State cross country team

Finishing in second place at the section meet on Thursday, the Loyola/Cleveland boys cross-country team is heading to the state meet.

It will be the Crusaders' sixth-straight appearance there.

The section meet was held Norwood-Young America’s Baylor Park. LCWM/Nicollet, a team the Clippers beat in the conference, took first with 79 points, eight better than the Crusaders. The top two of the 16 teams that competed advanced to the state meet.

Completing the course in 17:24.8, freshman Soren Kelly led the Crusaders with a 10th-place finish overall. The winning time was 16:15.79, and 111 runners competed.

Senior James Younge was 13th overall with a 17.29.2. Freshman Corbin Deichman finished in 19th place with a 17:49.8. Sophomore Sam Vetter was 10th with a 17:53.7. Jorden Rossow completed the top Crusader five with a 18:14.0 finish that was good for 26th place.

Pushing the quintet along, Nathan Strobel crossed the finish line in 18:19.9 for 29th place. Carter Zimmerman’s 18:34.0 was good for 35th place.

The young Crusader girls took 9th of 14 teams.

Freshman Molly Koester led the effort with a 21:47.5 finish that was good for 11th place. Seventh grader Charlotte Kirshner came in 27th with a 22:50.4. seventh grader Lilly Phillips was 30th with a 23:01.4. Junior Cora Koester was 59th with a 24:37.7, and seventh grader Hannah Coudron was 65th with a 25:26.9.

The winning time was 19:16.23, and 93 runners competed.

Last year, the boys finished last of 16 teams. This year, the Crusaders return experienced as Younge, Rossow, Deichman, Vetter and Strobel competed there in 2021. Strobel, Rossow and Younge also competed at state in 2019.

The state meet will be held on Saturday, November 5 on the campus of St. Olaf in Northfield.

Above: The state-bound boys cross country team. L-R. front row: Chase Kijenski, Carter Zimmerman, James Younge and Kyle Zimmerman. Back row: assistant coach Alex Nuy, Sam Vetter, Jorden Rossow, Nathan Strobel, Corbin Deichman, Soren Kelly and head coach Dale Compton. (photo courtesy of Dale Compton)