Christianson ends illustrious career with 11th-place finish

CLOQUET — International Falls thought they had a legitimate shot Thursday at advancing to the state championships, but finished a distant fourth out of 11 teams in the Section 7A meet at a wet Cloquet Country Club.

“I think we thought we were going to do a lot better than we did,” Broncos freshman Amber Harms said.

Head coach Paul Hjelle agree and was surprised to see the scores so far apart.

“I kind of thought it would be a battle for second place, but I was obviously wrong after seeing the results.”

At least they didn’t fail to qualify by only a point.

A year removed from finishing third to Esko by one point — the top two finishers qualify for state — the Broncos were still left wondering what could have been with another close finish.

Stephanie Christianson finished 11th in her final race, avoiding the state meet by one runner as only the top 10 advance.

“It is (disappointing), but I’m happy with my time. I gave it my all,” she said.

Her time — 16 minutes, 17.7 seconds — was her best of the season.

“She’s one of the few girls I can think of who hasn’t slowed down after ninth, 10th grade,” Hjelle said. “She’s been very consistent and you don’t see that often.”

Christianson’s teammates also hated to see her miss the state meet.

“She’s a really good leader and is the No. 1 on the team,” Harms said.

That said, Christianson is the lone runner who is graduating in the spring, which brings some more optimism for future seasons.

“If the girls put some miles on this summer, we could get back to the top two,” Hjelle said.

Team results — 1, Esko, 54; 2, Cook County-Two Harbors, 59; 3, Crosby-Ironton, 117; 4, I. Falls, 127; 5, Proctor, 139; 6, Ely, 141; 7, Eveleth-Gilbert, 173; 8, Cromwell-Floodwood, 187; 9, Virginia, 204; 10, Carlton/CCA, 246; 11, Mesabi East, 265.

I. Falls individual results

11. Stephanie Christianson 16:17.7

27. Amber Harms 17:24.6

29. Amy Auran 17:26.5

33. Rachel Foss 17:35.1

41. Shelby Wolden 18:04.2

50. Bailey Bernard 18:14.0

64. Sierra Ruelle 18:55.2

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