The Big Lake boys’ cross country team competed in the Minnesota State Cross-Country Championship at St. Olaf College in Northfield last Saturday, Nov. 6 and came home with the championship!
The Section 5AA Champion Hornet squad competed in the AA 5000 meter race against the top 16 teams in the state and top 48 individuals.
“It’s been this team’s goal to get to this meet and contend for a championship,” said Hornet Head Coach Todd Trutna. “Now, they just had to contend with the nerves, control their excitement, and let their training take over.”
When the gun sounded, the boys got themselves into good positions and then settled into their paces.
“Our team has done such an incredible job of knowing their paces this year,” Trutna said. “They will let other runners make the mistake of going out too quickly and then reel them in and pass them in the second two miles.”
At the first mile split, Big Lake had the start they wanted and were in fifth place as a team.
“During the second mile, our team did a better job than most of holding pace,” said Trutna. “And we moved into second place as a team.”
The last part of the race has a tough uphill followed by a demanding downhill.
“The boys continued to move up and pass people that last mile,” Trutna continued. “There were some very nerve racking minutes after the finish as scores were tabulated, but it was finally posted that Big Lake had won the state team championship.”
Big Lake’s 92 points was 10 points better than Monticello and 16 ahead of the pre-meet favorite, St. Paul Highland Park.
“It feels fitting after this year that it came down to Monti(cello) and us,” Big Lake’s coach said. “Our two teams definitely pushed each other all year and that competition paid off. All of the teams at this meet have talent and have put in a lot of miles, so it is an honor to be able to take the championship trophy back home to Big Lake.”
Owen Layton was the top Hornet finisher in 11th place (16:34) and earned All-State Honors. A 10th grader, Owen, has now qualified for three state cross-country meets.
“Owen has been the most consistent runner of our top three,” said Trutna. “In addition to qualifying for the state meet three times, Owen has also finished second individually three times in our conference championship. His pacing ability helps the rest of the team place themselves in the best position to avoid going out too quickly. Owen is one of our most experienced varsity runners on the team and is that ‘rock’ in our front pack.”
Christian Noble was next across the line in 12th place (16:35) and earned All-State Honors. Christian, the lone senior on the team, has been the leader of this team all season.
“Christian is a special athlete who is a two-time state wrestling champion, in addition to making previous state meets in cross-country and track and field,” Trutna said. “He is a competitive athlete with an incredible will to succeed that he uses to push himself and the team to be their best. After meets, the boys’ varsity often goes out to eat together at Christian’s invitation. That team bonding and togetherness can’t be overlooked in our success. He started a team culture that will carry on after his graduation”
Jack Leuer was the third scorer in 18th place (16:44) and earned All-State Honors. Jack, a ninth grader, completed his first full season on varsity.
“Last year as an eighth grader, Jack competed on varsity towards the end of the season,” Trutna continued. “Jack runs with such smooth power. He has used that ideal form to take off massive amounts of time from his PR. His improvement closed the gap from the second half of the team to the top half and allowed us to move from a good team to a team that could compete for a state championship.”
Kade Layton was 21st (16:46) and earned All-State Honors. Kade, a junior, has qualified for his second state championship.
“Kade had an injury at the start of the season that kept him out of a meet,” said Trutna. “And he had a pretty bad sinus infection that he ran through towards the end of the season. Both of these things kept Kade from reaching the times that wanted early in the season, but those times began to drop and his confidence rose at the end of the season. Kade is a front runner, and he makes sure that our top runners don’t get too complacent in their placing and continue to move up throughout the race.”
The final scorer was junior Tanon Jacobson in 94th place (18:00). Tanon is the most improved member of the varsity team.
“Last year, Tanon was not on varsity nor was he one of our top JV runners,” the Big Lake Head Coach said. “He was running in the mid to high 23s for 5k. He came off a good track season and ran consistently over the summer and by the end of this season was able to break into the 17s. That improvement helped to place more strength and consistency in our 5-7 runners.”
Sophomore David Guyse was 106th (18:07). David has been the steady presence to the second half of our team.
“David really takes on the role that Owen has at the front of our pack,” Trutna said. “David’s sense of pace allows our 5-7 runners to get out at a pace they can manage and race from. Not getting drawn out into paces that are too quick is a great skill and made David a key component of the squad, even when he finished outside our top five scorers.”
Spencer Vold was 144th (19:05). Spencer, a junior, battled several injuries during the season.
“Spencer’s injuries through the season didn’t allow him to fully train the way he would have liked,” Trutna added. “But even with that, he did improve his times from last year. His overall speed and strength were valuable during our training runs and workouts to help push our 5-9 runners to work hard.”
Luke Hugo and Carter Erickson finished the season as Big Lake’s eighth and ninth runners.
“Though they didn’t get to race at the state meet, their presence with the team this week was important,” Trutna said. “Luke and Carter both had varsity experience during this season and we were glad they could experience this meet with the team.”
