Sports

St. Michael-Albertville Cross Country Teams Run for State Meet Birth, Section Glory

Both teams run under the sun in Anoka today for a birth in the State AA Meet in Northfield next weekend.

In a season that's featured some oppressive heat (90s in the early part of the season) and some unseasonable cold (temps 20 degrees below normal at last week's conference meet), the Knights Cross Country Team gets a perfect day today for the Section 5AA meet in Anoka. 

St. Michael-Albertville will try to send its girls' team back to the State AA Meet again this year, but has an uphill climb. STMA finished second in the Mississippi 8 Conference last week to wrap up the regular season, and could be the odd-man out when it comes to qualifying in the Section Team Meet. 

However, Rachel King, a junior, and Lizzy Heil, a freshman, both figure to be in the mix for an individual birth in the State Meet, with King leading the way. The junior has been a standout all season long, culminating with last week's individual conference championship. 

The Knights' girls team also features eight seniors at the varsity/junior varsity level, including Alex Lamere, Christina Arenas, Courtney Schoen, Erin Schindler, Felicia Mix, Holly Opatz, Morgan Kessler and Nikki Barthel. 

As for the boys, they're considered among the top contenders in 5AA after picking up-handily-the Mississippi 8 Conference Championship last week. 

The Knights are led on the course by junior Chase Cayo, who has been a standout the last two seasons and is hungry for a State AA Meet appearance. 

Seniors on the boys' team include Alex Monseth, Alex Nangenast, Dominic Shovelain, Jason Colgrove, Keith Jorgenson, Luke Heil, Lucas Pelant, Luke Rysdahl and Tyler Jeffries. 

Both the boys' and girls' squads have record numbers out this season, a testament to the success of the program and coach Gregg Greeno. 

"You want the numbers because you want to have that high level of competition within your squad. That's a good thing to have in case someone goes down with an injury; just to have that depth is a good thing for a team," Greeno said. "I think the kids see how much fun we have as a group and how well they get along. And having some success gets more and more people interested in running." 

Assistant coaches this year for the Knights are Heather Strait and Kevin Crocker. 

The Section 5AA meet starts today at 3 p.m. at Anoka High School. 


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