First team appearance in race in 26 years
For the first time in 26 years, a Mountain Lake boys cross country team competed in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Class A Boys Cross Country Meet, held today (Saturday, November 4) at Saint Olaf College in Northfield. (The last appearance for the girls was in 2009, when they finished in third place.)
The Mountain Lake Area (MLA) Wolverine boys runners earned the right to run at state in 2017 following their runner-up finish in the MSHSL Section 3A Cross Country Meet at Madison on Thursday, October ??.
The squad finished 14th of 16 teams with 273 points. Winning the meet was the boys team from Perham, scoring 118. St. James Area, who was second in the Section 2A Meet, was the silver team at stage, scoring 148 points.
Matt Steiger, a La Crescent senior, won the race with a time of 15:44.8. In second – within 0.00.8 of Steiger – was Declan Dahlberg, a senior from Mounds Park Academy.
The Wolverines were led in the 5000-meter run by Dalton Piotter, a junior at Red Rock Central, making the chute in 50th out of the 176 runners with a time of 17:11.0. Next in was a Red Rock Central senior, Nathan Runck, closing out his high school career with a 53rd place finish, running the course in 17:14.4.
The remaining five runners, finishes and times were as follows:
- Ryan Blomgren (junior) – 100th, 17:42.5.
- Emilio Garcia de la Cruz (sophomore) – 128th, 18:04.0.
- Josiah Gardiner (junior) – 171st, 19:22.8.
- Emmanuel Fentanez (senior) – 173rd, 19:26.4.
- Logan Pankonin (senior) – 176th, 20:40.1
Pair of B-OHS students run with St. James Area
Butterfield-Odin Public High School senior, Lukas Pierson, who runs for the St. James Area Saints, completed his prep career with a 16th-place finish, running in at 16:33.1. His sophomore brother, Seth Pierson, was 60th with a time of 17:19.1.
Perham also won the Class A Girls Meet, with 86 points.
First in was Math and Science Academy freshman Tierney Wolfgram in 17:31.6.
This area’s top female runner, freshman Morgan Gehl of Murray County Central was 4th at 18:35.1.
Granddaughter of Paul and Jody Metcalf, eighth-grader Malayh Metcalf of Glencoe-Silver Lake, was 35th with a time of 19:56.8. She is the daughter of Josh Metcalf (who is also the Glencoe-Silver Lake coach) and Amy Metcalf.
Below is a Kay Swoboda video of Cottonwood County Sheriff Jason Purrington leading the Wolverine boys team through Mountain Lake on their state send-off:
https://www.facebook.com/kay.swoboda/videos/pcb.10212165798998254/10212165782357838/?type=3&theater
Leonard Runck took the following two videos of the Maroon-and-Silver send-off from Lamberton as the Mountain Lake boys runners teamed up with their three team members from Red Rock Central. The first features the boys team members being congratulated by students at Red Rock Central, and the second sports the send-off with the team vans bookended by a Lamberton Fire Department truck at front and a Lamberton Police Car ata back:
https://www.facebook.com/leonard.runck/videos/pcb.336852036725629/336851653392334/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/leonard.runck/videos/pcb.336852036725629/336851936725639/?type=3&theater
Stacey Stade’s video of the start of the boys state run:
https://www.facebook.com/stacey.stade/videos/pcb.1003302293141308/1003302136474657/?type=3&theater
