Story of local harriers Liana Blomgren, Gracie Bucher set for repeat airing
The “Land of 10,000 Stories” segment by Boyd Huppert of KARE 11 featuring a pair of local cross country runners, Liana Blomgren of the Mountain Lake Area Wolverines and Gracie Bucher of the Windom Area Eagles, will be presented in an encore on Tuesday, December 27, during the 10 p.m. newscast. The story – a tale of sportsmanship and empathy – was the fave selected by viewers in an online vote for the repeat presentation.
Here is a background snippet on what sparked the original broadcast:
No, Mountain Lake Area (MLA) Wolverine girls cross country runner Liana Blomgren did not advance to the 2016 Minnesota State Class A Meet, but, in the girls 5,000-meter at the Section 3A run at Luverne on Thursday, October 27, the Wolverine harrier won the hearts of fans and runners with her unselfish act of sportsmanship – which, unfortunately, ended up with her disqualification (DQ).
During the girls race, Blomgren, a senior at Mountain Lake Public High School, who had qualified for state in the past, closed out her career by assisting Windom Area High School eighth-grader Gracie Bucher across the finish line. Bucher, too, was DQ’d. Bucher collapsed in the final 100 meters of the race, and Blomgren, who was running just behind her, assisted Bucher to her feet – and ran with her the rest of the way to the chute.
That act of empathy received statewide recognition when KARE 11’s special Emmy-winning news reporter Boyd Huppert brought the story to television during one of his “Land of 10,000 Stories” reports, first broadcast during a Tuesday night, November 29, 10 p.m. news broadcast.
Blomgren’s cross country coaches include her father, Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES) sixth-grade teacher Kyle Blomgren and Mountain Lake Public School vocal instructor Andrea Brinkman. Her mother, Kim Blomgren, a first-grade educator at MLES, is a volunteer cross country coach.
