Prep report: Northwestern, Solon Springs boys qualify for WIAA cross country

Oct. 23—The season will keep running for two boys teams and two girls individuals after WIAA cross country sectional meets on Saturday, Oct. 22.

The Northwestern and Solon Springs boys finished second in Division 2 and 3, respectively, booking a place at the state meet next weekend (Oct. 29) at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. The top two teams and five individuals advanced.

In the Division 3 regional at Phillips, Wisconsin, top-five finishes from Dylan Taggart and Isaac Dickenson helped Solon Springs grab a spot at state despite a tightly bunched field. Phillips won the section title with 69 points, with Solon just four behind. The Eagles fended off Grantsburg, which also had two top-five finishers and had five fewer points.

Taggart, a junior, finished second to Ladysmith sophomore Gavin Stewart, who finished the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 55.9 seconds with Taggart 21.7 seconds behind. Dickenson, a sophomore, was fourth in 17:42.1.

In Division 3 girls, Aubrey Guttormson was Solon Springs' only participant. She finished 23rd.

Northwestern had 80 points in the Division 2 regional at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, well behind winners Osceola (51) but ahead of third-place Prescott's 95.

Ellsworth's Alex Pazdernik set the pace in 16:17.8. Northwestern senior Emmett Johnson finished seventh in 17:09.9, and was closely followed by senior Mark Jarman (ninth in 17:32.7) and senior Ian Kalin (11th in 17:38.6). Sophomore Morgan Martens also had a top-20, taking 18th in 18:02.5.

In the girls' race, Northwestern junior Jenna Hursh was the first individual qualifier, taking fourth in 20:04.9. Rachel Ulrich of Osceola took top honors in 19:04.3.

Amery and Osceola took the top two team slots with 54 and 61 points. Northwestern was third with 114.

Tigers sophomore Ashlyn Sutherland was 13th overall in 20:31.5, but was the second individual out.

Superior sophomore Tayler McMeekin ran a strong second in the Division 1 regional at Onalaska, Wisconsin, finishing 2.3 seconds behind Marah Benedict of New Richmond to qualify easily for state next weekend.

Holmen and Eau Claire Memorial took the team slots despite neither placing a runner in the individual top six, meaning sixth-place Olive Halvorson of River Falls was a hard-luck non-qualifier.

Savannah Leopold was the next finisher from the Spartans, taking 28th. Superior was sixth in the team standings.

The Eau Claire Memorial and Hudson boys qualified from that race with Superior taking ninth. The Spartans' top finisher was 13th-place Jacob Lind, who was the first individual out, 5.5 seconds behind Arlo White of Onalaska.

All three Northland teams remaining in the state soccer tournaments will have a maximum amount of recovery time before playing on the third of three scheduled days of Minnesota State High School League quarterfinals after brackets were released on Saturday, Oct. 22.

All three teams, the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys, Cloquet-Carlton girls and Esko girls, will play on Thursday (Oct. 27) in the Twin Cities, with the Lumberjacks playing a doubleheader at Irondale High School in New Brighton.

The Cloquet-Carlton girls were not seeded and will face third-seeded Mankato East on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Irondale. The Cougars are 19-0, have allowed only seven goals all season and are No. 1 in Class AA in the Quality Results Formula from minnesota-scores.net. Cloquet-Carlton (15-3-1), despite late-season hiccups that cost them the No. 1 seed in Section 7AA, is No. 5 in the same computer ranking.

The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys (16-2) will play the second game of a doubleheader at Irondale High School when they meet St. Cloud Tech at 7:30 p.m. in a Class AA quarterfinal. Tech (11-6-2) won the Section 8AA tournament as the No. 3 seed, including winning a St. Cloud derby against Apollo for the section title.

Esko's quarterfinal will be Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Edina, Minnesota against St. Anthony Village. The Eskomos, back in the tournament for the first time since 2021, were seeded below their No. 3 QRF ranking. St. Anthony Village (11-3-1), which won section 4A, was No. 4 in the QRF. The teams have a common opponent, as both played Proctor on consecutive days on the first weekend of the season in August and beat the Rails by four goals in both instances.

Statewide quarterfinals begin on Tuesday. If the Lumberjacks or Eskomos girls win their quarterfinal, either would play in a state semifinal on Nov. 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Cloquet-Carlton would meet the winner of Holy Angels or Zimmerman, while Esko would see either Providence Academy or St. Cloud Cathedral. A potential Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys semifinal would be Nov. 1 at U.S. Bank Stadium against DeLaSalle or Princeton. All six state championship games are Nov. 4.