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The Luverne boys’ cross country team achieved the best state tournament finish in school history Saturday when they were awarded silver medals at the Minnesota State High School League Class A Cross Country Championships in Northfield.
Sophomore Owen Janiszeski earned a fifth-place medal when he finished in the Top 10.
Two Luverne girls’ team members qualified individually for Saturday’s championships, with junior Jenna DeBates achieving a fifth-place medal. Freshman Ella Schmuck finished 47th.
On Saturday an emotional coach Pete Janiszeski addressed his seven boys’ team runners after they achieved another first in school history – the first Luverne boys’ team to reach the awards podium.
“This was absolutely an amazing race,” he said. “We are the best team ever!”
Three points separated Luverne from the first-place gold medalists, Heritage Christian of Maple Grove (99 points) in the final standings.
Last year Luverne boys placed ninth as a team.
The Luverne boys’ team first made school history Oct. 27 when they won the Section 3A Championship, a first for a Luverne boys’ cross country team.
“You all ran faster today than you did at sections last week,” Janiszeski said. “We had three individuals in the Top 25 — we’ve never done that before.”
Luverne’s runners averaged under 17 minutes in the state’s 5,000-meter race that featured 160 runners.
Results included:
•Sophomore Owen Janiszeski, fifth, 16:09.09
•Junior Ryan Fick, 15th, 16:37.87
•Senior Camden Janiszeski, 25th, 16:42.60
•Sophomore Leif Ingebretsen, 77th, 17:27.65
•Sophomore Sage Viessman, 80th, 17:29.65
•Senior Carsen Tofteland, 95th, 17:45.10
•Sophomore Kaleb Hemme, 134th, 18:30.49
Winning the boys’ race in Class A was Brandon Kampsen of Sauk Center with a time of 15:49.44.
Team had to run ‘very, very best’ times
Coach Janiszeski reflected on team history at last Thursday’s pep fest.
“This is the 25th time out of the 26 years we’ve had at least one person competing at the state meet,” he said.
This year was the first group of boys to win a section championship in what has been a winning year.
“They’ve won the most meets that they’ve ever won. They’re probably the most talented and fastest group that we’ve had, and that testifies to all your hard work,” he said.
Janiszeski cautioned the boys’ optimism about Saturday’s state tournament.
“If things go well, we can probably be in the top five, and if we have great races and perform at our very, very best, we have a shot of making it to the podium, which is kind of the ‘shoot for the moon’ goal and they are definitely capable of that.”
Coach Janiszeski’s sons, Owen and Camden, are the lead runners for the boys’ team.
Last year Camden Janiszeski placed 15th, while younger brother, Owen, placed 15th.
Owen placed fifth at this year’s state meet.
“I didn’t have a perfect race, but I did what I could and helped my team as best as I could,” he said. “It was hard racing without him (Camden) at the front of me but it definitely motivated me to run the best that I could to help and elevate the team to the next level.”
Camden, a senior, was diagnosed with anemia shortly before the section championship, which left him struggling half way through the 5K races.
“I was thinking this was going to be the perfect season but things were out of my control so I am rolling with the punches,” Camden said. “So, at the end of the season it was all in God’s plan to just do everything I could to help the team … that was all that matters.”
Finishing 25th, Camden earned All-State honors with his brother, Owen, and teammate Ryan Fick.
“For him to earn All-State honors and run as fast as he did with his anemia was simply remarkable,” Pete Janiszeski said. “I can’t even express how proud I was of him, his performance and grit.”
Saturday was cold, drizzly day
Saturday’s weather was overcast with temperatures in the high 30s.
The Class A races began with the girls’ championship at noon, just as a drizzle began to fall.
The weather was a benefit, according to DeBates.
“I liked that it was cooler and had some moisture in the air because last week in practice it was really warm and very dry,” she said.
Her finishing time Saturday was faster than last year’s third-place individual finish in the state tournament.
DeBates finished Saturday’s 5,000 meters with a time of 18:54.34.
Jade Rypkema, a senior from Nevis, won the race with a time of 17:43.47.
Running without several teammates was a different feeling for DeBates, who participated in the state championships for the fifth-straight year. This is the first year she ran as an individual qualifier.
DeBates ran Saturday with just one teammate, Ella Schmuck.
Schmuck finished 47th out of 158 runners with a time of 20:27.75. Last year Schmuck finished 60th in the girls’ team third-place finish at state.
“I don’t think it hit either one of us until probably we were at the starting line and it was just the two of us and other people from the section,” DeBates said.
Schmuck also felt the difference. “It was kind of scary. I was nervous. I thought I did pretty good — there was a big pack that I got stuck in and had to follow along but they would push me, too,” she said.
However, Saturday was the Luverne boys’ team’s day.
“We did our best and had our best day,” said senior Carsen Tofteland. “It was really awesome to see how far our program has come in the past couple of years. It is a little bittersweet to come that close and not be on top — but it’s still awesome.”