State Meet Photo Gallery -- By Gene Niemi

Class AA Early-Going: defending champ Lukas Gemar (251) leads eventual winner Aaron Bartnik (191) and the rest of the field.

Eden Prairie junior Bartnik wins boys' Class AA.

Class A Girls: 2009 runner-up Emma Bates (372) leads 2007 Class AA champ Laura Hughes (far left.)

Class AA girls' titlist Marie Hauger of Shakopee.


Class A boys' champ Mubarik Musa of Worthington.


Class A girls' champ Maddie McClellan of Perham.


Photos by Gene Niemi.

#1 Waseca Wins Class A Girls' Title

#1-ranked Waseca topped #2 Perham in girls' Class A competion at the MSHSL State Meet.

Waseca tallied 81 to Perhams' 92. Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin was third with 121.

Four-time defending Class A champions Adrian were 4th with 154.

Find complete results HERE.

Perham's McClellan Wins Class A Crown

Perham senior Maddie McClellan out ran Chatfield ninth-grader Kayla Woltz for the MSHSL Class A girls' title today in Northfield.

The #5-ranked Woltz led #1-ranked McClellan in the race's final mile, but McClellan regained the lead and pulled away to win comfortably.

McClellan clocked 14:56; Wotz ran 15:03.

Listen to McClellan's post-race interview:



Find complete results HERE.

P-E-M Boys Edge Perham 100-102

Plainview-Elgin-Millville sneaked by #1-ranked Perham to win the MSHSL Class A boys' title 100-102.

The finish was the closest in Class A boys since 1985 when Elgin-Millville and Long Prairie tied with 78 points.

St. Cloud Cathedral, ranked #4 in Class A, finished a close third with 110.

P-E-M entered the meet ranked #3.

Find complete results HERE.

Place Wins; UMD Women Qualify for NCAA D2

We interrupt our State Meet coverage with some college news ...

Led by individual champion Morgan Place, the University of Minnesota - Duluth women qualified for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships at the Central Regional Championship in Wayne, Nebraska today.

Place (pictured, leading), a sophomore from Ellsworth, Wisconsin, clocked 21:39 over the 6K course for a 20-second victory over runner-up Kristen McGlynn of Adams State.

UMD finished 6th as a team, earning the final qualifying spot for the D2 national meet.

Minnesota State -Mankato's men finished a non-qualifying 7th at the meet.

Find complete results HERE.

Photo by Taylor Marble.

Mubarik Musa Wins Class A Boys' Title

Worthington sophomore Mubarik Musa upset #1-ranked Paul Kouillick a senior from Blake to win the MSHSL Class A boys' title this afternoon in Northfield.

Musa, ranked #4 entering the State Meet, pulled away on the St. Olaf course's final hill at the 2.5 mile mark for the win.

Musa clocked 16:02; Kouillik ran 16:20.

Find complete results HERE.

Elk River Girls Win Close Class AA Battle

#2-ranked Elk River scored 120 points to edge #6-ranked Prior Lake with 123 and #1 Eden Prairie with 127 for the MSHSL Class AA girls' team title.

The three-piont margin between Elk River and Prior Lake ties the all-time record for close finishes in the Class AA girls meet. In 1978, Armstrong beat St. Cloud Tech 78-81; in 1980, Eden Prairie topped Armstrong 106-109; and in 1985, Alexandria topped Winona 60-63.

The Elks used a one-two punch of Emma Bates, second overall, and Abbi Aspengren, 8th, to seal the win.

Lakeville South was 4th with 144 points; Monticello finished 5th with 167.

Official results are HERE.

Shakopee's Hauger Wins Class AA Crown

Shakopee freshman Marie Hauger won the MSHSL Class AA girls' cross country title over fast-closing Elk River senior Emma Bates this morning.

Hauger, who opened up a huge early lead in the 4K race across the St. Olaf College campus, lost all but a stride of her margin in the late-going, but held on for the victory.

Hauger broke the tape in 14:41; Bates ran 14:42.

Hauger's post-race interview:



Bates' post race comments:





Official results are HERE.

Eden Prairie Tips Wayzata 47-57 in Class AA

#1-ranked Eden Prairie edged Wayzata 47-57 to win the MSHSL Class AA boys' cross country title this morning in Northfield.

Burnsville finished third with 113 points, while St. Thomas Academy and Stillwater were fourth and fifth.

Official results are HERE.

Two-time defending champion Wayzata, which won last years Class AA meet with 55 points, is the best-scoring runner-up in Class AA or a single class State Meet since Minneapolis Southwest scored 45 points in a 6-point loss to Duluth Central at State in 1949.

Eden Prairie's Bartnik Wins Class AA Title

Eden Prairie junior Aaron Bartnik, the #1-ranked individual in Class AA won a close-fought victory over Woodbury senior Marty Joyce to win the MSHSL Class AA boys' cross country title this morning in Northfield.

Bartnik, only 29th in last year's Class race, outran Joyce over a fleet final 800m. Bartnik clocked 15:56 for the win; Joyce crossed the finish line in 15:58.

Defending champion Lukas Gemar of Moorhead finished 31st.

Bartnik's post-race interview:



Joyce's post-race comments:



Official results are HERE.

Yes/No: Will Morgan Place Win Regionals?

Good runners can go a lifetime without ever winning a collegiate cross country race. Even the best runners will often take their lumps for a few years before moving to the front of the pack.

Not Morgan Place.

The UMD sophomore will run her 16th collegiate cross country race on Saturday at Wayne State. She has won all but three of these races in her career. Place will try to avenge one of these “losses” at the NCAA Division II Central Regional meet on Saturday where she placed fourth last year.

So we ask DtB fantasy players ...

Yes/No: Will Morgan Place win the DII Central Regional Cross Country meet on Saturday?

Morgan Place is undefeated against D2 runners in 2009. The only two runners that have defeated Place this year are Ayla Mitchell of UW-Oshkosh and Marie Borner of Bethel, both at the Brooks Cross Country Invite at Winneconne, WI. Place finished fourth at Regions last year and went on to finish seventh at the D2 National meet. The three runners that finished ahead of place at Regions in 2008 all were seniors.

To play our game, simply type "yes" or "no" into the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us at DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com before 9:00 A.M. CST, Saturday, November 7. Please put your answer in the subject line of the e-mail and make sure your full name appears somewhere in the e-mail. We will continue to offer a bonus for participants making their debut in Yes/No - a correct answer will be worth two points for any first-time players.

My answer: No.

Last week’s Yes/No question was: Will Josh Moen run faster than 2:14:30 at the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday? Moen was on track early and went through half marathon in 1:06:46, but eventually had to the abandon the race. Seven contestants answered "No" correctly. There is now a logjam in third place with five contestants tied with 18 points. The final yes/no contest of the year will be held in two weeks and will likely feature two questions.

Here's the current Yes/No top-10:

Doug Cowles - 27
Chad Bjugan - 20
Mitch Van Bruggen - 18
Lori Anne Peterson - 18
Nate Porath - 18
Ryan Aylesworth - 18
Mick Hondo - 18
Benjamin Melby - 16
Toby Hatlevig - 15
Rich Cowles - 15

You can find all of DtB's contest results and leaderboards at DtB Fantasy Corner.

Good luck and thanks for playing Yes/No on DtB!

Luke Watson Talks Marathon, Accounting

A feature on Luke Watson from the Centre Daily Times is HERE.

Mead, Alford-Sullivan Earn Big Ten Honors

Gopher cross country star Hassan Mead and Minnesota native Beth Alford-Sullivan earned Big Ten accolades yesterday: Mead was named men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, while Sullivan, the head coach at Penn State, earned women's Coach of the Year honors.

Mead repeated as Athlete of the Year after winning his second straight Big Ten men's cross country title last weekend. The Minneapolis South alum clocked 25:01 on Penn State's 5.2 mile course for the victory. Mead has earned Big Ten awards in each of his three seasons in the conference -- he was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year in 2007.

Alford-Sullivan, a Hopkins High School and University of Minnesota alum, was honored after Penn State swept the women's individual and team crowns at Big Tens. The wins were program-first for Penn State, which is currently ranked #11 in the NCAA Division I poll. Alford-Sullivan is a former University of Minnesota cross country captain.

Read about all the Big Ten cross country award winners HERE.

Conference Results Amend NCAA Rankings

Conference championship races have modified the rankings of Minnesota schools in the latest NCAA Cross Country polls as teams look ahead to regional competition.

Division I ... The University of Minnesota men returned to the national rankings thanks to their third place finish at the Big Ten Championships last weekend. The Gophers rejoned the poll, HERE, at #29.

The Gopher women dropped two spots to #17 in the women's rankings after their own third place finish at Big Tens. You can find the complete women's poll HERE.

Division II ... The University of Minnesota - Duluth women's team finds itself in the #13 position in the D2 poll, HERE, for the second straight week. The Bulldogs lost a spot in the polls last week after finishing as the runners-up to Augustana at the NSIC meet on October 24.

No Minnesota men's teams are nationally ranked in D2.

Division III ... The Carleton College women's team jumped four spots in the latest D3 women's poll, HERE, on the heels of their emphatic win at the MIAC Championships. The Knights are now ranked #16, followed by Bethel at #24 and St. Thomas at #26.

MIAC Men's champions Hamline, earned their first D3 ranking of the season, entering the rankings, HERE, at #26.

Barker Talks About Lehmkuhle and Moen

Team USA Minnesota coach Dennis Barker offered some additional information on the ING New York City Marathon performances of his charges Jason Lehmkuhle and Josh Moen in a recent media release by the post-collegiate training group.

Lehmkuhle (pictured, in orange), of course, finished 10th at the race, running 2:14:39. He placed 5th in the USA Men's Marathon Championships held in conjunction with the race.

Moen, who established himself as one of the race's most intriguing entrants after his 46:38 Medtronic TC 10 Mile performance in October, dropped out of the NYC Marathon at mile 17.

"Jason had another strong run in New York," Barker said. "The city always seems to bring out the best in him. The field was very strong both nationally and internationally so a top ten finish again this year was a good effort."

"He wanted to run a little faster time," Barker added, "as did most of the other top runners, but there was a steady headwind for much of the race. You could tell by First Avenue (where the course is at 16 through 19 miles) that it was starting to wear people down."

Barker tried to put Moen's disappointing day into a broader perspective.

"Josh has had a great year, setting PRs in the 5000 and 10,000 on the track and in the 10 mile, but Sunday wasn't his day," Barker said. "Sometimes even when you're in great shape you wake up and you're just not going to be 100 percent and in a race like New York that will take a toll. But he'll bounce back. Meb proved that you can't keep a good man down, and Josh is a good man."

Complete results of the ING New York City Marathon can be found HERE.

Photo by Sean Hartnett.

HS Polls: Team Sweeps at the State Meet?

A single school hasn't swept boys and girls cross country titles at the MSHSL State Meet since early in the decade, but the sports' rankers think the feat will happen this weekend in Northfield.

Eden Prairie will enter the competition as the favorites in boys' and girls' Class AA, thanks to their paired #1-rankings in the latest polls. Not since Hopkins swept both titles in the division in 2002 has a single Class AA institution been both the boys' and girls' champions.

The pollsters expect the Eden Prairie boys to get their strongest competition from Section 6AA rivals #2 Wayzata. Eden Prairie topped Wayzata 25-41 at sections. Stillwater is ranked #3, followed by White Bear Lake and Burnsville.

The EP girls should expect competition from #2 Elk River, which boasts two individuals ranked in the state's top-5, #3 Roseville, #4 Shakopee, and #5 Lakeville South.

A Class A Sweep? ... The first team sweep in Class A since 2003 could be in the works too. Perhams' boys' and girls' team have topped the Class A polls for much of the season, although the Waseca's girls' 54-point win over Fairmont in Section 2A vaulted them to the top of the final rankings.

The Perham girls are #2 and four-time defending champions Adrian is ranked #3.

Perham's boys still reside atop their poll, ahead of #2 Minnehaha Academy, and #3 Plainview-Elgin-Millville.

In 2003 Staples-Motley's program won both team titles in Class A.

Individually ... The top runners in the state, according to the pollsters, remain unchanged in recent weeks.

Aaron Bartnik of Eden Prairie and Maria Hauger of Shakopee top Class AA, while Paul Koullick of the Blake School and Maddie McClellan of Perham top Class A.

Find full Class AA rankings below.

Find complete Class A rankings HERE.

Class AA Boys

Teams:
1 Eden Prairie
2 Wayzata
3 Stillwater
4 White Bear Lake
5 Burnsville
6 Moorhead
7 Alexandria
8 Edina
9 St. Thomas Academy
10 Lakeville North
11 Totino Grace
12 Willmar

Individuals
1 Aaron Bartnik 11 Eden Prairie
2 Jake Sandry 12 Bloomington Jefferson
3 Marty Joyce 12 Woodbury
4 Jon-Michael Brandt 12 Winona
5 Adam Zutz 11 St. Francis
6 Trent Lusignan 11 Shakopee
7 Bryant Blahnik 11 Red Wing
8 Lukas Gemar 11 Moorhead
9 Oliver Haugland 12 Wayzata
10 Cole O'Brien 10 Burnsville
11 Blayne Dulian 12 Coon Rapids
12 Kyle Bratrud 11 Eden Prairie


Class AA Girls

Teams:
1 Eden Prairie
2 Elk River
3 Roseville
4 Shakopee
5 Lakeville South
6 Prior Lake
7 Moorhead
8 Monticello
9 Lakeville North
10 Minnetonka
11 Hopkins
12 Totino Grace

Individuals:
1 Maria Hauger, 9, Shakopee
2 Emma Bates, 12, Elk River
3 Heidi Peterson, 11, Sartell
4 Megan Platner, 11, Eden Prairie
5 Abbi Asprengren, 11, Elk River
6 Erica Seidenkranz, 10, Monticello
7 Allison Cordes, 9, Roseville Area
8 Taylor Perkins, 9, Lakeville North
9 Becca Dyson, 11, Roseville Area
10 Chrissy Monson, 9, Albert Lea
11 Sharmila Ahmed, 11, Burnsville
12 Jamie Piepenburg, 10, Alexandria

Mead Wins Second Straight Big Ten Title

University of Minnesota junior Hassan Mead won his second straight Big Ten cross country title, running 25:01 on Penn State's 5.2 mile course on Sunday.

Both Gopher teams finished third in the meet.

Penn State won the women's title with 71 points, Illinois was runner-up with 77, and the Gopher women tallied 80.

The Gopher women were the two-time defending champs in the contest. The team was led by Megan Duwell who finished third overall in 20:23.

Wisconsin won its 11th-straight men's title with 26 points. Ohio State was second with 91 and the Gophers scored 97. The result matches the Gopher men's finish last year at the meet.

With his individual victory, Mead joins Gopher legends Fred Watson and Garry Bjorklund as the only University of Minnesota harriers to have won multiple Big Ten titles. Watson (1913-15) and Bjorklund (1969-71) won three-straight titles.

Find complete men's results HERE.

Find complete women's results HERE. (Link fixed)

Lehmkuhle 10th at NYC Marathon

Jason Lehmkuhle finished 10th in today's ING New York City Marathon running 2:14:39.

The Team USA Minnesota runner finished 5th in the USA Men's Marathon Championship held in conjunction with the race.

Teammate Josh Moen, it appeared from the event's "Athlete Tracker" system, abandoned the race after the 17th mile. He had passed the half-way stripe in 1:06:46.

Other Minnesota runners finishing high in the results included Mike Reneau 15th in 2:16:45 and Sauk Rapids High School alum and reigning Grandma's Marathon champ Christopher Raabe 20th in 2:19:49.

Meb Keflezighi became the first American champion at New York since 1982, winning the men's race in 2:09:15; Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia won the women's title in 2:28:52.

Find news and results HERE.

Hamline Men, Carleton Women Win MIAC

Hamline's men's team and the Carleton women emerged the victors at a deep and balanced Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships today in St. Paul.

Hamline edged defending champions St Olaf 61 to 66 for the men's title. St. Thomas -- the team leader through four scorers -- was 3rd with 82 points. Augsburg finished a program-best 4th with 97, while St. John's was 5th with 101.

Bethel's Dan Greeno won the men's individual title in 25:22.

Complete men's results are HERE.

The Carleton women, ranked #20 in D3, topped #14 Bethel 65 to 91. Three-time defending champions St. Thomas, ranked #23, tallied 94, followed by St. Olaf with 98.

Defending MIAC and NCAA Division III champion Marie Borner of Bethel won the individual race in 21:43.

Complete women's results are HERE.

Gopher Women Seek Harrier Three-Peat; Hassan Mead Seeks Second-Straight Title

In a conference known for its cross country dynasties, the University of Minnesota women's cross country team will seek to become only the third Big Ten program to win three consecutive conference women's cross county titles when the team competes at the 2009 Big Ten Championships on Sunday morning.

The #15-ranked Gopher expect a stiff contest against #13 Illinois, hosts #18 Penn State, and #22 Michigan in order to join Wisconsin and Michigan among the dynastic programs. Wisconsin held the title for two six-year runs, while Michigan accomplished a three-peat and later held the title for five straight years.

Winning a third title will be challenging for the Gophers. Earlier this season, Illinois nipped the Gophers at the NCAA Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Gopher are led by senior all-American Megan Duwell who finished 4th in last year's Big Ten Championships. Also racing for the maroon and gold are: senior Jamie Cheever, senior Heather Dorniden, senior Amy Laskowske, sophomore Stephanie Price, junior Nikki Swenson, senior Mallory Van Ness, freshman Kayla Wagner and senior Elizabeth Yetzer.

The Gopher sports information staff offer THIS comprehensive Big Ten women's preview -- including a video clip.

The Big Ten published THIS feature on Yetzer during the week.


Mead Seeks Individual Repeat ... The Gopher men are looking for some replication in College Park as well, hoping junior Hassan Mead can repeat as the Big Ten men's individual champion. He could join Fred Watson and Garry Bjorklund -- both three-peaters -- as only the third Gopher to win multiple Big Ten harrier crowns.

A victory by Mead would also mean the Big Ten men's individual title has been held by a Gopher for three of the last four year, Chris Rombough having won the title in 2006.

As a team, the un-ranked Gopher men expect to face strong competition from 10-time defending Big Ten team champions Wisconsin. Along with the #15-ranked Badgers, #18 Indiana appears to be the strongest contender for the 2009 Big Ten team crown.

The Gopher men, which finished third in the meet last year and were runners-up in 2007, will line up a young team alongside Mead, namely: senior Matt Barrett, junior Ben Blankenship, red-shirt freshman Travis Burkstrand, red-shirt freshman Pieter Gagnon, red-shirt freshman Paul Hilsen, red-shirt freshman Kevin Lachowitzer, junior Mike McFarland, sophomore Sean Olson, and true freshman Derek Storkel.

The Gopher sports information staff offer THIS comprehensive Big Ten men's preview -- also with video.

They also published THIS feature on Barrett during the week.

Find more information on the meet (and results) from the hosts' web-site HERE.