Class A Champs Take Different Paths

Waseca's Shane Streich and Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball Area's Emily Donnay took different routes to their Class A individual titles as did  Mora and Trinity School at River Ridge, who won the boy's and girl's team titles.

They're off in the boy's Class A race.

Number two ranked Mora edged number one ranked Martin County West 104 to 108 to win the boy's championship.  Mora coach Chris Goebel purposely did not set winning the State team title as the goal for the season.  With a young team, all of whom are underclassmen, Goebel did not want to put that kind of pressure on them. He framed the expectation for the State championship race as a time goal.

He told the top five to shoot for a goal of running under 17:15. On Monday he asked the kids to research about what it would take to reach the sub 17:15 goal.  Being over achievers they looked at a faster time.  What would it take to run under 17?  The first mile should be run around 5:06, they decided, which was faster then they had run before for the first mile.  "You can do it," he told them. Some said they would shoot for a first mile marginally slower--around 5:08--and make that up over the last 2.1 miles.

On Tuesday, he had them run two 800 meter intervals at the 5:06 mile goal pace.  They did it and, they told Goebel, it felt easy, comfortable.  The stage was set.  The goal seemed achievable.  They had their plan, now all they had to do was execute it.  Before they went to the starting line, Goebel told them that they would probably get excited as the start of the race approached.  Don't get caught up in that, he told them. Don't get sucked into going out too fast or too slow. "I really didn't have to tell them that, they knew. Stick to the plan."

In the last nine years the team has run, on average, 10 to 15 seconds slower than their Section times at the State Meet, said Goebel.  This year three of the top five runners ran personal bests, the other two were only three and five seconds, respectively, off their PBs.  Martin County West ran even with Mora on both the average time for each runner, 16:54.3 and total time, 1:24.31.5.  Mora won the final stat, the gap between the team's first and fifth finishers, 42.2 seconds to 58.6, which was worth four points and the title.

Trinity's girl's had packed it's top five within 33 seconds of one another in their Section meet, with the top two under 16 minutes for 4K. On Saturday in Northfield, the top five had a 43.9 second gap, but all five runners were under 16.  Four of the five ran faster than their counterparts on defending champion Annandale, who had four of their top five under 16.

"They(Trinity) have a very strong team," said Annandale coach Scott Massmann.  "They ran a great race."  So did the individual titlists in the boy's and girl's races.  Streich took off after the first mile and kept trying to pull away from Park Rapids' Isaac Overmeyer.  He finally managed to open up a significant gap on the last uphill on the course's outer loop, eventually winning the race by 14 seconds.

Shane Streich(121) leads Isaac Overmeyer(67), and Billy Besemer(231)
Photo by Jim Ferstle

One of the top high school middle distance runners in the State, Streich gained confidence by finishing sixth, top Minnesotan(one spot in front of Connor Olson), at the Griak Invitational.  A 800 meter and 1600 meter MSHSL Class A track champion, Streich has a list of goals he wants to achieve during this year's track season.  It includes running under 50 for 400 meters, under 1:50 for 800, and under 4:10 for the 1600.  He's attracted interest from NCAA DI schools, such as the University of Minnesota and Stanford. Streich has done his five visits to schools from Iowa to California and is hoping to make his choice soon. Checked off his to do list is the elusive XC Championship.  "I've wanted to do this since seventh grade," he said.

Emily Donnay shivering and getting a pair of gloves from her friends.
Photo by Jim Ferstle

Senior Emily Donnay's main thoughts after her race was getting warm.  Another finisher in the woman's race was overheard telling one of her teammates: "I couldn't feel my legs it was so cold.  I kind of liked that."  Donnay's numbness was in her hands and she had to grab a pair of gloves from one of her friends as she was being interviewed in the finish chute.

 The competition during the race got hot early as runner-up Madi Schandelmeier took off in the second mile and opened a big lead.

Madi Schandelmeier in the lead with no chase pack in sight.
Photo by Jim Ferstle

Watching Schandelmeier from afar, Donnay said she soon realized she had to make a move of her own or the race would be lost.  Emily took off after Madi, but didn't catch her until less than a mile remained in the race.Emily's younger sister, a sophomore like Schandelmeier, was a little slower to respond, but soon also gave chase.

Emily Donnay(451) in the chase pack after Schandelmeier had already
opened a large gap.  Photo by Jim Ferstle

After Emily Donnay flashed past Schandelmeier she opened up a 21.5 second margin of victory.  Anna Donnay finished 12.5 seconds behind Schandelmeier.  Their father, John Donnay, owner and operator of the family's organic dairy farm, said the girls were up at 5:15 every morning over the summer starting on July 1.  Emily not only helped out on the farm, she had a construction job to get to by 7:30.  "She was never late," her father said  "They're both very hard workers."

Emily plays basketball and runs track, while Anna plays softball and runs track.  They each had played volleyball until two years ago, but volleyball had "too much drama," said Anna.   The sisters quit the team and began looking for another Fall sport.  They picked cross country with Emily beginning last year and Anna joining the team this year. Their hard work has paid off, and Anna's emergence sets up another match up with Schandelmeier at next year's race.

Anna Donnay(452) being interviewed as father John(red coat and grey
hat standing behind the fence) and mother Chris(in the blue top with
the grey stocking hat across from him) watch. Photo by Jim Ferstle

Full Class A boy's results HERE. Girl's HERE.