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The Luverne High School girls’ cross country team returned to the awards podium Saturday after finishing third at the state cross country tournament in Northfield.
The LHS girls amassed 117 points in the Class A event behind winning team Staples-Motley (103 points) and second-place Perham,109 points.
Two LHS runners earned Top 10 medals (a first for the LHS program) for their finishes in the 5000-meter race on the campus of St. Olaf College.
Senior Tenley Nelson bested her previous state tournament finish with a second-place run in a time of 18:47:00 followed by teammate Jenna DeBates, sophomore who was third with 19:06.82.
Murray County Central junior Amanda Overgaauw won the race with a time of 18:09.13.
At the 2019 event, Nelson placed third individually and DeBates was 18th. Both LHS athletes worked to best their previous finishes.
The state event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and regional competitions were conducted instead.
“When you shoot for the moon sometimes you hit the stars and today you were the stars,” coach Peter Janiszeski said to the team. “This has been one of the best days in Luverne cross country ever.”
Contributing to the team’s third-place finish were eighth-grader Ella Schmuck, 20:47.18 (60th place); sophomore Kayla Bloemendaal, 20:52.12 (63rd); and junior Grace Ingebretson, 21:45.94 (92nd).
Seventh-grader Khloe Visker finished the course in 21:45.94 (92nd) and junior Tiana Lais, 22:09.90 (105th).
The LHS girls’ best team finish was second place in 2019. This year’s team goal was to return to the state meet and improve on that finish.
This year’s road to the state tournament included the boys’ team joining the girls’ team for the first time since 2011.
“It makes it more special because not only are we close as a girls’ team, we are close as an entire team,” Nelson said.
“We all cheer each other on and we want each team member to succeed as much as ourselves to success.”
Saturday’s race was the 14th time a Cardinals girls’ cross country team competed at the state tournament, and it marked the seventh consecutive year an LHS girls’ team competed at the final event of the cross country season.
At the state meet, the Luverne team consistently ran in third place behind the eventual team winners.
This year was the first year the Minnesota State High School League implemented the three class system of A, AA and AAA. Luverne continued to compete in Class A.