By John RittenhouseLuverne cross country coach Bruce Gluf received an honor after Thursday’s Section 3A Cross Country Championships in Adrian, but he didn’t think the timing was appropriate.He took awards platform after being named the Section 3A Girls’ Cross Country Co-Coach of the Year, but Gluf would have preferred remaining in the background.With both the LHS boys’ and girls’ teams qualifying for the Minnesota State Class A Cross Country Championships in Northfield for the second straight year, Gluf thought all of the attention should be directed toward his runners instead of on himself."I shouldn’t have gotten anything," Gluf said after the meet. "It’s the kids who should get the credit, because they are the ones who put in all the hard work and log all the miles. I just stand around holding a clipboard and tell them what to do. I just can’t say enough about these kids."Gluf, however, deserves a lot of credit for turning Luverne’s program into one of Southwest Minnesota’s best in recent years. Luverne has been represented at the state meet for the last seven seasons, and that number will improve to eight straight years when the Cardinals compete at St. Olaf College this Saturday.Just like the 2003 season, the Luverne teams earned their trips to state by placing second in 17-team fields at the section event.The top two teams and top 10 individual finishers advance to state from the section level.The Luverne girls, who will make their third straight appearance at the state meet as a team, moved on by a narrow margin. The Cardinals nipped Martin County West 86-88 to finish second behind Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI (77) in the team standings.Luverne’s boys finished 20 points behind (50-70) champion Southwest Christian in the standings, but the Cardinals outscored third-place Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth by 67 points (70-137) for the second spot."We went to the meet thinking we could win both the boys’ and girls’ divisions," Gluf admitted. "It just didn’t happen. But it doesn’t really matter. Only four teams from our section are going to state, and two of them are wearing Luverne uniforms. That’s just a great accomplishment."The Cardinal girls needed five strong performances, including three top-10 efforts, to nip MCW for second place.Lexi Heitkamp set the pace for LHS by placing third in 13:39, while Amanda Saum and Kayla Raddle finished fifth and sixth with respective 15:46 and 15:47 times.Kelsey Dooyema and Amanda Kannas turned in point-scoring runs by placing 33rd and 39th with 17:15 and 17:23 efforts.Kristy Heikes (59th in 18:11) and Amanda Kannas (39th in 17:23) ran without influencing the scoring for LHS.A well-balanced team effort carried the Cardinal boys to their second straight appearance at the state meet as a team Thursday.A total of nine places separated the top-five finishers at meet’s end.Tom Ward led the Cardinals by placing ninth in 17:44.Thomas Pinkal placed 13th in 18:06, Nick Otten 14th in 18:07, Steve Schneiderman 16th in 18:11 and Dusty Antoine 18th in 18:26.Travis Halfmann and David Nelson placed 31st and 62nd in 18:58 and 20:12 without influencing the team effort.Luverne’s runners will compete Saturday morning in Northfield. The girls run at 10 a.m. and the boys run at 11 a.m.The LHS girls placed 13th and the boys 15th in their respective fields at last year’s state meet."We’re just going to go up there and give it our best shot. Hopefully we can improve on our finishes from last year," Gluf concluded.Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth and Adrian gained representation at the state meet during Thursday’s section event, too.H-BC-E senior Tyler Bush, a two-time state qualifier and two-time all-state performer, will represent the Patriots at the state meet.Adrian eighth-graders Morgan Lynn, who qualified for state as a seventh-grader, and Leslie Stover are Dragons who earned berths in the state classic.Bush led the Patriot boys to their third-place finish as a team by placing third individually with a time of 17:29.Kale Wiertzema (17th in 18:13), Dustin Verhey (30th in 18:56), Derek Haak (40th overall, 38th adjusted finish in 19:12) and Tyler Paulson (53rd overall, 51st adjusted finish in 19:42) round out the scoring for H-BC-E.John Sandbulte and Brent Kramer placed 77th and 81st in 20:33 and 20:41 without contributing to the team effort.Lynn and Stover helped the Adrian girls place fourth as a team while extending their seasons at the section meet.Lynn, who placed 38th at the state meet last season, finished second individually with a time of 15:34 on her own course Thursday. Only Tracy-Mliroy-Balaton junior Jillian Tholen beat Lynn to the finish-line with a time of 15:02.Stover will make her first appearance at the state meet after placing 10th with a time of 16:05 during the section race.Erica Thier (19th in 16:41), Megan Henning (21st in 16:44) and Kelly Banck (61st in 18:18) helped the Dragons place fourth in the team standings.Krissi Thier finished 77th in 18:50 without impacting the scoring.The Adrian boys finished the 2004 season by placing fourth as a team with 160 points.Lee Stover led the Dragons with a 19th-place effort in 18:29.Brandon Bullerman (27th overall, 26th adjusted place in 18:53), Ethan Wieneke (34th overall, 32nd adjusted place), Jarod Boltjes (38th overall, 36th adjusted place in 19:09) and Robert Swayze (49th overall, 47th adjusted place in 19:25) padded Adrian’s team tally.Aaron Mormann and Bryce Antelope placed 51st and 54th in 19:37 and 19:46 without influencing the scoring.The H-BC-E girls capped their season by placing eighth as a team with 180 points.Cassi Tilstra set the pace for the Patriots by placing 13th in 16:22.Mya Mann (25th in 16:55), Rayna Sandoval (43rd in 17:30), Amanda Tilstra (44th in 17:33) and Ashley Bucher (55th in 18:01) made contributions to the team effort.Amanda Connors and Jill Weitgenant placed 57th and 60th in 18:05 and 18:17 without impacting the team’s performance.Boys’ team standings: SWC 50, Luverne 70, H-BC-E 137, Adrian 160, Redwood Valley 163, Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 175, Jackson County Central 181, Windom 211, Springfield-Cedar Mountain 241, Renville County West 266, Southwest United 289, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 289, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s-Sleepy Eye-New Ulm Cathedral 300, Martin County West 306, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 338, BOLD-Buffalo Lake-Hector 426, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 452.Girls’ standings: C-M-LH 77, Luverne 86, MCW 88, Adrian 113, RWV 164, ML-B-O 170, S-CM 172, H-BC-E 180, T-M-B 249, Windom 293, SM-SE-NUC 306, Murray County Central 312, JCC 341, Yellow Medicine East-Echo 350, BOLD-BL-H 394, W-WG-RRC 428, RCW 429.
