The Bulldogs Girls Cross Country team competed in the Section 8AA Cross Country championship meet last Thursday at Rocori High School in Cold Spring. The girls raced well, coming in 6th as a team, with senior Lexi Dehmer earning herself  the opportunity to compete at this week’s state meet.

Putting in a lot of effort and racing hard, the Bulldogs’ final score was 178, earning them 6th place out of 16 teams with 104 runners.

The top two teams at the meet, Alexandria with a score of 42 and Willmar with a score of 49, will advance to the state meet at St. Olaf next Saturday. The top eight individuals after the two teams are removed also qualify for the state meet.

“Lexi really has had a very good season, and I’m so excited for her to finish her high school cross country season at the state meet,” said Coach Trish Reimer Kealy. “She really worked hard for this and deserves it.”

The rest of the Bulldog runners also ran well. Alexis Rose was the team’s second finisher, coming in strong in 37th place with a time of 20:28.8. Dani Nuest returned more to form in the race, looking much stronger and finishing 39th (20:37.5).

Coming in 44th overall and fourth for the Bulldogs was 7th grader Ella McDonald, coming on strong and running a time of 20:46.5. The team’s fifth runner, 8th grader Alexa Voller capped off her season coming in 45th with a personal record time of 20:52.2, cutting four seconds off her previous best time.

Natasha Berthiaume ran a time of 21:03.3 and Abby Nelson came in at 21:56.8.

“Each of our girls ran a strong race with the really tough competition this race had,” said Reimer Kealy. “I’m very proud of how these girls each attacked the course and raced hard. They have all improved so much this year.

“We’ve had a fun season with this group and look forward to what the future has for this young team.”

The Minnesota MSHSL Cross Country State Championships will be held on Nov. 2 at St. Olaf in Northfield.