By John RittenhouseThursday’s Section 3A Cross Country Championships at the Adrian Area Country Club proved to be a rewarding meet for two programs representing the Star Herald coverage area.With four team berths in the state field up for grabs, three went to teams from Adrian and Luverne.Add to the mix another LHS runner who qualified for the state meet individually, and the end result is record representation from area schools when the Minnesota State Class A Cross Country Championships take place at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday.The day was a history-making one for Adrian’s program, which won the section team titles in the boys’ and girls’ competitions.This is the first time any AHS girls’ squad has qualified for state competition of any kind.For the AHS boys, it will be the sixth time they’ve earned the right to run at state. The last time the Dragons qualified was 1999, when they shared a program with Edgerton."I have nothing but praise for our kids," said AHS coach Doug Petersen, who was named the Section 3A Girls’ and Boys’ Coach of the year after the meet."Their hard work and dedication is really showing right now."Joining Adrian in girls’ team competition at the state meet will be Luverne, which earned its fourth consecutive trip to Northfield by placing second at the section meet for the fourth straight year.AHS and LHS finished first and second with 29 and 73 points in the girls’ field. The Cardinals easily outscored Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin, which finished third with 116 points, by 43 counters."Our goal from the beginning of the year was to make the state meet our final destination," said LHS coach Bruce Gluf."The kids have risen to meet that challenge four years in a row now. A lot of people didn’t pay much attention to us this year, which was all right with us. We ran well enough to get to Northfield again, and that’s the only thing that matters."LHS senior Thomas Pinkal also earned a trip to Northfield by placing fourth individually with a time of 17:16.The top 10 finishers in section competition advance to state, and Pinkal, who actually tripped at one point of the race, is one of them."Thomas ran a great race," Gluf said. "I think he was a little disappointed to place fourth, but he shouldn’t be. He’s moving on."So are the Adrian boys, who outscored Redwood Valley 60-76 to win their first post-season title since the 1983 boys won the Region 2 championship.With Brandon Bullerman placing eighth in 17:35, Lee Stover 10th in 17:48 and Ethan Wieneke 11th in 17:55 to lead the way, the Dragons stunned coach Petersen by claiming the team title with a 16-point margin."Actually, I was surprised how easily it happened for us on the boys’ side," Petersen said. "We knew we had to win with our depth, and we were able to do that."Jarod Boltjes and Jordan Pater capped the scoring for the AHS boys by placing 15th and 20th in 18:11 and 18:25 respectively.Jack Albertson and Nathan Reyne finished 22nd and 25th in 18:30 and 18:37 for the Dragons.The Adrian girls, the state’s No. 1-ranked team, turned in a dominating performance featuring four athletes placing in the top-10 runners."We had five girls finish the race with times under 16:00," Petersen said. "That’s awesome running.""The girls saw what the boys did during their race, and they were ready to go after it when their time came to run."As she has all season, Morgan Lynn led the Dragons by winning the individual title with a time of 15:01.Erica Thier finished third in 15:28, Megan Henning fifth in 15:30, Leslie Stover ninth in 15:49 and Hailee Heitkamp 11th in 15:59 to round out the scoring.McCall Heitkamp and Natasha Slater placed 29th and 48th with times of 16:59 and 17:58 for AHS.Strong individual performances by Lexi Heitkamp and Debbie Schneiderman carried the Luverne girls to their second-place finish as a team.Heitkamp placed second individually with a time of 15:24. Schneiderman finished eighth in 15:40.Katie Schneiderman placed 16th in 16:19, Kayla Raddle 17th in 16:22 and Kelsey Dooyema 30th in 16:59 to round out the scoring for the Cards.Amanda Kannas and Rachel Saum finished 32nd and 44th with times of 17:06 and 17:44 during the event."I give all of the credit to these kids," Gluf said. "They are the ones who wanted it, and they are the ones who put in all of the hard work."With Pinkal setting the pace, the Luverne boys placed fourth in a 16-team field with 126 points.Tom Ward made a bid to qualify for state individually before placing 11th in 17:58.Steve Schneiderman finished 14th in 18:08, Craig Oeding 50th in 19:39 and David Nelson 54th in 19:45 to cap the team scoring.Brandon Schultz and Eric Stegemann placed 80th in 20:47 and 82nd in 20:50 for the Cards."I felt bad for the senior boys who won’t get the chance to run at state again this year," Gluf said. "Overall, I think the boys had a good season."Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth fielded complete teams for both varsity races.The Patriot boys placed sixth with 174 points. The girls finished ninth with 251 points.Halden Van Wyhe led the H-BC-E boys by placing 18th in 18:22.Tyler Paulsen finished 26th in 18:39, Dustin Verhey 31st in 18:49, Brent Kramer 49th in 19:37 and John Sandbulte 59th in 19:51 to make contributions to the team effort.Cody Penning and Tom Scholten placed 63rd in 20:08 and 72nd in 20:32 for the Patriots.May Mann turned in the top effort for the Patriot girls by placing 39th in 17:22.Rayna Sandoval finished 42nd in 17:30, Jill Weitgenant 54th in 18:16, Courtney Hoogendoorn 55th in 18:17 and Heather Esselink 66th in 18:36 to cap the scoring for H-BC-E.Jayme Plimpton placed 81st in 19:19 for the Patriots.Girls’ standings: Adrian 29, Luverne 73, ML-B-O 116, Windom 137, RWV 144, Martin County West 200, Springfield-Cedar Mountain 200, Pipestone 250, H-BC-E 251, Murray County Central 272, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 291, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 321, Southwest United 324, Jackson County Central 330, Buffalo Lake-Hector-BOLD 359, Renville County West 388, Lakeview 513.Boys’ standings: Adrian 60, RWV 76, Southwest Christian 122, Luverne 126, RCW 155, H-BC-E 174, MCW 230, MCC 230, JCC 235, S-CM 240, Windom 254, SWU 257, ML-B-O 356, W-WG-RRC 364, Pipestone 368, BL-H-BOLD 372.
