Covert, Ping, St. Michael-Albertville, Edina Shine At State

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

It was a day of full of headline-making news Saturday at the Minnesota State High School Cross Country Championships. 

At St Olaf College in Northfield, Minneapolis Washburn senior Emily Covert bested her meet record on the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 3.4 seconds. This time came a week after she went sub-17, running 16:56 at Gale Woods Farm to win the MHSL Section 6AA title. 

“I was a little bummed out when I didn’t get a sub-17, but that’s OK,” Covert told the Star Tribune. 

Covert, ranked No. 4 in the latest DyeStat rankings, claimed her second straight Class AA crown. She'll soon prepare for ready for the NXR Heartland Regional Championships. 

The girls AA team title went to a first time state champ: St. Michael-Albertville. The Knights scored 70 points to edge out defending champion Wayzata (75 points). Edina placed third (87 points).

“Edina and Wayzata are superpowers when it comes to cross-country, but our team’s thing was kind of, ‘Why not? Why not shoot for first?’ ” St. Michael-Albertville head girls coach Heather Strait told the Star Tribune. 

In the boys AA race, Edina, ranked No. 18 in the latest DyeStat rankings, claimed its first AA title as the Hornets scored 88 points to fend off Mounds View (99) and Wayzata (112). Senior Maxwell Manley led Edina with a third place finish in 15:18.4. Roseville senior Acer Iverson won the individual title in 15:14.8. 

In the girls Class A race, it was all Pings. Cotter sophomore Grace Ping cruised to the A title in a meet-record time of 17:19.4. Defending champion, Tierney Wolfgram, a sophomore from Math & Science Academy of Woodbury, dropped out of the race, according to reports from the Star Tribune.

“She fell, and when we came out of the back loop, she just walked off the course,” Cotter eighth grader Lauren Ping told the Tribune. 

Lauren Ping finished second to her sister in a time of 17:41.5. In the team race, Perham scored 94 points to edge out Howard Lake-Waverly (99 points).

In the Class A boys race, Perham made it a program sweep, scoring 64 points for the title, going 4-5-6. Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin sophomore Geno Uhrbom won the individual title in 15:38. 

Team Champions

Class AA Boys - Edna  88 points

Class AA Girls - St. Michael-Albertville 70 points

Class A Boys - Perham 64 points

Class A Girls - Perham 94 points