Section 6A Cross Country: Staples-Motley defends Section Titles, WDC and Bertha-Hewitt finish as runners-up

Freshman Audrey Brownell of Staples-Motley crosses the finish line at the 2022 Section 6A Cross Country Meet in Staples to win the race (Photo: Zeke Fuhrman)

STAPLES (KDLM) – The Staples-Motley Cardinals successfully defended both of their Section 6A Section championships with both the Boys and Girls take taking first place at the Vintage Golf Course on Friday afternoon.

The defending Class A girls state champion Cardinals were without their #1 runner junior Kyanna Burton, who missed the meet with a lower body injury. Freshman Audrey Brownell stepped up in Burton’s absence, winning the medalist honors with a time of 18:57. Senior Aften Robinson (19:50) took third place, and senior Ashley Robben (20:33) and eighth-grader Bella Hines (20:45) finished 10th and 11th, respectively.

The Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines, led by top-twelve finishes by freshman Britta Sweeney (fifth, 20:04) and sophomore Amber Collins (twelfth, 20:46), finished as section runners-up and will also go to St. Olaf to compete at the State Meet.

Individual qualifiers in the girls race (the top eight finishers not on the top-two teams) include Carline Kuehne of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Lauryn Ankeny of Minnewaska, Kendra Miller of Bertha-Hewitt, Katie Holzner of Hillcrest Lutheran, Kaia Fiskness of Osakis and Norah Froslee of Ottertail Central.

The Cardinal boys team also won their meet, finishing six points ahead of Bertha-Hewitt for the Section 6A Championship. Senior Brandon Kampsen of Sauk Centre won the race with a time of 16:04, then was followed in by two Bertha-Hewitt Bears (Brady Rach and Zand Guderjahn) and two Staples-Motley Cardinals (Luke Brownell and Issiah Tabatt). Bjorn Brunsberg of WDC, James Suchy of Parkers Prairie, Zackery Bruder of Osakis, Maeson Tank of Minnewaska and Jacob Drevlow of Sauk Centre also qualified for the state meet.

The State Cross Country Meet will be held at St. Olaf College in Northfield on Saturday, November 5th. Staples-Motley, Wadena-Deer Creek and Bertha-Hewitt will run in the Class A State Meet. The girls will run at noon, the boys will begin at 1 pm.

SECTION 6A GIRLS TEAM RESULTS:

Staples-Motley, 46*
Wadena-Deer Creek, 83*
Minnewaska, 91
Breckenridge/Wahpeton, 122
Ottertail Central, 143
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, 189
West Central Area, 215
Pillager, 224
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, 258
Bertha-Hewitt, 266
Sauk Centre, 285
Osakis, 287
ABE, 338
Benson/KMS, 377
Border West, 388
New Testament Christian, 455

*qualifies for State meet

SECTION 6A GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS

1. Audrey Brownell, Staples-Motley**, 18:57.4; 2. Caroline Kuehne, LPGE, 19:16.1; 3. Aften Robinson, Staples-Motley**, 19:50.6; 4. Lauryn Ankeny, Minnewaska, 19:59.9; 5. Britta Sweeney, WDC**, 20:04; 6. Kendra Miller, Bertha-Hewitt, 20:10.5; 7. Katie Holzner, Hillcrest Lutheran, 20:12.0; 8. Kaia Fiskness, Osakis; 9. Norah Froslee, Ottertail Central, 20:33.2; 10. Ashley Robben, Staples-Motley**, 20.33.6; 11. Bella Hines, Staples-Motley**, 20:45.4; 12. Amber Collins, WDC*, 20:46.4

**denotes team qualifier for State meet

SECTION 6A BOYS TEAM RESULTS:

Staples-Motley*, 56
Bertha-Hewitt*, 62
Sauk Centre, 100
Wadena-Deer Creek, 134
Ottertail Central, 139
Minnewaska Area, 161
Osakis, 179
West Central Area, 196
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, 255
Benson/KMS, 302
Breckenridge/Wahpeton, 303
Ortonville, 307
Border West, 348
Parkers Prairie, 358
ABE, 372
Pillager, 419
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, 428

SECTION 6A BOYS INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS:

1.Brandon Kampsen, Sauk Centre-16:04.5; 2. Brady Rach, Bertha-Hewitt**-16:43.3; 3. Zane Guderjahn, Bertha-Hewitt**-16:48; 4. Luke Brownell, Staples-Motley**-16:52.0; 5. Issiah Tabatt, Staples-Motley**-16:54.2; 6. Bjorn Brunsberg, WDC-17:03.3; 7. James Suchy, Parkers Prairie-17:05.4; 8. Zackery Bruder, Osakis-17:06.0; 9. Maeson Tank, Minnewaska-17:07; 10. Jacob Drevlow, Sauk Centre-17:15.0

**denotes team qualifier for State meet

SEE FULL RACE RESULTS HERE, COURTESY OF WAYZATA RESULTS