Raiders run at State meet
Two Raiders competed at the Les Bolstadt Golf Course at the University of Minnesota on a chilly Saturday afternoon, November 1. Seniors Parker Stoltz and Linnea Ronning both qualified for the Class AAA state meet, for Stoltz, it was his first appearance at state and for Ronning, it was like visiting an old friend.
The boys ran first, and out of the gate, the number one seeded Sean Fries from Minnetonka took the lead. Fries has been bouncing back and forth as the number one and number two runner in the nation all season long. Fries finished the 5,000 meter course in 14:50.6 seconds, 34 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Owen Stuwe from Shakopee. Running 5,000 meters in under 15 minutes is insanely fast and the entire crowd cheered him on hoping to see that kind of performance.
Stoltz completed the course in 17:02.8, 1:11.8 over his personal best of 15:51.0 which he ran at the Section 3AAA Championship a week prior. The 17:02.8 was good for 115th place in the state meet.
On the girls’ side, the favorite to win was Maddie Gullickson from Wayzata. She completed the course in 16:54, 37 seconds ahead of Forest Lakes Anna VanAcker. Ronning finished with a time of 19:11.7, good for 47th place and just 22.4 seconds off her personal best which she also ran at the previous week’s Section 3AAA championship race.
Head Coach Joe Rabaey has done a tremendous job with the kids on the Cross Country team. It is clear the kids love having him as a coach and he supports these kids back in amazing ways. When asked what advice he gave to his senior runners, his reply was simple, have fun.
“They're both seniors. It is their last cross-country race here for Hastings, for their careers, both great careers. Just go out, be aggressive and just have fun… enjoy it. It's kind of the last chance to race against the top kids in the state for them, and it's a memorable experience no matter what happens. So, when we're out there, keep that in mind,” said Rabaey.
Stoltz only had one thing that he wished would have been different, “I wish the team was here with me,” he said.
Despite the team not qualifying to run, several teammates showed up to be there for their state qualifiers, a testament to the camaraderie between not only the runners, but the coaches.
With the cross-country season over, many of the runners move onto their winter sports. So, while it is sad that seniors like Stoltz and Ronning will no longer wear Raider colors for cross-country, there are still opportunities to cheer many of these great young people on one last time. To the seniors, we wish you the best in your future endeavors, to the families that have been a big part of making these events more