2024 Cross Country State Meet: Advance Release

Scores of runners from throughout the state will gather on Saturday, Nov. 2 for the Minnesota State High School League’s Cross Country State Meet at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course. Six races will be run among three enrollment classes. 

Here is a look at the meet: 

Girls 

Class A

• Race time: 2:30 p.m.
• Staples-Motley junior Audrey Brownell, the Class A runner-up last season to Olivia Pauly of St. John’s Prep, is the favorite here. She was the Section 6A champion a week ago. 
• Mankato Loyola eighth-grader Charlotte Meyer, 29^th overall in 2023, is ranked No. 2. She won the Section 2A championship. 
• St. Cloud Cathedral is the favorite to defend its Class A crown. Sophomore Katlyn Waldoch and newcomer Kaylee Prom, a freshman, have led the Crusaders throughout the year. 

Class AA 

• Race time: 10 a.m. 
• Monticello junior Isabel Mahoney appears poised to take the next step. A year ago, she was runner-up to Hutchinson’s Isabelle Schmitz. This season, Mahoney won the Roy Griak Invitational Gold Race in convincing fashion. She also won the Section 5AA title by 30 seconds last week. 
• Fairmont senior Macy Hanson is expected to be right on Mahoney’s heels. Hanson is the Section 2AA champion. She was fourth overall at the state meet last year. Look for Willmar senior Lauren Eilers and Fergus Falls sophomore Cassie Wellman to also be in the championship chase. 
• Marshall is the defending Class AA team champion. While the Tigers qualified for a chance to defend their title, they were the runner-up to St. Peter in Section 2AA.

Class AAA

• Race time: 12:15 p.m.
• Wayzata is the defending team champion that won the title a year ago by a large margin. A successful repeat will be the Trojans’ fifth team crown. Junior Jazleen Malherek-Osorio was third overall last season. 
• Wayzata was the top Minnesota team to finish in the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational in late September, second overall. 
• Wayzata junior Maddie Gullickson was third overall at the Roy Griak Invitational, one spot ahead of Forest Lake senior Norah Hushagen. 
• Hushagen has the fastest time in the girls cross country this season with a 17 minutes, 4.10 second-performance at the Suburban East Conference Championships on Oct. 15. 

Boys 

Class A

• Race time: 3:15 p.m.
• Mounds Park Academy senior Eddie Snider won the Section 4A crown on Oct. 22 at Highland 9 Golf Course to earn a repeat trip to the state meet. He was the Class A champion a year ago by a one-second margin over Redwood Falls senior Will Ahrens. Ahrens won the Class 3A championship for another chance at a gold medal.
• Heritage Christian was the Class A champion a year ago, topping Cotter by eight points. Senior Jacob Pfotenhauer and junior Lev Dougherty are the Eagles’ top duo. 

Class AA

• Race time: 10:45 a.m.
• Mankato East returns as the defending Class AA champion. The Cougars finished ahead of perennial power Perham, which also returns as the Section 8AA champion. 
• Perham senior Bjorn Anderson, the Class AA runner-up last season, won the Section 8AA championship to earn another trip to the state meet. 
• Perham won five Class A crowns from 2012-2019.

Class AAA

• Race time: 1 p.m.
• Roseville senior Robert Mechura returns to defend his big-school championship. If successful, he will become the first repeat champion in the three-class format and first big-school repeat champion since Winona’s Garrett Heath in 2003. He has the fastest time this since with a 14:53.9 in winning the Metro Invitational. 
• Wayzata is the defending Class AAA team champion, but the Trojans finished as runner-up to Edina in the Section 6AAA Championships. The Trojans are the only program to win a championship in the three-class era, a span of three seasons. 
• Minnetonka, runner-up to Wayzata last season, is top ranked among the Class AAA boys field.