Photos by Samantha Davis: Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd's Brynn Gloege runs in the girl's cross country race at the Section 3A Championships Thursday afternoon at the Madison Golf Course. LQPV/DB placed second as a team and advance to state. Below: Wabasso's Elsie Leopold runs at sections, who took first overall and will compete at state. Below: Minneota/Canby's Mya Pesek runs the course, and also advanced to state. Below: LQPV/DB's Chloe Gloege runs the course. Below: The LQPV/DB girls cross country team stands with their section trophy.

MADISON — The Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd girls cross country team earned a spot in the Class A state tournament after taking second as a team at the Section 3A Championships Thursday afternoon in Madison. Wabasso’s Elsie Leopold finished first of all racers, and Canby/Minneota’s Mya Pesek and Murray County Central/Fulda’s Mara Clarke took eighth and ninth in the girls race, also advancing to state.

“We are all pretty happy. We’ve never really done this as a team before. We’ve all been very cohesive, but we’ve never ran like [this] before,” LQPV/DB’s Chloe Gloege said. “We are all really happy and excited … We definitely peaked at the right time.”

“With how the season started to how it is now, there’s been a lot of changing and a lot of intermixing,” LQPV/DB’s Brynn Gloege added. “I think we have really grown … It’s a good feeling.”

The top two teams automatically qualify for the state tournament, while the top-6 individuals not a part of the qualifying teams also advance.

“I was super excited,” Pesek said. “I’m glad my teammates did well, and it was just a really great day to have a great day.”

The LQPV/DB girls finished in second with 110 points, just three ahead of Luverne, to secure its bid into state. Redwood Valley took first place for the boys and girls races.

Leopold separated herself early on and paced through the course, finishing with a time of 19:05.80, marking a personal record with time to spare, 27 seconds ahead of the runner up.

“I’m just super happy that I did so well with my time, like my personal best, and just glad that I went out and pushed really hard,” Leopold said. “I just was really like, ‘Just keep going and keep going. You want to do this, you want to win, and just push really hard and make yourself proud.'”

This will be Leopold’s second year competing at state. Last year, as an eighth grader, she finished in 14th place of 159 runners with a time of 19:32.60. She will also be joined by Wabasso senior Andrew Morin, who took second in the boys race and advanced to state.

“How I will build off of [last year’s state experience] is, since I already have experience, I’m just going to try to push harder at the beginning, just to get out of the big crowd and stuff, because [there’s] so many people there,” Leopold said.

Pesek came in eighth place with a 20:01.10, and Clarke followed in ninth at a 20:12.20. This will be Pesek’s fourth state appearance, and she finished in 53rd last year with a time of 20:24.00.

“I’m super excited because I know the course now, since my third year on this course,” Pesek said. “I’m excited to just go and have some fun.”

For LQPV/DB, Brynn and Chloe Gloege led the way with an 11th and 14th place finish, respectively. Brynn ran a 20:26.50, and Chloe came with a 20:44.40.

Brynn and Chloe have both competed at state before individually, and plan to lead their team with their experience.

“It’s definitely going to be very helpful to help guide them through the course. The state course is a tricky course. It’s a lot of hills,” Chloe said. Brynn added that the duo will share advice with the team as well regarding mental points when it comes to the state race.

Laura Schreier supported the team with a 17th-place finish and a tie of 21:06.50, and Sadie Rosendahl, Tahlia Hersom, Harper Gronholz and Morgan Anderson all followed to pace along the group to a state-qualifying finish.

“We have a lot of positive self-talk. Before we start running, we all go in a little circle and we just have a positive talk and a little bit of fun, because we’re a very fun group,” Chloe said. “During the race today, I just kept telling myself that I can keep doing it. I can keep going.”

“I hit a point in my race where I just [like] I’m done, and I have to make sure I can get out of that, because I know I’m going to hit it,” Brynn added about navigating the race. “I have to dig through and go through it, and I think after I get out of that [headspace], it’s much better.”

Canby/Minneota boys and girls finished as a team in fourth place on both sides.

The Wabasso girls team placed 11th of the 16 teams, and RTR came in 12th. MCC/F finished in 13th, and TMB/WWG took 16th.

Individually around the area, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton’s Summer Labrune came in 15th after running a strong 20:49.50 for a new personal record, and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove’s Miranda Mischke ran a personal record time of 21:19.50 for 20th. TMB/WWG’s Weston Marten ran an 18:59.7 for 35th place.

C/M’s Adri Christianson and Taylor Ourado ran together with times of 21:25.50 and 21:26.0, finishing in 23rd and 24th.

“I’m definitely just proud of all of them. We have a bunch of young girls learning this year, [which] has been super fun to watch,” Pesek said of the C/M team. “Their excitement is so exciting, so I’m excited to come back with them next year and just see them grow and develop.”

The Class A cross country state tournament is slated for next Saturday at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course. The boys will race at 10 a.m., with the girls to take the course at 10:45 a.m. The awards ceremony is set for 11:15 a.m.