Cassie Wellman earned a place at state with an all-time best 5K time for herself and the Otters.  “That was the race of her career so far,” said Head Coach Niki Welde. “She had a perfect start getting in position to run with the lead pack.  She led the race until just before the 2 mile.  She held onto the 2 lead finishers throughout the race.  She ran a bold race with the strongest finish I have seen from her yet.  This will be her second trip to the state meet, and we look forward to her finishing strong there too. Sarah Grotberg ran a great race today running just off her season best.   She has had a huge rebound in the second part of her season. Naomi Dummer finished her race by leaving it all out on the course.  We could not ask more of her. Sarah and Naomi finished their senior seasons with finishes that reflect their hard work.  Their leadership on this team will be missed dearly.” 

Violet McConn ran a near 45 second all-time best, Savannah Lee ran a season best finish, Julia Anderson ran an all-time best time with her finish and Hannah Scharnberg ran a strong race.

“The best part about days like these are the smiles on their faces when after they catch their breath and take in their results,” concluded Coach Welde. 

Section 8AA Varsity Boys Team Results
1. Perham 31, 2. Fergus Falls 77, 3. Willmar 78, 4. Rocori 105, 5. Alexandria 112, 6. Albany 208, 7. East Grand Forks 234, 8. Detroit Lakes 255, 9. Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 264, 10. New London-Spicer 267, 11. Thief River Falls 280, 12. Little Falls 296, 13. Breckenridge/Wahpeton 299

Individual State Qualifiers
2. Sully Anez (Willmar) 15:27.45, 4. Henry Lemke (EV-WAT/KIM) 16:00.77, 5. Tom Wilmesmeier (Alexandria) 16:05.94, 7. Fathi Dubet (Willmar) 16:13.40, 11. Carter Schwalbe (Albany) 16:35.71, 12. Brody Sieben (Rocori) 16:37.15,

Perham Results (Section Champs)
1. Bjorn Anderson 15:24.39, 3. Isaac Paurus 15:57.96, 8. Carter Flatau 16:26.31, 9. Dylan Guck 16:28.18, 10. Brayden Glorvigen 16:33.70, 23. Caden Doll 17:15.34, 29. Matt Jorgenson 17:31.36

Fergus Falls Results (Section Runners-Up)
6. Jaden Miller 16:10.82, 13. Michael Schmidt 16:38.49, 16. Logan Bredenberg 17:03.28, 20. Henry Greenagel 17:07.55, 22. Matthew Tuel 17:14.10, 41. Micah Mouser 17:59.80, 46. Tommy Erickson 18:10.10

Alexandria Results
5. Tom Wilmesmeier 16:05.94, 14. Landon Runge 16:50.23, 24. Nick Meyers 17:22.99, 34. Karl Franson 17:44.29, 35. Throck Lehmann 17:46.60, 36. Kyle Jahner 17:49.54, 42. Matty Soderholm 18:04.93

Breckenridge/Wahpeton Results
32. Noah Berge 17:41.50, 58. Gabriel George 18:35.80, 59. Troy Berndt 18:36.61, 74. Jack Ekren 19:45.03, 76. Harry Ockhardt 19:46.86, 89. Jaxon Hill 21:16.03, 90. Ethan Lauritsen 21:22.03

“This day and race stacked up against some of the best competitors in the state,” said Fergus Falls Head Coach Derek Meyer. “Our team knew what was at stake and that we had a target on our backs. The end result was exactly what we wanted but the path that transformed in the race day was not easy. There were many ups and downs within our team performance. Not everyone ran to their own expectations and some had struggles with the physical nature of racing elbow to elbow. Overall I am so proud of how these young men performed and handled all the emotions of the race. They represented their team, school and community in a great way. We are so excited to make the trip back to the state meet on November 4th. The race is at a new location this year at the U of M campuses Les Bolstad Golf Course. We have high hopes and will be on the hunt for bigger and better opportunities next week.” 

Section 8AA Girls Varsity Team Results
1. Alexandria 40, 2. Perham 56, 3. Willmar 97, 4. Rocori 125, 5. Little Falls 161, 6. Fergus Falls 165, 7. Albany 204, 8. Breckenridge/Wahpeton 209, 9. New London-Spicer 211, 10. Thief River Falls 290, 11. Detroit Lakes 303, 12. Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 310, 13. East Grand Forks 351

Individual State Qualifiers
1. Lauren Eilers (Willmar) 18:21.35, 3. Cassie Wellman (FF) 18:39.69, 9. Eva Lundgren (Albany) 19:13.24, 10. Malin Youngberg (Little Falls) 19:23.44, 11. Izzy Kraemer (Rocori) 19:32.83, 12. Paige Larsen (Rocori) 19:32.99

Alexandria Results (Section Champs)
2. Citori Halbe 18:35.79, 4. Jaelyn Miller 18:54.67, 7. Quinn Hills 19:11.16, 13. Bobbi Nichols 19:34.17, 14. Kasey Soderholm 19:34.88, 17. Anna Korynta 19:40.12, 31. Brynn Cross 20:12.83

Perham Results (Section Runners-Up)
5. Avalee Brown 18:55.34, 6. Gracie Morris 19:03.40, 8. Caidyn Breid 19:12.44, 16. Mia Lung 19:38.23, 21. Leelou Novotny 19:51.10, 22. Julianna Scraper 19:51.18, 25. Cora Grismer 20:02.16

Fergus Falls Results
3. Cassie Wellman 18:39.69, 33. Sarah Grotberg 20:29.67, 37. Naomi Dummer 20:45.37, 42. Violet McConn 21:23.02, 50. Savannah Lee 21:43.77, 51. Julia Anderson 21:44.09, 75. Hannah Scharnberg 23:47.66

Breckenridge/Wahpeton Results
19. Lucie Comstock 19:42.59, 27. Kiera Wiertzema 20:10.51, 41. Gracie Falck 21:14.25, 59. Jasmyn Benedict 22:10.34, 63. Addie King 22:29.00, 79. Aubrey Boesen 24:12.33, 86. Ashlyn Haire 25:40.59