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Fresh off impressive performances in the North Suburban Conference, the North Branch cross country teams were anxious to compete in the Section 7AA Meet at the Grandy 9 Golf Course on Thursday, October 27. Two of the 17 teams there would qualify for the state meet.

Both the boys and girls teams ran, “as well as they could,” according to Viking head coach Ward Gilkerson. “We ran a good race, but we just weren’t quite fast enough.” Each team finished third.

Monticello and Duluth East tied for the boys title with 98 points each. The Vikings were third with 121. Duluth East won the girls race with 90 points. Hermantown was second with 112. North Branch took third with 128.

Although the teams did not gain a state meet berth, Nick Ramberg and Haley Hasleiet did qualify. The top ten finishers in each race gained spots in the state meet. They will participate in that event at St. Olaf College Saturday, November 5.

Ramberg finished the 5K race in 17:12, good enough for fifth place.

In the girls race, Hasleiet started near the front of the pack. About halfway through the serpentine course of the race, she had dropped back to 10 or 11. She maintained one of those positions for much of the rest of the 4K event. Nearing the finish line, she pushed past the girl she had traded positions with for the last two kilometers. Her time, 16:02 gave her the last of the state meet spots.

Miranda Charley (16:19/16) and Ali Zimmerman (18/16:22) were close behind Hasleiet. Tiffany Peterson (17:12/40) and Shayna Gray (17:14/44) completed the scoring for the Vikings. Briana Berthiume (17:58/71) and Erica Handt (18:01/73) completed the North Branch team.

JJ Koerber (17:52/14) and Brandon Nagle (17:53/15) gave the Vikings three top 15 finishers. Ryan Norman (18:14/33) and Aaron Cedergren (18:50/56) completed the top five for North Branch. Boyd Suparat (19:53/75) and Cody Good (19:17/79) also ran for the Vikings.

Good luck to Ramberg, Hasleiet and coach Gilkerson at the state meet.

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