NARROWING THE GAP — Fairmont’s Macy Hanson (left) reduces the distance between herself and St. Peter’s Keira Friedrich during the girls’ 5K race at Thursday’s Section 2AA cross country meet at Benson Park in North Mankato. Hanson went on to place fourth overall en route to qualifying for the Class AA state meet. (Photo by Greg Abel)

MANKATO — Four in a row — with an asterisk.

Fairmont junior running sensation Macy Hanson remained perfect in her yearly quest to advance to the Minnesota State High School League’s state cross country competition.

Hanson completed the 5,000-meter course at Benson Park in a fourth-place overall time of 19:05.3 during Thursday’s Section 2AA cross country meet in North Mankato to merit a spot in the Class AA state girls’ field at 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4.

Hanson, Section 2’s other 11 individual qualifiers, girls team champion Marshall, girls team runner-up Hutchinson, boys team winner Mankato East and boys team second-place finisher Marshall will race at the MSHSL’s new stately venue — the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul.

“It definitely was a good day to wear spikes,” said Hanson, who also qualified for the Nike Invitational that filled the state void created in Minnesota due to the covid-19 virus outbreak during the fall of 2020. “The recent rain created some soft spots on the course and the footing was a bit tough on the hills, so you didn’t want to go out too fast.”

A healthier Hanson continued her recent climb back into the cross country coaches association’s individual Class AA state rankings at the No. 10 spot earlier this week.

Hanson posted a season’s-best 5K time of 18:48.94 to capture third place in the big-school division and fourth place overall at the Big South Conference Meet on Oct. 17 in Marshall.

“I’m finally starting to get my consistency back and that’s helped me regain my confidence every time I run,” said Hanson, who captured fourth place at the 2022 Class AA state cross country meet.

After holding fifth place at the midway juncture of Thursday’s sectional competition, Hanson eventually overtook Marshall’s Katelyn Leibfried for the fourth overall spot behind one familiar rival and two fellow Big South runners.

Hutchinson senior Isabelle Schmitz literally ran away with the individual gold medal by crossing the finish line in a winning time of 18:20.2. The No. 1-ranked and defending Class AA state cross country champion easily outdistanced No. 4-ranked Allyson Sample of Marshall and unranked Keira Friedrich of St. Peter, respectively.

“It was interesting and a lot of fun being recruited, but I’m glad the whole process is over now,” said Schmitz. “I’m going to run cross country and track & field at the University of Minnesota next season.

“Now I can focus on the rest of this season, and then prepare for track & field in the spring.”

Schmitz’s first-place individual performance also paced the Tigers’ runner-up team showing to earn a spot in the Class AA state field on Nov. 4 in St. Paul. Hutch tallied 88 points to finish behind No. 2-ranked Marshall’s low-scoring ways of 38 that captured the Section 2 girls team crown.

Sample, who was coming off a big-school divisional gold-medal time of 18:12.07 at the Big South Conference Meet last week, engineered Marshall’s winning sectional ways with a silver-medal time of 18:44.1.

Friedrich, the two-sport same-season phenom, earned the bronze medal with a third-place time of 18:58.4 to steer St. Peter to third-place sectional team honors at 104 — two points in front of Belle Plaine and five better than fifth-place Mankato West.

Friedrich, who primarily played soccer this fall, also captured third place overall with a time of 18:43.62 in the BSC Meet’s big-school girls race last week. Ironically, Friedrich proved she had a true finishing kick on Thursday by sprinting the final 50 meters to break the 19-minute barrier.

Hanson topped Fairmont’s ninth-place team total of 240, with Carys Gudahl, Kendra Blomster, Brooklyn Stone and Gwyneth Schultz rounding out the Cardinals’ counting scores.

Gudahl netted 55th overall by crossing the finish line in 23:18.1, Blomster claimed 58th overall in 23:25.4, Stone generated a time of 24:26.2 for 61st place, while Schultz nailed downed 62nd place in 24:49.2. Rylee Maday ran a season’s-best of 26:35.5 to finish 65th for Fairmont, while Paige DeBoer took 70th in 27:17.7.

In the battle of the top three-ranked Class AA boys teams and only two state bids available, defending state champion Mankato East ran past runner-up and No. 2-ranked Marshall, 28-61, to claim the Section 2AA team championship.

No. 8-ranked Isaiah Anderson paced East’s winning team ways by producing the only sub 16-minute time (15:58.8) of the sectional meet to fend off No. 5-ranked Fanuel Wolday (16:05.9) of Worthington for Thursday’s gold medal.

“The course was soggy in places, so the times were a little slower than usual, but I’ll take a pair of wins every time,” said Anderson, who has his sights set on competing in long-distance running for Gustavus Adolphus College next season.

Anderson, who finished ninth in the 2022 Class AA state cross country meet in 15:52.5, and Wolday, who netted 16th place, will square off one more time on Nov. 4 at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul.

Senior Gavin Artner closed out his stellar prep cross country career by placing 25th overall with a time of 17:30.3 to guide Fairmont to a sixth-place team total of 178.

Brier Lenort captured 28th place overall in 17:33.0 to net second on Fairmont’s lineup behind Artner, while Cooper Gudahl pocketed 34th overall by crossing the finish line in 17:53.7.

Braydon Lindsay and Andrew Haugen rounded out Fairmont’s counting scores by posting a 44th-place time of 18:35.0 and a 47th-place showing of 19:04.4, respectively. Will Niestrath ran a time of 19:55.2 to place 65th for the Cardinals, while teammate Jaydon Putney did not finish the race due to a hamstring injury.

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SECTION 2AA CROSS

COUNTRY MEET (5K)

Girls Division

Individual Results (Top 10): 1. Isabelle Schmitz (Hutchinson) 18:20.2; 2. Allyson Sample (Marshall) 18:44.1; 3. Keira Friedrich (St. Peter) 18:58.4; 4. Macy Hanson (Fairmont) 19:05.3; 5. Katelyn Leibfried (Marshall) 19:08.5; 6. Oakley Schneekloth (Marshall) 19:26.7; 7. Landree Quint (Mankato West) 19:32.1; 8. Lauren Henkels (Mankato East) 19:39.8; 9. Hathaway Reiter (Hutchinson) 19:42.3; 10. Lucia Penner (St. Peter) 19:44.1.

Other Fairmont Results: 55. Carys Gudahl 23:18.1; 58. Kendra Blomster 23:25.4; 61. Brooklyn Stone 24:26.2; 62. Gwyneth Schultz 24:49.3; 65. Rylee Maday 26:35.5; 70. Paige DeBoer 27:17.7.

Individual State Qualifiers: 3. Friedrich; 4. Hanson; 7. Quint; 8. Henkels; 10. L. Penner; 11. Adriane Nelson (Belle Plaine) 19:44.7.

Team Standings (Top 2 Advance to State): 1. Marshall 38; 2. Hutchinson 88; 3. St. Peter 104; 4. Belle Plaine 106; 5. Mankato West 109; 6. Mankato East 119; 7. Jordan 186; 8. Tri-City United 222; 9. Fairmont 240; 10. Glencoe-Silver Lake 298; 11. Worthington 305.

Boys Division

Individual Results (Top 10): 1. Isaiah Anderson (Mankato East) 15:58.8; 2. Fanuel Wolday (Worthington) 16:05.9; 3. Luke Scholtes (Mankato East) 16:15.2; 4. Sam Deutz (Marshall) 16:23.0; 5. Ephraim Staley (Mankato West) 16:24.4; 6. Audi Thom (Mankato East) 16:30.2; 7. Kelton Koepp (Belle Plaine) 16:32.5; 8. Dayton Clobes (Mankato East) 16:35.7; 9. Alexander Bur (St. Peter) 16:36.6; 10. Evan Maclean (Mankato East) 16:37.4.

Fairmont Results: 25. Gavin Artner 17:30.3; 28. Brier Lenort 17:33.0; 34. Cooper Gudahl 17:53.7; 44. Braydon Lindsay 18:35.0; 47. Andrew Haugen 19:04.4; 65. Will Niestrath 19:55.2; Jaydon Putney — Did not finish.

Individual State Qualifiers: 2. Wolday; 5. Staley; 7. Koepp; 9. Bur; 12. Jack Buerkle (Belle Plaine) 16:41.4; 14. Isaac Bemmels (Belle Plaine) 16:49.7.

Team Standings (Top 2 Advance to State): 1. Mankato East 28; 2. Marshall 61; 3. Belle Plaine 66; 4. Mankato West 115; 5. Worthington 155; 6. Fairmont 178; 7. Jordan 188; 8. St. Peter 207; 9. Hutch 273; 10. Glencoe-Silver Lake 294; 11. TCU 298.