Devastating news came to the St. Michael-Albertville girls cross country team in late August when it was learned that defending conference champion Lizzy Heil would not be able to compete in cross country for the entire fall season.
Heil, a senior and four-time All-Conference runner who twice earned All-State honors, sustained a leg injury last spring that re-occurred just prior to this year’s cross country season.
Despite the absence of a veteran standout runner, the Knight girls overcame adversity to win a third consecutive Mississippi-8 Conference title Oct. 18 in Chisago Lakes.
The Knight girls scored 32 points to finish ahead of Monticello (49), Buffalo (112), North Branch (130), Cambridge-Isanti (140), Princeton (163), Rogers (167), Chisago Lakes (168), St. Francis (269) and Big Lake (271).
Sophomore Annalise Davis led the Knights by capturing the individual conference title, running the 5K in a time of 19:25, 21 seconds ahead of runner-up Rhianna Rinke of North Branch.
The Knights had six girls earn All-Conference distinction by placing in the top 20. Besides Davis, the All-Conference recipients included Mia Salas (5-20:08), Paige McAloon (7-20:17), Anna Belair (8-20:25), Erin Hamilton (11-20:44) and Kaydan Geiger (16-21:12).
For Davis, Salas and McAloon it was their third year of earning All-Conference honors and the second for Geiger. Earning Honorable Mention All-Conference was Megan Kucera (25-21:48), Gretchen Manderfeld (28-22:00) and Anna Felt (29-22:05).
“The girls had a great effort to win the conference meet without Lizzy,” said coach Gregg Greeno. “Annalise set the pace and the tone by taking control of the race from the start. All nine of our varsity girls ran quality races.”
Greeno noted how it has been tough on Heil to watch the girls compete without her. He adds, “She has such a tremendous, positive influence on these girls, even in watching from the sidelines. She’s been such a great leader for this team and continues to do so.”
Coach Heather Strait added that runners have to keep that edge for sections and hopefully state. She adds, “It’s easier said than done, but we can still get better between now and season’s end.”
The STMA junior varsity girls won the conference team title in dominating fashion, scoring a low total of 19 points, far ahead of Buffalo’s 72 points.
Ninth-grader Mia Rooker won going away with a time of 21:53. Next came Ella Windel (3-22:41), Taylor Petersen (4-22:43), Madison Lenarz (5-22:59), Belle Nyhus (6-23:09), Mackenzie Bourgerie (8-23:34), Claire Pelant (9-23:36) and Mackenzie Roemer (10-23:49).
The STMA seventh and eighth grade girls also won the team title. The top three spots were claimed by Allie Weimer, Jessica Immer and Katie Sigerud.
On the boys’ side, the varsity placed second behind Buffalo. Four Knights earned All-Conference honors. Alex Wolseth (3-17:03), Jonah Breuer (4-17:14) and Carter Knaus (6-17:20) earned All-Conference for the second consecutive year. Joey Och (20-18:08) had a personal best time in earning All-Conference for the first time.
Luke Petersen (21-18:08) and Jack Peterson (26-18:18) were Honorable Mention All-Conference. Rounding out the varsity were Tyler Bartholomew (33-18:28), Tommy Hamilton (46-18:51) and Michael Youngberg (49-18:58).
“Our boys were shooting for fourth straight titles, but were denied by Buffalo,” said Greeno. “We had three of the top six runners and our fourth and fifth guys had their best races of the year. So we’re happy with the team’s effort.”
Coach Kevin Crocker added, “It’s neat to see us still improving. These guys work hard in practice every day and put in time on the weekends on their own, and it shows.”
The boys junior varsity won the team title, paced by the second place finish of Jeremy Backman (19:12). Next came Wyatt Bice (5-19:21), Alex McAloon (6-19:22), Mitch Meilahn (11-19:40) and Ethan Knutson (13-19:44).
The Junior High boys placed third in the 10-team race led by Drew Nylander in ninth place.
The Section 5AA meet is Thursday Oct. 27 at Anoka High School. The schedule includes varsity girls at 3:15 p.m., varsity boys at 3:55 p.m., JV boys at 4:35 p.m. and JV girls at 5:05 p.m.
The top two teams and top eight individuals not on a state team advance to state set for Nov. 5 at St. Olaf College.