At 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 4, a horde of about 160 runners began a mad dash to the finish line in search of the state championship trophy. For the first time in four years, the Spartan girls cross country team was in the race.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Thomas Kovarik

ONE STEP AT A TIME. Freshman Paloma Good finds her pace, inching towards the end.

The team took second place at the Section 4A meet on Oct. 24. Trailing Nova by two points with a score of 56, the top two teams in each section advanced to the state meet, in addition to the next eight individual finishers.

Last year, freshman Paloma Good was the only runner to qualify for the state meet as an individual. “[That] was a lot less exciting because I didn’t get to [run] with my team … I had to warm up by myself,” Good said. “But with the team, it makes it a lot more competitive.”

Sophomore Maren Overgaard attributed the team’s collective success to their new competition in Class A since, in previous seasons, they had to compete against larger schools in Class AA. “We went into the season with a goal of going to state … we spent the entire season training for this,” Overgaard said.

Like all Minnesota cross country races, the state meet occurred on a winding, muddy, 3.1-mile course. The Spartans arrived at the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course around 11:30 a.m., and it was a buzz with excitement.

Runners adorned in training gear or this year’s state sweatshirts huddled outside their school’s brightly-colored tent, while thousands of parents and friends carried pun-filled signs like “Why do all the good ones run away?” and “Why is everyone chasing each other… tag?

The bright blue skies and crisp air provided “perfect” running conditions.

In between races—as the next set of runners warmed up—upbeat music blared from the speaker, and crowds assembled on either side of the starting line.

Still, the chaos was over in less than half an hour. The cross country team finished in 15th place, and junior Taylor Barkwell held the fastest finish for the Spartans, in 51st place out of 158 finishers.

Though the Spartans’ performance didn’t live up to their hopes, Overgaard sees the result as motivation for next season: “We have a lot of work to do, but we have a really good starting place,” she said.

On Thursday, Nov 4, at Les Bolstad Golf Course, girls cross country competed in the state finals. The boys didn’t qualify but many of them were still there to support their fellow teammates who were racing. The Spartans put on a good performance for their final meet of the season.

They began to all gather fifteen minutes before the starter gun would be fired and the race would officially begin. Everybody on the team was warming up by doing dynamic stretches and small jogs around the practice area.

Boys cross country captain Ian Grewey showed up to the meet to cheer on the girls.“I think they are going to do great, no matter how it ends up, they have had their ups and downs this season, so we’re all just happy to be here,” Grewey said. “I am definitely very excited, because I have been thinking of this for a very long time.”.

Before the race started, the athletes were all talking with each other, trying to ease nerves and discuss strategy. Three minutes before the race was set to start, all the girls gathered in the area designated for SPA and took position. When the countdown ended and the gun was shot, everyone started sprinting, starting their 5K loop around the course.

It was a close and dramatic race. In the end, Taylor Barkwell was the top performing Spartan, placing 51st in the race out of 160 runners. Maren Overgaard placed 101st, and Carys Hardy placed 111th in the race.

This state final was the final race of the season for Spartan cross country. The girls were able to run in the finals and many of the boys runners were there to support them. Overall, the team was proud of their efforts throughout the last few months and look forward to next year.