After having one girl qualify individually for last year’s Class A state cross country meet, Falls head coach Paul Hjelle said one goal in 2011 is to have the entire girls team qualify for state by winning the Section 7A meet.
“We’ll settle for a second place, too, but it will be disappointing if we don’t make it to state,” Hjelle said.
Sophomore Amy Auran, who placed 10th at the 2010 Section 7A meet to qualify for state, is among Falls’ top returning girls runners, along with junior captain Amber Harms, sophomore Sydney Raboin and junior Rachel Foss, who finished last year’s Section meet in 15th, 16th and 28th place, respectively.
As a team, the Bronco girls placed third at the Section meet behind Esko and Crosby-Ironton, which Hjelle said are two teams to watch out for this season.
While the depth on the 2011 girls team appears to be better than the past few years, Hjelle said, “We need to work as a team and not as individuals on the girls team.”
On the boys team, Hjelle said a lot of veteran runners are returning, including senior captains Charlie Gordon and John Bartkowski, juniors Marco Griffith and Cade MacKay and sophomore Wyatt Ulrich.
Though the boys team comes into the 2011 season with a lack of miles run this summer, Hjelle said “with time we should be able to put a pretty good boys team together.”
He said goals for the boys team include being competitive in every meet and challenging for a top-five finish at the Section meet.
Hjelle said he expects Esko, Crosby-Ironton and Mesabi East to be the teams to watch out for on the boys schedule this season.
He said he is concerned the most in 2011 about an injury to a top runner that could set back any team.
Hjelle said he is looking forward this season to seeing the boys and girls teams getting stronger as the season progresses and meeting individual goals.
