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MADISON — Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton senior runner Jonah Uilk has made qualifying for state a habit.
“This will be Jonah’s fourth trip to state — twice for cross country and twice for track and field,” SWC/E head coach Brent Van Schepen noted in an email for the Pipestone County Star.
“When you have an athlete who consistently performs at a high level, it helps others see the commitment and discipline it takes. It has been rewarding to see Jonah experience success after all of the work he has put in.”
Uilk finished in eighth spot, clocking in at 16 minutes, 56.6 seconds.
Eleven boys completed the Madison Country Club course in 17 minutes or less, an amazing number.
For Hannah Masselink, the Eagle senior has reached the pinnacle for the very first time.
Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton’s Hannah Masselink races toward the finish line during the Section 3A cross country meet at Madison Country Club on Thursday, Oct. 23. Masselink qualified for state with a fifth-place finish. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton’s Jonah Uilk coasts toward the finish during the Section 3A cross country meet on Thursday, Oct. 23, at Madison Country Club. Uilk has now qualified for the state meet in consecutive years. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
“I was so thrilled when Hannah qualified,” Van Schepen said. “Obviously, she was extremely disappointed last year when she just missed out. She used that as motivation to put in a lot of miles this summer, and it paid off with an opportunity to run at the state meet.”
Van Schepen was especially proud of Masselink’s effort in placing among the top-five runners, clocking in at 19:56.8.
Seven girls raced across the finish line in 20 minutes or less, illustrating how competitive the event was. After all, it was the best of the best this section has to offer.
Pipestone Area Schools’ girls placed seventh in a field of 16 teams thanks to three top-35 finishes.
Rhaelee Heidebrink was 29th in a time of 21:45.9, Amelia Bucher 33rd (21:52.8) and Josie Danks 35th (22:01.8).
Pipestone Area Schools’ Alivia Fruechte and Josie Danks reach the 1,000-meter mark of the Section 3A cross country meet in Madison on Thursday, Oct. 23.(Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Joshua Zupp was the Arrows’ top boys finisher, clocking in at 20:21.3 for 72nd place.
Pipestone Area Schools’ Joshua Zupp races toward the finish line during the Section 3A cross country meet on Thursday, Oct. 23, at Madison Country Club. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton’s closest state qualifier was Summer Labrune, placing 15th in the girls race (20:49.5).
Conditions were ideal with sunny skies and cool temperatures in the upper-50s, which helped runners produce strong results.
Complete local results (PAS, SWC/E and RTR) accompany this story.
Texley honored again
After the meet was completed, awards were presented to the top boys cross country coach, girls coach of the year and top assistant.
For the second consecutive year, PAS’ Todd Texley was chosen as assistant coach of the year.
Pipestone Area Schools’ Todd Texley has been named the Section 3A assistant cross country coach of the year. (Photo by Eric Viccaro)
Windom Area’s Melissa Pletcher took boys coach of the year accolades as the Eagles qualified for state as a team. Redwood Valley’s Benton Kodet received girls honors as the Cardinals produced another stellar season.
Read a story on Texley’s honor in the Nov. 6 edition of the Star.
Minnesota state meet
ST. PAUL — Jonah Uilk will use his experience running at the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course for a hopeful better finish.
During the 2024 event, Uilk recorded a time of 17:38.9, finishing 82nd in a field of 159 runners.
“It’s a beautiful course in the middle of the urban Twin Cities,” Van Schepen said. “In addition to a large pack of runners to maneuver around, it has many rolling hills and turns.
“Jonah will benefit from having ran the course last year,” the coach continued. “Hannah came along to watch last year, so she’s aware of it, and the atmosphere of the meet.”
The UofM has publicly announced it will be selling Les Bolstad Golf Course in the near future, so there’s a chance this could be the final state meet at this historic location.
The physical address is 2275 Larpenteur Avenue West in St. Paul.
The Class A boys race is set for 10 a.m., with girls to follow at 10:45 a.m. Awards will be presented at 11:15 a.m. Class AA and AAA races follow until awards at 3:45 p.m.
Girls and boys from same class and section will be assigned to the same box at the start line.
Tickets are $13 per adult and $8 per student.
Streaming will be available at www.nspn.tv/MSHSL.
Kinner earns 49th
HURON, S.D. — In his first-ever state meet experience, Elkton-Lake Benton’s Adam Kinner placed 49 in a field in 129 runners.
Elkton-Lake Benton’s Adam Kinner runs during the Dakota Valley Conference meet on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from Sunrise Ridge Golf Course in Colman. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Kinner clocked in with a time of 17:54.04 at Broadland Creek Golf Course.
He reached the finish line with two other runners: Zach Nielsen from West Central (Hartford) and Nathaniel Hobbie from Flandreau. The runners were separated by less than two-tenths of a second.
Flandreau’s Faith Wiese finished short of winning the Class A girls title, placing second in 17:41.72. Duke-bound Sioux Falls Christian runner Ellie Maddox claimed the top spot (17:32.60).
Faith Wiese of nearly Flandreau was the overall South Dakota High School Activities Association Class A girls meet champion. (Contributed photo from South Dakota Public Broadcasting)
Hill City’s Tate Grabow was the overall boys winner in a scorching time of 15:42.86, 36 seconds faster than West Central’s Peyton Tetzlaff.
INFORMATION
CROSS COUNTRY
Thursday, Oct. 23
Redwood Valley’s Tyler Robinson was the overall boys’ medalist in a stout time of 16:40.3.(Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
At Section 3A Meet
Madison Country Club
Team Scores
Boys
1, Redwood Valley, 35; 2, Windom Area, 78; 3, Murray County Central/Fulda, 107; 4, Canby/Minneota, 149; 5, Montevideo, 156; 6, Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, 165; 7, Lakeview, 253; 8, Adrian-Ellsworth, 261; 9, Jackson County Central, 261; 10, MACCRAY/RCW, 274; 11, Springfield/Cedar Mountain, 277; 12, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, 347; 13, Luverne, 358; 14, Central Minnesota Christian, 367; 15, Yellow Medicine East, 384; 16, BOLD/Buffalo Lake-Hector, 389; 17, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, 447; 18, Wabasso, 484; 19, Pipestone Area, 513; 20, Heron Lake-Okabena, 577
Girls
1, Redwood Valley, 52; 2, Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, 110; 3, Luverne, 113; 4, Canby-Minneota, 146; 5, Jackson County Central, 185; 6, Springfield/Cedar Mountain, 189; 7, Pipestone Area, 195; 8, Adrian-Ellsworth, 217; 9, Central Minnesota Christian, 227; 10, Montevideo, 233; 11, Wabasso, 269; 12, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, 304; 13, Murray County Central/Fulda, 319; 14, Windom Area, 326; 15, Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton, 350; 16, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, 360
Top-10 Runners
5,000 meters
Boys
1, Tyler Robinson, Redwood Valley, 16:40.3; 2, Andrew Morin, Wabasso, 16:48.5; 3, Dylan Anderson, Redwood Valley, 16:53.3; 4, Aiden Appel, Murray County Central/Fulda, 16:53.6; 5, Zach Malecek, Redwood Valley, 16:55.0; 6, Bryce Green, Windom Area, 16:55.2; 7, Adam VanBinsburgen, Montevideo, 16:55.3; 8, Jonah Uilk, Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton, 16:56.6; 9, Alexander Betz, Murray County Central/Fulda, 16:58.2; 10, Matthew Stapek, Murray County Central/Fulda, 16:58.7
Wabasso’s Ellie Leopold was the overall girls medalist in a time of 19:05.8. It’s believed Leopold is the Rabbits first-ever section meet individual champion. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Girls
1, Elsie Leopold, Wabasso, 19:05.8; 2, Addie Thomes, Redwood Valley, 19:32.5; 3, Naiya Ayers, JCC, 19:49.7; 4, Lila Luze, Redwood Valley, 19:52.3; 5, Hannah Masselink, SWC/E, 19:56.8; 6, Summer Mollberg, Luverne, 19:58.8; 7, Reese Prescott, Redwood Valley, 19:59.3; 8, Mya Pesek, Canby/Minneota, 20:01.01; 9, Mara Clarke, Murray County Central/Fulda, 20:12.2; 10, Cora Pauling, JCC, 20:12.9
Regional Results
Varsity boys
Pipestone Area Schools’ Barron Feste pumps his arms during the final few meters of the Section 3A cross country meet in Madison datred Thursday, Oct. 23. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
PAS
72, Joshua Zupp, 20:21.3; 104, Bo Stogdill, 21:47.7; 106, Barron Feste, 21:51.0; 111, William Perez-Garcia, 22:06.0; 136, Luis Ruiz-Perez, 24:27.5; 137, Mikah Weets, 24:29.5
RTR
73, Jacob Nilles, 20:21.6; 82, Benjamin Labrune, 20:50.0; 97, Collin Schulze, 21:33.3; 101, Truen Soderholm, 21:41.0; 105, Ian Erickson, 21:49.5; 117, Ben Nilles, 22:33.2; 126, Jonah Norgaard, 23:10.1
SWC/E
8, Jonah Uilk, 16:56.6; 79, Matthias Amen, 20:40.8; 100, Olin Steenholdt, 21:39.6; 135, Keagan Steck, 24:07.1
Field: 137 runners
Varsity girls
PAS
29, Rhaelee Heidebrink, 21:45.9; 33, Amelia Bucher, 21:52.8; 35, Josie Danks, 22:01.8; 52, Alivia Fruechte, 22:37.6; 61, Shiloh Post, 23:17.6; 71, Hadley Fruechte, 23:40.0; 98, Isabella Russell, 24:54.9
RTR
15, Summer Labrune, 20:49.5; 58, Ava Guida, 23:10.7; 76, Elizabeth Determan, 23:48.8; 89, Jaeryn Buchert, 24:16.2; 91, Taya Christensen, 24:19.3; 93, Elsie Bedow, 24:36.0; 99, Ruby Petersen, 24:57.8
SWC/E
79, Crystal Soleta, 23:57.3; 94, Raleigh Van Dyke, 24:39.7; 100, Presley Van Dyke, 25:01.2; 105, Elia Van Dyke, 25:29.8
Field: 125 runners