By John RittenhouseThe members of Adrian High School’s girls’ cross country team must be a tough lot to please.As if becoming the first female AHS athletic squad to qualify for state competition wasn’t enough, the Dragons had chips on their shoulders Saturday entering the Minnesota State Class A Cross Country Championships in Northfield.It was clear the Dragons weren’t satisfied just being in the 16-team field. They wanted more satisfaction than that, and they went out and got it by capturing the school’s first team state championship of any kind.With three runners earning positions on the All-State Team (the first 25 finishers in state competition earn the honors) leading the way, Adrian came out on the winning end of a tight competition with Staples-Motley. The Dragons nipped second-place S-M 63-71 in the team standings, making their dream of winning a state championship some true."This was a goal of our girls all season long," said AHS coach Doug Petersen."To their credit, they stayed focused on their goal. On Saturday they went out and reached it."The Dragons, who fielded a young team consisting of two juniors, three freshmen and two seventh-graders, ran like veteran competitors at St. Olaf College.After trailing S-M by what Petersen said was a considerable margin in the first 2,000 meters of a 4,000-meter race, the Adrian team didn’t panic. Instead, the Dragons rallied in the last half of the race to nip the Cardinals from S-M by eight points."We knew S-M would be one of the teams we needed to beat, but we were cautiously optimistic about our chances," Petersen said."We were behind quite a bit during the first mile and one-quarter of the race, but our conditioning and determination came through for us in the end."He said the win was gratifying for everyone."To have this group of kids, with only two of them having run at the state meet before, come back and win says a lot about their personalities," he said. "It makes all the sweat, all the nagging injuries they experienced and all of the summer training these kids put in worthwhile."It takes an entire team to win a state title in cross country, but individuals need to excel, too. In Adrian’s case, freshmen Morgan Lynn and Leslie Stover and junior Megan Henning turned in All-State performances while leading the Dragons to victory.Lynn, who placed ninth at the state meet as an individual qualifier last season, bettered that effort by finishing third in 14:46.9 on Saturday.Competing in her first state meet, Henning provided what Petersen described as the most surprising effort by placing 13th in 15:21.7. Stover, who placed 38th at state as an individual qualifier last season, finished 22nd in 15:29.8 this time."We thought we might get three girls on the All-State team, and that’s what happened. We really got some great performances from all of our girls. Six of our seven runners had personal-best times," Petersen said.Freshman Erica Thier and seventh-grader Hailee Heitkamp ran well together to place 34th and 35th in 15:41.4 and 15:42.1 respectively.Junior McCall Heitkamp placed 95th in 16:44.3, and seventh-grader Natasha Slater finished 133rd in 17:45.4.Petersen credited all of the team members committed to the cause of winning a state championship, and he made sure the moment wasn’t lost when the Dragons were honored in the post-race ceremony."I told the kids to take it all in and to remember this moment," he said. "I reminded them that there are not a lot of kids who get to experience this moment."AHS boys place eighthThe Adrian boys also turned in a strong performance as a state-qualifying team Saturday.The Dragons placed eighth in a 16-team field with 234 points during their seventh appearance at the state meet as a team.It was the best team effort turned in by the three Petersen-coached teams to reach the state classic. Before Petersen became the AHS coach, Adrian reached the state meet three times, with a sixth-place effort in 1980 being the team’s top finish."Our boys accomplished a lot this season. It was an amazing year to watch the progress they made," Petersen said.He said the boys surpassed the goals he had set for them Saturday."We came into the meet as the state’s sixth-ranked team, but I told the kids that might be a little high. The best finish of any of the teams I brought to state before was 13th. I thought if we could do a little bit better than that this year, it would be good. If we could finish in the Top 10, I thought that it would be fantastic. Placing eighth was a very pleasing finish for me."Junior Ethan Wieneke set the pace for the Dragons by placing 52nd in 17:18.8.Seniors Lee Stover and Brandon Bullerman placed 63rd and 80th with respective 17:24.4 and 17:39.4 times, while sophomore Jarod Boltjes and junior Aaron Mormann finished 94th and 104th in 17:53 and 18:00.2.Eighth-graders Jordan Pater and Nathan Reyne finished 113th and 139th in 18:09.6 and 18:47.7.Petersen is already looking ahead to next year’s season."We lose two good kids in Lee (Stover) and Brandon (Bullerman), and those will be some tough shoes to fill," he said. "We do have some good younger kids in the program, so I think we can be as strong, or stronger, on the boys’ side next year."Girls standings: Adrian 63, S-M 71, Perham 109, Blake School 130, Luverne 146, Providence Academy 163, Rochester Lourdes 214, Lac qui Parle Valley 220, Fairmont 266, East Grand Forks 268, La Crescent 281, Esko 283, Blue Earth 302, St. Cloud Cathedral 314, International Falls 326, Mille Lacs 248.Boys standings: St. Cloud Cathedral 75, Rochester Lourdes 99, Warroad 102, Perham 144, Blue Earth 183, Pine City 191, Annandale 196, Adrian 234, Watertown Mayer 247, Redwood Valley 251, Lone Prairie-Grey Eagle 268, Fairmont 269, Minnehaha Academy 271, Lewiston-Altura-Rushford-Peterson 295, Eveleth-Gilbert 315, Staples-Motley 334.
