The La Crescent girls cross country team made school history with its first-ever Section 1A title Oct. 29 and advanced to the Minnesota state meet for the fifth consecutive year. Joining the team at state will be Lancer sophomore Eric Veglahn, who earned an individual berth in the Class A boys meet for the second straight year by virtue of his top-10 finish.

Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester was soggy and mud-covered by race time after an inch of rain fell the morning of the Section 1A meet. The deluge drenched the set-up crew and left the entire course, still recovering from the 3 inches of snow that fell the preceding Friday, in standing water. By the time the 263 runners had completed their course inspection and warm-ups, the fairways were covered in mud and the hills presented nothing but treacherous footing when light rain continued to fall the entire afternoon.

The boys had the advantage of running the first race and had slightly better footing over their 5,000-meter trek. As expected, Aaron Haley and Aaron Timm, the dynamic duo from Plainview-Elgin-Millville, headed out to a solid lead by the 1,600-meter mark, followed by a bevy of competitors intent on one of the remaining spots in the top 10 that would earn them a spot in the state meet. Among that group was La Crescent’s Veglahn, who passed the 1,600-meter split in ninth place in 5:25. Teammate Quad Kilander was the next Lancer to that spot, just nine seconds back, and Connor Franta was the only other Lancer to negotiate the opening mile under 6:00, followed closely by Garret Wernecke and Brandon Franta. Connor Wernecke and Cal McCormick were just behind.

Water puddles, slippery corners and mud-slicked hills slowed the entire field to a pedestrian pace over the next mile, and the entire La Crescent team saw its opening pace slip from 40 seconds to a minute slower by the 3,200-meter mark. Veglahn, although being able to only cover the second 1,600 meters in 6:05, actually improved his position by three spots, and Kilander was still contending for a top 20 finish. Connor Franta, coming off a severe bout with an upper respiratory infection, fell victim to breathing problems and ran a 6:56 second mile, being passed by Garret Wernecke and his younger brother in the process.

Veglahn solidified his position over the final 1,800 meters to finish in fifth place in 17:57, beating HVL conference individual champion Eric Mueller of Cotter in the process. Kilander battled his way into the top 20 with a 19th-place finish in 18:53 and Brandon Franta appeared to float on top of the mud as he ran No. 3 for the Lancers, placing 31st in 19:29. Six seconds later, Garret Wernecke finished in 31st place and the Lancers needed one more solid finish to be in the hunt for the coveted second place that would advance to the state meet. Unfortunately, the first four La Crescent finishers would be the only ones to break 20 minutes and Connor Franta bravely survived the final 1,800 meters to place 48th in 20:00 to become the final La Crescent scorer.

P-E-M put four runners in the top 10, easily winning the team title with 40 points. But confusion reigned as to which team had the edge for the second spot. Ultimately, Winona Cotter took second with 122 points, an agonizing one point ahead of third-place Lewiston-Altura/ Rushford-Peterson and just 15 points ahead of La Crescent’s 137-point, fourth-place effort. Dover-Eyota/St. Charles was fifth and HVL champ Byron struggled in the conditions and could do no better than sixth place in the 21-team field.

Twenty minutes after the boys’ race ended, the girls toed the muddy mess that used to be the starting line and set out on their 4,000-meter slog-a-thon. DESC’s Ahna Buntrock, Chatfield’s Kayla Woltz and Medford’s Adraina Flores all came by the halfway mark under 8 minutes with a steady stream of competitors in their wake. Lancer frosh Taylor Gibson was hanging with a group around 10th place at that time and Katie Shepardson and Carlye Guzman were just 10 seconds back in the top 15. Tessa Ladsten and Heather Veglahn were the next two Lancers to hit the midpoint another 12 seconds back and a flu-ridden Molly Dunlap and slip-sliding Libby Kathan were struggling to keep up.

Woltz sailed away from the field over the second half to claim the individual title, but even she was unable to break 16 minutes. Gibson, intent on putting her week-old HVL disqualification behind her, doggedly stuck with the 10th-place pack and was able to muster a kick to finish ninth in 16:43, the only Lancer to break 17 minutes on the afternoon, and ensure her way into the state meet as an individual. Four places and 24 seconds later, Shepardson crossed the line in 17:07, and Guzman, who suffered from flu-like symptoms the second half of the race, gutted it out to crack the top 20 in 19th place in 17:27, almost two minutes slower than her conference championship effort of a week before. When Ladsten and Veglahn cracked the top 25 as the Lancers’ final two scorers, La Crescent was assured of its first Section 1A championship trophy. The 75-point total was almost 40 better than the surprise second-place total of Rochester Lourdes, with Three Rivers Conference champion Chatfield and runner-up DESC third and fourth.

In a post-race analysis, the following facts pertaining to La Crescent came to light from the 25 years that the Rochester Track Club has put on the Section 1A meet:

- La Crescent became the first school in Section 1A history to have a team representative in the state meet for 10 consecutive years (La Crescent’s boys from 2000-04 and the girls from 2005-09).

- With their fourth placing, La Crescent’s boys now have the most top five finishes, placing in the top five 17 times in the past 25 years.

In addition, both the La Crescent girls and boys teams earned Gold Academic Certification from the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association for the second consecutive year for having a team grade-point average higher than 3.75.

The Minnesota state cross country meet will again be held at St. Olaf College in Northfield on Saturday. Veglahn will run in the Class A boys race at 1 p.m. and the girls team will race as one of the top 16 teams in Class A at 2 p.m.

Section 1A Cross Country Championships

Northern Hills Golf Course

Boys Results: Plainview-Elgin-Millville 40; Winona Cotter 122; Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson 123; La Crescent 135; Dover-Eyota/St. Charles 139; Byron 157; Chatfield 172; Blooming Prairie 219; Rochester Lourdes 244; Hayfield 258; Wabasha-Kellogg 277; Stewartville 293; Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyon-Wanamingo 330; Lake City 384; Austin Pacelli 431; Medford 460; Pine Island 466; Kingsland 492; Lanesboro 527; Cannon Falls 530; Schaeffer Academy Incomplete

Individual State Qualifiers: 1. Aaron Haley (PEM) 17:11; 2. Grant Timm (PEM) 17:23; 3. Cullen Shanrock (W-K) 17:41; 4. Tommy Carr (Lourdes) 17:47; 5. Eric Veglahn (La Crescent) 17:57; 6. Ian Torchia (Lourdes) 17:58;

7. Alex Paulson (Chat) 18:04; 8. Eric Mueller (Cotter) 18:08; 9. Gabe Thiel (PEM) 18:13; 10. Pat Reinschmidt (PEM) 18:14

La Crescent Finishers:

5. Veglahn 17:57; 19. Quad Kilander 18:53; 31. Brandon Franta 19:29; 32. Garret Wernecke 19:35; 48. Connor Franta 20:00; 65. Connor Wernecke 20:23; 77. Cal McCormick 20:44

Girls Results: La Crescent 75; Rochester Lourdes 114; Chatfield 118; Dover-Eyota/ St. Charles 124; Plainview-Elgin-Millville 162; Medford 181; Schaeffer Academy 200; Lake City 226; Hayfield 230; Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson 259; Blooming Prairie 273; Stewartville 280; Byron 288; Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyon-Wanamingo 314; Kingsland 370; Austin Pacelli 392; Winona Cotter 483; Pine Island 515; Cannon Falls Incomplete; Lanesboro Incomplete; Wabasha-Kellogg Incomplete

Individual State Qualfiers: 1. Kayla Woltz (Chat) 16:00; 2. Adriana Flores (Medford) 16:19; 3. Ahna Buntrock (DESC) 16:20; 4. Camila Bedoya (Lourdes) 16:23; 5. Kaia Bierman (CF) 16:24; 6. Emi Trost (CF) 16:26; 7. Emily Norton (PEM) 16:30; 8. Jayna Speltz (LARP) 16:43; 9. Taylor Gibson (La Crescent) 16:43; 10. Karen Sass (Chat) 16:44

La Crescent Finishers:

9. Gibson 16:43; 13. Katie Shepardson 17:07; 19. Carlye Guzman 17:27; 21. Tessa Ladsten 17:35; 23. Heather Veglahn 17:38; 28. Molly Dunlap 17:50; 33. Libby Kathan 18:00