A group of talented, determined runners from Minnesota pulled off what no one else had since 2006 – namely, beat the Fayetteville-Manlius girls cross country team at the Nike Cross Nationals.
But though the Hornets had to “settle” for a second-place finish in Saturday’s national championship race in Portland, Ore., it still could take pride in having the best combined finish of any team in America, since the F-M boys took fourth place at this same national meet.
Even with its latest round of state and regional titles under the belt, F-M was not an overwhelming favorite as it flew west. Two defeats to Unionville (Pa.) at meets in Rochester and New York City during the regular season had, to a small degree, punctured the Hornets’ long-held invincibility.
Still, F-M carried all the experience that past national titles could bring, and wasn’t fazed by the new conditions they faced this year in Portland. Instead of a mud-filled bog, the course was dry and fast – but also frozen, thanks to temperatures that never rose above 30 degree.
That perfectly suited Wayzata High School, from the Minneapolis suburbs, who were only considered the fifth-best team going into the Nike Nationals, but exceeded all expectations and, in the process, upended the F-M juggernaut.
When all the points were counted, Wayzata had 108 points, just ahead of the Hornets, who as Manlius XC picked up 120 points. Davis (Utah) was third with 157 points, while Unionville, who had those two wins over F-M earlier in the fall, had to settle for seventh place in the 22-team field.
Annika Avery led F-M, as she placed 20th in 17 minutes, 58.7 seconds, while Alana Pearl made her way to 29th place in 18:10.7. Both of them trailed Wayzata’s top runner, Anna French, who got to eighth place in 17:43.4.
Jenna Farrell made her way to 57th place in 18:31.8, three spots behind Wayzata’s second runner, Annika Lerdall (18:30.9). But Wayzata managed to put all five of its remaining runners – Mary Franke, Michaela Keller-Miller, Alaynna Sonnesyn, McKenna Evans and Annika Halverson – in the 63rd through 78th spots in the 198-runner field.
As a group, that Wayzata quintet managed to beat F-M’s four remaining competitors. Jessica Howe was 81st, in 18:49.9, with Megan Menez finishing 86th in 18:54.1 to round out the scoring column. Samantha Levy (19:45.4) and Reilly Madsen (20:11.8) finished further back.
When the girls race was done, F-M’s boys had their shot at the Nike Nationals crown. And the Hornets picked up 216 points, fourth among 22 sides (at-large invitee Liverpool was 21st) as Gig Harbor, From Washington State, won with 111 points. New Jersey’s Christian Brothers Academy (139 points) and Brentwood, from Tennessee (174 points), were second and third, respectively.
Andrew Berge, with a time of 15 minutes, 36 seconds, fared best among the F-M runners, getting to 36th place, just ahead of Peter Ryan, who was 46th in 15:42. Bryce Millar, the newly-crowned state Class A champion, took 67th place in 15:56.
Behind them, the rest of the Hornets would run well, too. Kyle Barber, in a clocking of 19:10, got to 93rd place, with Adam Hunt posting a time of 19:30. Riley Hughes (16:51) and Patrick Perry (17:11) followed.
No other team in Portland could match the combined efforts of F-M’s girls and boys, which was a healthy consolation prize, even if no national championship trophy came home.