•  Song leads girls, while Palmer also earns state berth for boys

The Minnewaska Area girls cross-country team is headed back to state for the second time in the last four seasons after winning the Section 6A title, Thursday at Wadena-DC.

The Lakers used their team depth to earn first with 59 points, edging runner-up Staples-Motley by 15 points and third-place Wadena-DC by 33.

It’s sweet revenge for Minnewaska Area, which qualified to state as a team in 2021 before placing third at the section meet the past two seasons.

“The girls are ecstatic about making it to state,” said an elated head coach Jennifer Johnsrud.  “We set a goal early in the season to get to state, but we knew beating WDC and Staples-Motley would be no easy feat.  I think these girls will remember this season for a long time and treasure the friendships they have made.  We’re just so excited.”

Also earning a state berth was Zach Palmer, who placed ninth in the boys race and edged a runner from Sauk Centre for the final state berth by under two seconds.

The State Cross-Country Meet is set for Saturday, Nov. 2 on the University of Minnesota campus.  This will be the second state trip ever for the Minnewaska Area cross-country program.

In addition to all the success during the race, Linda Mills was also named the Section 6A Assistant Coach of the Year and Jennifer Johnsrud was named the Section 6A Coach of the Year.

Section 6A Meet

The Minnewaska Area girls cross-country team had five runners place among the top 20 on the way to winning the Section 6A team title, Thursday at WDC.  The Lakers totaled 59 points, while Staples-Motley, which had the individual champion, was second with 74 points and WDC was third with 92 out of 15 full teams.

“Our girls team is like a family; they support each other, build each other up and push each other in practice and in competition,” coach Johnsrud said.  “They ran all summer together and are a tight-knit group.

“They continue to improve as the season progresses.  The young girls push the upperclassmen to continually improve and the upperclassmen are up for the challenge.  The girls celebrate each others’ successes and console disappointments.  It’s just a great group to be a part of.”

Audrey Brownell, of SM, won the title with a time of 18:33, which was 1:17 faster than the runner up time of 19:50 by Norah Froslee of Parkers Prairie.  Those were the only two runners to go under 20 minutes in the girls race.

Nori Song led the Lakers with a time of 20:16 to place ninth overall, while Piper Citrowske-Lee was 11th (20:26), Lauryn Ankeny was 14th (20:44), Jillian Deutsch earned 16th (20:56) and Sydney Ankeny placed 20th (21:01).

Also running for the Lakers and joining them at the state meet are Maia Larson (25th, 21:09) and Ella Larson (43rd, 22:07).  There were a total of 109 runners in the girls meet.

•  Also advancing to state is Minnewaska Area senior Zach Palmer, who placed ninth overall with a time of 17:14 to nab the final state berth in the boys meet.  “Zach was very motivated to run well after feeling disappointed last year at the section meet; being so close but not quite making it,” coach Johnsrud said.  “He has really run well the last few meets and is peaking at the right time.  He was focused and gave his best effort and it paid off.”

Sauk Centre earned first in the team competition with 61 points, while Bertha-Hewitt was second with 85, Staples-Motley was third with 105, WDC was fourth with 117 and the Lakers were fifth with 145 points out of 15 full teams.  The top two teams and top six other individuals earn state berths in cross-country.

Palmer fought off a runner from Sauk Centre for the final state berth, finishing 2.4 seconds ahead of that runner.

Ian Mills was next for the Lakers with a time of 17:48 to place 16th overall, while Luke Hoffmann was right behind in 17th place with a time of 17:52, followed by Deitrich Reidenbach in 45th (18:57), Carter Dinsmore in 59th (19:46) and Ryan Koehntop in 78th place (20:37).

While the boys team has five seniors on this year’s team, the girls do not have any seniors.

A little history . . .

For a little history, the Lakers girls have won six-straight WCC titles, beginning in 2019 and continuing through the 2024 season.

Minnewaska Area had a cross-country program from the fall of 1996 through the 2011 fall season.  The program was discontinued for six years before being started against in 2018.  Jennifer Johnsrud coached the program for the first seven years before Bob Mork took over for the next nine seasons.  After six off years, Johnsrud took over again in 2018 and has coached the last seven seasons.

Section 6A Meet

Girls varsity team results:  (1) Minnewaska Area 59  (2) Staples-Motley 74  (3) Wadena-DC 92  (4) Bertha-Hewitt 151  (5) West Central Area 183, Sauk Centre 216, Melrose 221, Alex Community Christian 229, ABE 235, OTC 242, Border West 250, Morris Area-CA 290, Osakis 316, Pillager 320, LPGE 323

Girls top five and state qualifiers:  (1) Audrey Brownell, SM 18:33  (2) Norah Froslee, Par Prairie 19:50  (3) Amber Collins, WDC 20:02  (4) Julia Schmidt, Border West 20:05  (5) Katie Kolzner, Hillcrest 20:09  (6) Alea Holst, SM 20:11  (7) Victoria Linscheid, SC 20:13  (8) Kahlen Suelflow SC 20:13

Minnewaska Area times:   (9) Nori Song 20:16  (11) Piper Citrowske-Lee 20:26  (14) Lauryn Ankeny 20:44  (16) Jillian Deutsch 20:56  (20) Sydney Ankeny 21:01  (25) Maia Larson 21:09  (43) Ella Larson 22:07 . . . (109 total runners)

Boys varsity team results:    (1) Sauk Centre 61  (2) Bertha-Hewitt 85  (3) Staples-Motley 105  (4) Wadena-DC 117  (5) Minnewaska 145, Melrose 173, WCA 202, OTC 229, Osakis 244, BKMS 260, ABE 269, Ortonville 277, LPGE 330, Morris Area-CA 370, Pillager 402

Boys top five and state qualifiers:  (1) Brady Rach, BH 16:24  (2) Carter Kjesbo, WCA 16:30  (3) Cadyn Vanderwal, Orton 16:31  (4) Logan Wiehoff, SC 16:33  (5) Jacob Drevlow, SC 16:35  (6) Zackery Bruder, Osakis 16:38  (7) Peter Newark, OTC 16:43  (8) Grant Nelson, WDC 16:47  (9) Zach Palmer, Minnewaska 17:14

Minnewaska Area times:   (9) Zach Palmer 17:14  (16) Ian Mills 17:48  (17) Luke Hoffmann 17:52  (45) Dietrich Reidenbach 18:57  (59) Carter Dinsmore 19:46  (78) Ryan Koehntop 20:37   . . . (110 runners)