St. MIchael-Albertville Cross Country Heads to State

Thecross country community will be well-represented at the boys and girls state meet on Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

The St. Michael-Albertville girls team, led by Maddi Sjelin and Presley Norby, qualified for the state meet by winning the Section 5AA championship, and the Knights will be competing for the state crown at 10 a.m.

“All of our girls had their best race of the year, on the same day”, said Knights coach Gregg Greeno’s following the possibly surprising Section 5AA title.

Assistant coach Amy Norby, who handles much of the girls’ team coaching duties, said she could see something special coming.

 “It may have been a surprise to the other teams we were Section champs, but the girls have been working extremely hard and we had our best lineup that we’ve had all season, running in the Section Meet,” she said “So, we knew the girls had it in them. To their credit, they got pumped up and got it done.”

Sjelin clocked a time of 15:03 for the 4K, while Norby was two places behind in 15:05, both personal best time.

“It was so exciting,” Greeno said. In a cross country meet, you don’t know, right when it’s over, who won or what place you got as a team. We thought we competed hard and did pretty well, but when the results got posted and we found out we were No. 1, there was a lot of elation. It was fun. The girls really left it out on the course, in terms of effort, but I really credit coach Norby for much of the team’s success. She looked after, coached, talked to, and basically was in charge of the girls, this season. They’re peaking at the right time.”

Greeno said he expects some tough challenges at state, especially with Apple Valley and Monticello in Class 2A, two teams the Knights have finished behind this season.

“The State Meet is so tough, especially in class AA. We’re hoping the girls can duplicate or even better their Section times at State, but it’ll be tough.”

On the boys’ side, the team finished third, but St. Michael-Albertville’s Brendan Sage will represent the Knights’ boys team. He placed 1^st overall at the Section 5AA meet and will race at 11 a.m.

Brendan Sage’s individual crown marks the second time an STMA runner has won an individual Section title in class AA, the other being Dan Greeno in 2005.

The team just missed joining him.

“The boys did all they could, in terms of the way they raced, the way they worked hard everyday in practice, and the way they prepared for the season–even before the season began,” Greeno said. “It was such a fun season. The journey was fun. A great bunch of kids, with outstanding senior leadership.” 

RACE INFORMATION

Saturday, Nov. 5

St. Olaf College, Northfield

Class AA girls: 10 a.m.

Class AA boys: 11 a.m.

Class A girls: 1 p.m.

Class A boys: 2 p.m.