wasn’t looking forward to running in the muck and snow, but once the race started it was actually pretty fun, and I ran fairly good. It was a good race to finish my senior cross country season.”
Hjelle said losing six seniors on the boys team after this season “will really make it hard for us next year, but at the same time it will open up the door for some new leadership, too.”
Section 7A meet
GIRLS
Team scores: Esko 45, International Falls 103, South Ridge 116, Mesabi East 132, Crosby-Ironton 134, Ely 157, Cook County-Two Harbors 188, Moose Lake-Willow River 206, Eveleth-Gilbert 220, Marshall 255, Carlton 278, Virginia 285, Proctor 322, Cromwell-Floodwood 357, Deer River/Northland 387.
International Falls runners: 4. Lexi Erickson, 15:50.9; 7. Sydney Raboin, 16:04.4; 22. Amy Auran, 17:05; 28. Amber Harms, 17:13.7; 48. Rachel Foss, 18:09.1; 69. Shelby Wolden, 19:16.1; 84. Lexi Edwards, 20:18.4.
BOYS
Team scores: Proctor 53, Esko 55, Crosby-Ironton 71, Virginia 134, Cook County-Two Harbors 189, Eveleth-Gilbert 191, Mesabi East 195, Marshall 208, International Falls 215, Ely 275, South Ridge 301, Moose Lake-Willow River 304, Carlton 326, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 326, Deer River/Northland 430, Mountain Iron-Buhl 497, Wrenshall 508, Chisholm 547.
International Falls runners: 23. Cade MacKay, 18:33.4; 37. Logan Veillieux, 19:09.1; 39. Marco Griffith, 19:19.4; 61. Wyatt Ulrich, 20:05.8; 62. Corin Wenger, 20:08.7; 68. Cole Tatsak, 20:19.6; 69. Cody Tatsak, 20:19.8.
