International Falls’ girls cross country team will be competing in the Class A state meet a week from today at St. Olaf College after placing second at Thursday’s Section 7A meet in Cloquet.

The Broncos scored 88 points to finish runner-up behind Esko with 25. The top-two teams from the eight Section meets all qualify for the state meet, along with individual qualifiers not part of a qualifying team.

“Our goal every meet has been to get better with every race,” said Falls head coach Paul Hjelle. “(The girls) did that again (Thursday), and the end result is a trip to state.”

Of the other 12 Section 7A teams that had enough runners to count in the point standings, Crosby-Ironton was third with 112, followed by South Ridge (131) and Ely (170) in the top five.

The top individual girls finish for the Falls came from sophomore Sydney Raboin, who placed fifth on the 4,000-meter course at the Cloquet Country Club in 15 minutes, 37.2 seconds.

“Everyone gave it their all and did not give up,” Raboin said. “Our goal was to go to state and we achieved it.”

Esko captured the top-three individual finishes with junior Marissa Shady placing first in 14:43.3.

The other four Falls finishers who counted in the team standings included: seventh-grader Lexi Erickson, 13th in 16:12.4; junior Amber Harms, 15th in 16:23; sophomore Amy Auran, 21st in 16:49.7; and junior Rachel Foss, 36th in 17:27.8.

“We were all a little nervous because it was snowing when we got to the meet,” Harms said. “We put all of our issues out of our minds, and just went out to get second place.

“We’ve been working to get to state for many years, and our dream has finally come true.”

The state meet’s Class A girls race being held at St. Olaf College begins 1 p.m. Nov. 5.

In the boys competition, the Broncos failed to qualify for the state meet as a team or individually.

The Falls placed seventh in the team standings with 193 points. Mesabi East won the team title with 46, followed by Crosby-Ironton at 54 as the two qualifying teams.

Esko came in third with 69, Proctor placed fourth with 85 and Eveleth-Gilbert rounded out the top five with 115. Sixteen team had enough runners finish to count in the point standings.

The top individual finish for the Bronco boys came from junior Cade MacKay, who placed 34th on the 5,000-meter course in 18:19.5.

“I saw improvements in the guys team this year and I’m really glad for that,” MacKay said. "I’m hoping next year we will all step up greatly and work harder. I’d like to see some of us guys go to state as well.”

Two Proctor runners finished 1-2 with senior Romeo Benish placing first in 16:11.1, less than a second ahead of junior teammate Matt Welch.

The other four Falls boys runners who counted in the point standings included: senior Charlie Gordon, 36th in 18:26.1; junior Marco Griffith, 38th in 18:27.7; junior Aaron Geiss, 39th in 18:31; and sophomore Wyatt Ulrich, 51st in 18:57.4.

“I have had so much fun on the cross country team the past six years. This year has to have been the best, however,” Gordon said. “This Section 7 meet is the last meet I will ever run in high school. I am extremely proud of everyone, boys and girls.”