By Mark HaugenIf you’re going to ride four hours to run a race, you might as well make it worthwhile. Local runners competing in the Minnesota Cross Country Championships on Saturday at St. Olaf College did just that.The Luverne girls’ team finished sixth in Class A, while the Luverne boys were eighth. Both were improvements over last year."This was our best finish ever," Cardinals coach Bruce Gluf said. It was the third consecutive state meet appearance for the girls, and they improved on last year’s 13th-place showing.Ninth-grader Lexi Jo Heitkamp led the Cards with an 11th-place finish, completing the 4,000 meters in 15 minutes, 9 seconds. The top 25 runners earned all-state status. Heitkamp also finished 11th last year."She ran a good smart race," Gluf said. "I can’t say enough about the kind of season she had."Her teammates turned in impressive performances as well to lead the Cardinal charge up the team standings. Kayla Raddle was 34th in 15:49; Amanda Saum 35th in 15:51; Kelsey Dooyema 94th in 16:35.1; Amanda Kannas 116th in 17:09; Kristi Heikes 121st in 17:27.3; and Christy Van Dyke 154th in 20:17."Kayla and Amanda have been our second and third girls all year," Gluf said. "They had good races, as all our kids did. They all ran well."We were a little disappointed last year, getting 13th, so they were a little hungry. Our goal was to be in the top five, and we were right off that. We can’t be disappointed with sixth. They beat a lot of teams who had been ranked ahead of us all year or who didn’t qualify for the meet."The Luverne boys made their second trip in a row to state and finished eighth, a huge improvement over last year’s 15th-place finish in the 16-team field.Junior Tom Ward paced the Cardinals and finished 15th on the 5,000-meter course in 17:00.2. "He’s been battling allergies and coughs the last three weeks but without a doubt ran his best race," Gluf said. "He said he was going to get all-state and break 17 minutes. He ran like he was possessed and ran his best race ever."Gluf praised the rest of the team members for their consistency and good runs.Thomas Pinkal finished 72nd in 17:44; Nick Otten 81st in 17:53; Steve Schneiderman 87th in 18:05; Travis Halfmann 103rd in 18:20; Dusty Antoine 116th in 18:32; and David Nelson 142nd in 19:31."It was a tremendous end to the season," Gluf said. "The kids wanted to do well really bad. They didn’t want to come home and say they placed 12th or 13th as a team. They worked hard all year and put in more miles, faster times and more intervals. They always responded."Both eighth-grade Adrian girls ran well, as Morgan Lynn finished 9th in 15:04 and Leslie Stover 54th in 16:05.Lynn finished 38th at state as a seventh-grader. "She had specific goals she wanted to accomplish," Adrian coach Doug Petersen said. "The last few weeks she was ranked ninth in state and was hoping to at least get that. She was happy with how she finished and ran as well as she could."This was Stover’s first year out for cross country. "This was a completely new experience for her," Petersen said. "She handled the pressure well. She was hoping to get a little higher, but I don’t think she quite knew the intensity level of state. She’s hungry to get back there. You just have to pay your dues first. She’s still trying to realize how good she can be."For Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth, two-time all-stater Tyler Bush added a third all-state notch to his belt, finishing 21st in 17:07.4."He ran a very good race, basically as good as he has all year," coach Tom Goehle said. "Getting all-state for the third consecutive year is a great accomplishment. There aren’t many who have done that."Bush was also 21st last year and finished 15th his sophomore year, which was ironically his slowest time of the three years."It just depends on how fast the race is, how fast they go out and if it’s congested. This time was extremely congested," Goehle said. "This was a physical race on a narrow course. Other than at the initial start, you had 168 runners trying to get into a 10-foot wide path. You spend a lot of time jockeying for position. It was a little more bumping and grinding than previous years." Luverne girls: Lexi Jo Heitkamp, 11th, 15:09; Kayla Raddle, 34th, 15:49.2; Amanda Saum, 35th, 15:51.2; Kelsey Dooyema, 94th, 16:35.1; Amanda Kannas, 116th 17:09.7; Kristi Heikes, 121st, 17:27.3; Christy Van Dyke, 154th, 20:17.4.Luverne boys: Tom Ward, 15th, 17:00.2; Thomas Pinkal, 72nd, 17:44.1; Nick Otten, 81st, 17:53.6; Steve Schneiderman, 87th, 18:05.1; Travis Halfmann, 103rd, 18:20.7; Dusty Antoine, 116th, 18:32.7; David Nelson, 142nd, 19:31.4.H-BC-E-E boys: Tyler Bush, 21st, 17:07.4.Adrian girls: Morgan Lynn, 9th, 15:04.3; Leslie Stover, 54th, 16:05.5.