When it comes to high school athletics, cross country doesn’t get a ton of respect, said Charlotte Meyer, but she doesn’t mind.
“I’m fine with it because I don’t like being in the spotlight.”
But the eighth grader drew attention aplenty during the state cross country meet on the U of M golf course in Falcon Heights on Saturday when all four-foot-11 of her crossed the finish line in 18:24.0.
Her time was good for second place in the Class A competition. She was just 6.8 seconds behind the winner
Teamwise, Meyer and company took 15th of 16 Class A teams. Meanwhile, the Loyola/Cleveland/St. Clair boys were 12th of 16 teams.
“Some people think it is just easy running. ‘Oh, I can do that.’” Meyer explained. “But it takes practice and mental focus and strategy…and it’s hard on your body. You have to be careful to prevent injuries.”
Meyer could have added the ability to analyze a race and adjust on the fly as other important skills since at the state meet, runners usually can’t stay with an original plan.
“They must adjust to what is going on around them because in championship racing, anything can change,” said head coach Landon Javens, who, as a former Crusader, has five state meets on his resume.
And Meyer did.
“I was going to stick behind the top group for the first two miles. Once I got up the hill past the second mile, I was going to kick it in, but since the winner was going in front of everyone, I kicked it in a little early.”
Meyer came into the race ranked second in Class A and lived up to her billing. Considering all three classes, she had the girls ninth fastest time in the state. The best time at the meet, 17:32.3, was in the Class AAA race. On the same course a year ago, Meyer completed the race in 19:59.7 for 29th place.
“I told her to run her race, and she did really well,” Javens said.
Also on the winner's podium, Meyer’s teammate Valerie Quast was fifth with a 19:05.1. Last year, Quast’s 19:28.4 finish was good for 12th place.
“I knew Valerie was going to have a good day,” Javens said, “but fifth exceeds my expectations although she deserved fifth. Towards the end of the season, she really started to come on strong.”
Rounding out the Loyola/Cleveland/St. Clair top five, Molly Koester finished in 120th place with a 22;10.5, Kate Daley was 131st with a 22:35.0, and Izzy Endres was 140th with a 22:59.5.
Pushing the quintet, Gisele McCabe was 144th with a 23:25.4, and Teya Waagner was 155th with a 24:14.2. There were 160 runners competing with 49 of them not attached to a team.
Last year, the girls first trip to state, they finished in 12th place.
For the Crusader boys, Soren Kelly was 20th with a 16:44.9. Sam Vetter was 45th with a 17:04.7. Kyle Zimmerman was 111th with a 17:58.9, TJ Waldron was 131st with an 18:23.1, and Mitchell Buboltz was 132nd with an 18:25.3.
Javens said that while Kelly’s time was on par, they were hoping for a higher placing, but the competition was strong. Usually running alone out front, Kelly doesn’t get pushed a lot in the regular season, and so Javens said next fall they will work on adjusting his workouts.
Chasing after the Crusader top five, Chase Kijenski was 144th with an 18:58.2, and Rollie Matejcek was 145th with a 19:00.4.
The winning time for the Class A boys was 15:23.5. There were 160 competing. Among them, 48 were unattached. The fastest time among the three classes, set in the Class AAA race, was a sizzling 15:03.7.
Waldron, who was competing in his second state meet, said the course was really difficult, despite no wind and the perfect mid 50s temperature. He didn’t have a strategy but rather was doing his best just to keep pace.
“There was hill after hill. My arms and legs were tired through the whole race.”
At state in 2022, on the St. Olaf course, the Crusader boys finished in 15th place. Last year, they didn’t qualify for the state meet. Waldron didn’t make the Crusader’s state team in 2022 but ran in reserve in 2021.
In 2017, the Crusader boys had their best state finish: third. As a senior, Javens was on that team as was Mitchell Johnstone (CHS 2020), Jerrett Peterson (CHS 2020), Brett Omtvedt (CHS 2020), Brady Omtvedt (CHS 2018) and Payton Remiger (CHS 2018). Evan Skinner (CHS 2018) and Alec Schaefer (CHS 2019) were alternates.
Saturday’s state meet was the last cross country race in a Crusader uniform for seniors Vetter, Zimmerman, Waldron and Kijenski. None of the Loyola/Cleveland/St. Clair girls state runners are seniors.
Above: Charlotte Meyer earned a silver medal in the Class A girls race.
Video: Winners podium