Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall sophomore Sam Deutz (1365) runs at in the lead pack in the first lap of the Section 2AA boys cross country meet at Benson Park in North Mankato on Thursday afternoon.

NORTH MANKATO — Facing a loaded field of competition, the No. 2 Marshall boys cross country team came away with a runner-up finish at the Section 2AA Championship at Benson Park on Thursday night to keep their season alive.

“We said the same thing talking with the other coaches, survive and advance. That’s kind of the key right here,” Marshall head coach Brian Leibfried said. “We know it’s going to be tight. Within that top 20 is pretty much our three teams [Marshall, Mankato East and Belle Plaine] and then a few individuals spattered in between. When it’s that tight, every place matters and it certainly came down to that today.”

Each of the class’s top three teams competed in the meet with only two state championship berths up for grabs. The No. 1 Mankato East Cougars won the meet with 28 points. While the Tigers’ 61 points weren’t enough to keep them up with Mankato East, it was enough to edge out third-place and Class AA No. 3 Belle Plaine by 5 points.

“I really didn’t think we did [qualify for state]. Watching that play out, I was down about a little less than a quarter mile from the finish and I thought they [Belle Plaine] had us,” coach Leibfried said. “Those individual battles going into the finish line is what did it. All of our boys down that tube, down the finish line, I heard that they each caught a person or kept where they were and that’s what it came down to.”

Sam Deutz received votes in the latest Class AA individuals poll and could be on his way to being officially ranked in the next iteration. The sophomore standout placed fourth in the meet at 16:23.0, making him the only underclassman in the top six spots.

Mankato East’s Isaiah Anderson and Luke Scholtes took first and third at 15:58.8 and 16:15.2 respectively while Big South rival Worthington’s Fanuel Wolday was the individual runner-up at 16:05.9. Wolday is ranked No. 5 in Class AA while Anderson is ranked No. 8. Scholtes also received votes.

While it was difficult for many runners to run up to their peak times with the wet, muddy course, that didn’t stop Landon Marthaler from doing his best to get there. Marshaller’s time of 16:38.6 was less than a second shy of his career-best time of 16:37.9, which he set at Benson Park on Oct. 11. He’s improved by leaps and bounds throughout the season after finishing his sophomore year with a personal-best time of 18:01.5.

“There were a few Belle Plaine kids ahead of me and Josh Leibfried. We knew that we had to pass them in order to beat them as a team, so we had to kick ahead of them to go to state,” Marthaler said. “We all got it done… I’m just thinking about all the training we put in over the summer and on bad-weather days.”

He added that now his focus is just on maximizing his taper.

Belle Plaine’s Jack Buerkle placed 12th at 16:41 while Josh Leibfried finished right behind him at 16:44 to beat out another pair of Belle Plaine runners, Isaac Bemmels and Austin Kehr.

After those two, Kohen Holcomb and Chase Werner took 16th and 17th at 16:57.6 and 16:57.8 to close out the Tiger scorers with a win.

“We had a stretch down there where we had three guys chasing down a competitor down the final stretch and we said we need that guy. Those are the things that make a difference in this,” coach Leibfried said. “I’m just so happy for the boys. To come out like that, really tight, really close and come out on the good side of it is really exciting. We’ve been on the other side too, so we know how that feels and I’m just happy for the boys.”

Keagen Anderson didn’t score as the No. 6 man but helped to displace Belle Plaine’s No. 5 scorer by placing 19th at 17:04.7, just ahead of another pair of Belle Plaine runners. Ethan Bly closed out the Marshall scorers in 31st place out of 75 finishers at 17:38.8.

Marshall will have another chance to come out on top against the top-ranked Mankato East Cougars when the big cats battle at the state championship meet at Les Bolstad Golf Course at the University of Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 4. This is the first year that the event will have an admission charge after being moved from St. Olaf.

“It’s a different ballgame when you get there. Everyone’s got to be ready and certainly we’re not done yet,” coach Leibfried said. “We want to do as best we can there and it’s kind of unfortunate that Belle Plaine also isn’t up there, but it takes out another really tough team. We think we’re sitting in a pretty good place.”

Leibfried added that Mankato East and Parham are among the teams that have looked strong heading into the met but that the Tigers will regroup, reassess, and get back to training mode to prepare to make a run at the state title.