2024 Cross Country State Meet: Class A Recap

For those Cotter High School fans and supporters who didn’t make the trip from Winona to watch the Class A portion of the Minnesota State High School League’s Cross Country State Meet, don’t worry: ninth-grader Erik Semling will give you a complete rundown. He can’t wait to share details about the banner day. 

The Cotter/Hope co-op captured the Class A girls championship for the first time in program history with a dandy performance that created a five-point margin of victory over Redwood Valley, the runner-up at 121. His older sister, Sonja, was third overall. Shortly after, Semling added to the narrative with a dominant victory in the boys race, recording a time of 15:23.5, a 12.3-second margin over Redwood Valley senior William Ahrens. 

“This means so much to our school and our Cotter community,” Erik Semling said. “There will be a lot of excitement around this. Our friends and classmates will get to share in this.”

Semling finished sixth overall as an eighth-grader. He set his mind to climbing the list of finishers at the state meet with a training program designed to peak at the state meet. Through effort, improvement and record-setting have followed. 

He was in third position at the 1,600 mark but remained calm that his time to make a move would come. While he had slowly moved in front, he made a championship-type move with 800 meters to go. Not worrying about competitors, but rather his time, Semling’s effort level didn’t wane. As he came over the final rise of the course, he was all alone. 

“It’s an incredible feeling to see that finish line waiting for you, but it can also be scary,” he said. “I didn’t know what the gap was. You have to assume that someone is right on my shoulder. That is why we run.”

Redwood Valley won the Class A boys championship with 86 points, five better than Luverne. Semling’s Cotter/Hope squad was third with 122. Scoring for Redwood Valley were Ahrens, senior Kilen Cilek, senior Landyn Nordby, sophomore Tyler Robinson and sophomore Clayton Salmon. 

In the girls race, Staples-Motley junior Audrey Brownell is now breathing easier. A year after finishing as the Class A runner-up, she now feels “lighter” as a state champion. 

She won in a time of 18:17.2, a 5.8-second margin over Charlotte Meyer, an eighth-grader from Mankato Loyola-Cleveland. Sonja Semling was third in 18:49.

“I did not forget the disappointment of what happened last year,” Brownell said. “I’ve carried it with me for a year. It was the worst feeling. I came in here with the mindset that I wasn’t going to lose. I was confident, not cocky.”

Brownell was in third place at the 1,600-meter mark. Her strategy was to not lead the race until the 3,200-meter mark. That played out as she held a five-second advantage over Meyer. From there, her controlled pace and mindset paved the way for a victory and a sigh of relief. 

“The weight is off my shoulders now,” she said. 

Scoring for Cotter/Hope in the girls team chase were Semling, eighth-grader Isabelle Katwa, senior Hazel Freyre, sophomore Brooklyn Staudacher and eighth-grader Emma Hatanpa.