Putting four runners among the Top-12 finishers on a beautiful late-autumn afternoon last Thursday (October 24) at the Madison Golf Course, Murray County Central / Fulda won the Section 3A high school girls’ cross country team championship, dethroning four-time defending section champion Luverne.
Both squads — the Warriors of MCC / Fulda and the Cardinals of Luverne — will be among 16 girls’ teams, representing eight sections, competing at this Saturday’s (November 2) Class A state cross country race at the campus of Saint Olaf College in Northfield, beginning at 1 p.m.
In a highly-anticipated duel between two state-ranked teams, the Warriors and Cardinals were each impressive as all 14 of their participating runners jockeyed for positions near the front of the huge pack of 120 total finishers from 22 teams, racing on a relatively-flat 5,000-meter course.
The Warriors, ranked third among all of nearly 200 Class A teams (in the latest poll by the Minnesota Cross Country Coaches Association), had the most up-front punch and earned a three-point victory, 56-59, over the perennial powerhouse Cardinals.
The first four MCC / Fulda girls — junior Morgan Gehl (first, 18:03.31), freshman Ashley Overgaauw (seventh, 20:02.39), freshman Amanda Overgaauw (eighth, 20:03.23) and eighth-grader Brylei Schreier (12th, 20:31.49) — each placed among the Top-12 finishers, combining for a mere 28 points — 12 better than Luverne’s total of 40 (2-5-16-17) through its lead four runners.
To read the rest of this article – pick up a copy of this weeks Fulda Free Press or subscribe to our e-edition at http://eedition.fuldafreepress.net/sub/account_login.asp
