Blades of grass protruded from the sports bra Forest Lake junior Norah Hushagen wore under her jersey. Mud was caked on her legs. Her messy postrace appearance spoke to her resiliency.
Leading the Class 3A Minnesota State High School League cross-country championship meet Saturday, Hushagen wiped out.
“Right at the 2,000-meter mark, I was going down and around a corner and I fell,” Hushagen said. “It was like, ‘Oh shoot, I just lost two seconds. I better go even faster.’ “
Time was on her side. Hushagen picked herself up off the 5,000-meter course at the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course to win in a time of 17 minutes, 27.6 seconds — more than 30 seconds clear of second-place runner Mia Hoffman of Bemidji (18:00.3). She wins commonly, but the state championship was special.
“I’ve always thought it would be cool to be the first one across the finish line just one time,” Hushagen said. “It was incredible.”
Her victory, the first by a Forest Lake runner since Kim Kauls in 1986, was something former teammate Ellie Hanowski predicted.
When Hushagen gathered with current teammates, she embraced Hanowski and was reminded, “I told you you could do it.”
Hanowski, now a freshman at Minnesota Duluth, said, “Norah and I have been kind of a mentor-mentee pair for a while now. I got to watch her grow throughout the year. I knew she had so much potential. She told me last week at sections, ‘I’m so nervous about state.’ And I told her, ‘Norah, you are ranked No. 1 in the state right now. You just have to believe it, and nothing can stop you.’ “
Not even poor footing.
Wayzata repeats
The teams ran a new course this year, at Les Bolstad Golf Course instead of at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where the MSHSL cross-country meet was held the previous 30 years. No matter to Wayzata’s girls team.
The Trojans repeated as champions. Their 48 points were well ahead of second-place Prior Lake (122) and the rest of the field. Sophomores Jazleen Malherek-Osorio (third) and Miley Clark (11th) plus freshman Aubrey Smith (21st) and junior Alyson Kleyman (23rd) contributed the Trojans’ total.
Class 2A
Second last season, Hutchinson senior Isabelle Schmitz is a state champion. Her time of 17:56.5 put her ahead of Monticello sophomore Isabel Mahoney (18:12.2). In the team category, Marshall dethroned St. Paul Highland Park 81-101. Senior Allyson Sample (third overall) led the Tigers. She got help from eighth-grader Oakley Schneekloth (22nd), freshman Katelyn Leibfried (31st) and sophomore Taleigha Bigler (34th).
Class 1A
Olivia Pauly, a senior at St. John’s Prep, paced the field in a time of 18:20.5. Taking the team title was St. Cloud Cathedral. Senior Ella Voit (third) led the way, followed by senior Clara Schad (16th), freshman Katelyn Waldoch (25th), sophomore Addie Mondloch (40th) and eighth-grader Enya Scanlon (58th).