Runners excel at sections, qualify for state meet
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Early on in the boys 6AA section meet.
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Bit Klecker and Renae Anderson, juniors, share a hug after both placing in the 6AA section meet.
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Seth Eliason, junior, holds off the competition into the finish of the 6AA section meet.
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Eli Hoeft, freshman, finishes his first 6AA section meet.
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The boys Cross Country team after their win at the 6AA section meet.
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Owen Hoeft and Hunter Staack, seniors, embrace after the 6AA section meet.
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The boys Cross Country team warms up before the 6AA section race.
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The female state qualifiers from the 6AA section race.
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Owen Hoeft, senior, receives his second place medal.
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Bit Klecker, junior, runs to toward a state qualifying time at Gale Woods Farm.
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Hopkins leads the pack in the 6AA section championship.
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Sam Branson, senior, comes into the finish of the muddy 6AA section race.
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Hunter Staack, senior, finishes his 6AA race.
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The boys team huddles up before their section race.
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Renae Anderson, junior, finishes in seventh place at the Section 6AA meet.
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Section 6AA, commonly known to high school runners as the “section of death,” held their section finals race at Gale Woods this past Wednesday.
To qualify for state, a runner must be either on one of the top two teams or one of the next 13 fastest individuals, discounting those who qualified as a team.
The girl’s team did not qualify for state, but runners Renae Anderson and Bit Klecker, juniors, qualified individually. Their times were 18:57 and 19:15, finishing seventh and thirteenth, respectively.
In first place came Minnetonka sophomore, Sophie Whicher, with a time of 18:40. The top two girls teams were Edina and Wayzata. Edina impressed with their top four runners coming in third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places.
The Royals boy’s cross country team came in first with top ten performances from Owen Hoeft, senior, Seth Eliason, junior, and Hunter Staack, senior.
Hoeft finished the race second overall with a time of 15:45. Wayzata senior, Jaret Carpenter, came in just seven seconds ahead of Hoeft. Eliason finished fourth with a time of 15:58, and Staack finished eighth with a time of 16:12.
The boys won with the lowest score of 52 points, while Minneapolis Washburn pulled off an upset, beating nationally ranked Edina and Wayzata with a point total of 57.
The five kilometer race at Gale Wood Farms marked the first step for the boys cross country team to be the first national qualifier in Hopkins history. Before this historic feat, Hopkins must run well in regionals, and before that, state.
The state race will be held at St. Olaf on Nov. 7. The cross country community has high expectations for this talented squad, but expectations are even higher within the Hopkins program.
