It's four straight to State for Raptors

It can be difficult to know just what might inspire a teenager these days, but Brenda Knudsen may have found something in October. The trails on Pincushion Mountain offer spectacular views of the harbor at Grand Marais and the expanse of Lake Superior. As Knudsen prepared her Carlton/Wrenshall girls cross country teams for the Oct. 10 Polar League Conference meet on those trails, she told them she'd jump into the lake if they won.

"It was freezing," the coach said this week, looking back on a season that once again has the Raptors team in the Minnesota State Cross Country Meet, taking place Saturday in St. Paul.

The girls didn't just win the conference meet, they dominated. Juniors Isabel Riley and Ruth Sandstrom finished first and second, propelling the team into first, 15 points clear of second-place Moose Lake/Willow River/Barnum.

Last Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Section 7A meet in Coleraine, it was another Raptors bloc that catapulted the team to a win and entry into state for the fourth-straight year. Sandstrom, Riley and Brielle Simula finished fourth, fifth and sixth on a perfect day for running, Knudsen said.

"They did so good," the coach said. "We figured for a fight with Moose Lake, Greenway and Ely. The girls showed up and did it again."

The Raptors finished with a low 71 points, 19 better than Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin, which also qualified for state with a second place. The Moose Lake conglomerate was third, missing second by just a point. Ely was fourth, 25 points behind the Raptors.

Rounding out the five Raptors runners that made up the winning section team were Sara Cid in 32nd and Shealee Gunderson in 34th place.

"All five, for sure," have been solid, Knudsen said, "and the whole team, even six and seven."

Sandstrom and Riley posted personal-best times in the 5,000-meter section run: 20 minutes, 21.2 seconds and 20:22.4. Simula had her fastest run of the season at 20:27.7. Cid also had seasonal best time, while Gunderson had a personal best time. In a race that included 101 runners, the Raptors' Teagan Tessier and Nadia Tessier had good races, finishing 51st and 59th. Teagan recorded a personal best time.

Knudsen said polar plunge types of inspiration are over. Reaching state, she tells her runners to chill out.

The streak of qualifying for state means the Raptors girls "have a target on their backs," at the section meet. "It's more nervous," Knudsen said.

Now that they've qualified again, she tells them to relax.

"If you want to go for a personal record, go do it," she said.

Races on golf courses are a far cry from how the Raptors practice, Knudsen said. It's part of what makes every Raptors running season special, aside from the competitions.

"We run on Jay Cooke (State Park) trails," she said. "It's beautiful, and the hills are good for us."

Lots of memories there, Knudsen said.

She said assistant coach Heather Brown has been invaluable for her and the team. "She handles all administrative duties," Knudsen said. "This allows me to just be able to focus on each runner and the workouts. It has been such a bonus. She definitely makes everything way easier for me."

When told the one common denominator with the four-straight state girls teams was herself as coach, Knudsen let out a laugh, and quoted her father, the longtime regional teacher and coach John Grussendorf.

"He said, if you don't have the animals, you don't have a zoo. All I can say each year is that it is a pleasure to coach them," Knudsen said.

While the girls team will be loose for state, it's not like the team doesn't have a goal.

"A top-10 finish would be huge," Knudsen said, adding that she won't be doing any lake leaping if it should happen.

Other 7A girls

Olivia Pascuzzi of Chisholm could be a favorite at the state meet as an individual. She won the girls 7A race with a time of 19:02.6, nearly a minute better than the second-place runner. The ninth-grader will be running in her third state meet. Last year she was 14th overall.

Top finishers from the Carlton County area included Cromwell-Wright's Ari Dahl, who qualified for state with a ninth-place run of 20:32.2, a personal best.

ML/WR/Barnum's top runners finished in a cluster, in the 16th to 22nd places were Bella McCall, Brooklyn Wasche, Amelia Olson and Olivia Jutila.

Ellynor Barta and Brooke Koski of Esko finished in the 28 and 29 spots.

7AA girls

Elsa Winbigler was the top runner for Cloquet in the Oct. 24 Section 7AA meet in Hibbing. She finished 29th in the 72-runner field.

Cloquet placed ninth out of the 10 teams, with Hibbing and Chisago Lakes teams moving on to the state meet by having 11 runners finish in the top 20.

Cloquet coach Chandra Allen the girls team made progress, with improved times as the season went on. "It was a good season," she said.

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If you go

The Minnesota State Cross Country Meet takes place Saturday, Nov. 2 at University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course, 2275 Larpenteur Ave. W, St. Paul.

Tickets, $13 for adults and $8 for students, can be purchased online only, at the Minnesota State High School League website.

There is no parking at the golf course. Shuttles will be available from a free parking lot on the grounds of the Minnesota State Fair. Park in the "Buffalo Lot" at 1641 Underwood St. from Larpenteur Avenue or Hoyt Avenue.

Start times are as follows:

• Class AA girls: 10 a.m.

• Class AA boys: 10:45 a.m.

• Class AAA girls: 12:15 p.m.

• Class AAA boys: 1 p.m.

• Class A girls: 2:30 p.m.

• Class A boys: 3:15 p.m.