2021 Cross Country State Meet Championships
Posted: Saturday, November 6, 2021 - 4:55 PM
St. Olaf College hosted the Minnesota State High School League’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 6. For the first year, the competition was held in three classes.
Boys Class AAA --Minnetonka junior Nick Gilles won the Class AAA Boys Championship with a time of 15:22, the day’s fastest time. Gilles was the top finisher in Section 6AA last year, but due to COVID-19, a state meet was not held. Noah Breker a junior from Robbinsdale Armstrong finished second and third place went to senior Daniel Vanacker from Forest Lake.
Girls Class AAA --Ali Wiemer, a senior from St. Michael-Albertville, won the Class AAA Girls Championship with a time of 17:42. Wiemer also finished as the Section 5AA Champion last year and won the state Class AA 1600 meter run at last spring’s State Track and Field meet. Placing second and third were a pair of freshmen from Hopkins High school Sydney Drevlow and Daphne Grobstein.
Team Competition:
Boys Class AAA
- First Place: Wayzata
- Second Place: Minneapolis Southwest
- Third Place: Mounds View
Girls Class AAA
- First Place: Edina
- Second Place: Wayzata
- Third Place: Prior Lake
Boys Class A --Jakob McCleary from Perham capped off his senior cross country running season with a state championship finishing with a time of 16:09. Second place went to Henry Karelitz from Nova Classical Academy and Sauk Centre’s Brandon Kampsen finished third.
Girls Class A --Murray County Central-Fulda's Amanda Overgaauw won the Girls Class A title with a time of 18:09. Tenley Nelson and Jenna DeBates from Luverne finished second and third.
Team Competition
Boys Class A
- First Place: Nova Classical Academy
- Second Place: Perham
- Third Place: Northwest Nighthawks
Girls Class A
- First Place: Staples-Motley
- Second Place: Perham
- Third Place: Luverne
Boys Class AA --The Boys Class AA championship went to Alden Keller, a junior from Breck with a time of 15:53. Keller ended his 2020 season as the Section 4A champion. Blake senior Shef West finished second and Annandale freshman Sal Werth took the third-place medal.
Girls Class AA
Three sophomores took the top spots in Class AA Girls. Hutchinson’s Isabelle Schmitz earned the Class AA Girls title with a time of 17:59. Olivia Goebel from Albany finished second and Calia Cheney from Pequot Lakes took third.
Team Competition
Boys Class AA
- First Place: Big Lake
- Second Place: Monticello
- Third Place: St. Paul Highland Park
Girls Class AA
- First Place: St. Paul Highland Park
- Second Place: Willmar
- Third Place: Alexandria
