2024 Cross Country State Meet: Class AAA Recap

Defending Class AAA individual champions put their titles on the line on Saturday, Nov. 2 during the Minnesota State High School League’s Cross Country State Meet at University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course. In their return as defending champions where pressures to repeat are immense, Forest Lake senior Norah Hushagen and Roseville senior Robert Mechura accepted that challenge and hoped they would be pushed to the brink. 

They were. 

“Every single runner in this race deserves to be here,” Hushagen said. “They do the work that no one sees. I knew it was going to be really close.”

Said Mechura: “Theoretically, you’d think winning something should be easier the second time around. It is not. You need to fight until the end. That is what is so great about cross country. It is ever-changing and makes for fun races. What’s really satisfying is that this wasn’t easy. All the way to the end, it was challenging. If I had won by 20 seconds, it wouldn’t feel as great. We’ve got amazing runners in Minnesota. That’s what makes it so rewarding to come out on top.”

Hushagen, who was with Wayzata junior Maddie Gullickson strides ahead of the lead pack at the 1,600-meter mark, was pushed throughout but pulled away for an impressive 16-second victory. She finished in 17:32.2 and Gullickson was runner-up in 17:48.3. Forest Lake junior Anna VanAcker was third in 17:52.8.

“It was a beautiful day for running,” Hushagen said. “When I found the opportunity for some separation from the rest of the runners, I went for it. I really pushed hard to get this done. I am feeling really fortunate.”

Wayzata captured the big-school team championship with 42 points. It was the third consecutive title for the Trojans. In addition to Gullickson, other runners who contributed to Wayzata’s team title are junior Lila Golomb, junior Jazleen Malherek-Osorio, junior Miley Clark and senior Julia Link. Behind Hushagen and VanAcker, Forest Lake was the runner-up with 76 points and Prior Lake was third at 111. 

In the Class AAA boys race, Mechura finished in a time of 15:03.7. He had to hold off Minnetonka junior Sean Fries who was right on his heels in the finishing stretch. Edina senior Jace Haerter was third in 15:20.3.

Early in the race, Mounds View senior Casey Poppler had a 15-second advantage after the 1,600-meter mark. Unfazed, Mechura slowly started reeling in Poppler and made his championship move at the 3,200-meter mark. 

“I’ve done that many times, I don’t panic,” Mechura said. “I gave it everything I had to finish it up and not look back.”

The Lake Conference was represented in the top three team finishers. Edina won the team title with 106 points followed closely by Wayzata at 112 and Minnetonka at 119. Edina’s championship snapped Wayzata’s string of three in a row. 

Scoring for Edina were Haerter, junior Sander Ohe, senior Zachary Danielson, senior Kevin Nybeck and senior Benjamin Boudewyns.