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With high hopes heading into sections, the North Branch girls cross country team trudged away with only a fourth place finish and an eye on next year.

"Our season didn't end the way we were hoping it would but we really did have an excellent season," Head Coach Brian Hasleiet recalled after the gut-wrenching section loss.

At the Cloquet Country Club, the girls got the consistency they've had all year, but still lacked the explosive, defining performance from an individual to push them to the top.

Freshman Alyssa Kroschel was the top Vikings finisher in the meet, completing the tough course in 15:52.5. Her time was good enough for 13th place, which left her just three spots shy of a trip to the state meet.

Like they have most of the season, a pack of Vikings stuck together and came across the finish line back-to-back-to-back.

Senior leader Briana Berthiaume, who's usually at the top of the scrap heap at the end of races, finished in 15th place with a time of 15:57.6. Right behind Berthiaume was sophomore Ali Zimmerman in 16:02 flat. Sophomore Shayna Gray completed the trifecta with a 16:03.2 for 17th place.

The last varsity score for North Branch was registered less than 10 seconds later as senior Dani Privratsky crossed the finish line in 16:12 in 23rd place.

Megan Zimmerman and Miranda Charley finished in 32nd and 43rd place, respectively to round out the Vikings varsity runners.

Emma Bates of Elk River won the meet in 15:09.

As a team, North Branch finished with 84 total points and earned fourth place. The Vikings, along with the top three teams were in a class of their own, as they all finished within 27 points of each other. Duluth East, which was just one spot behind North Branch, finished with 161 points, 77 points behind the Vikes.

Grand Rapids claimed the top spot in the challenging section with a team score of 57. The Rangers of Forest Lake were right behind with a 59, and Elk River finished with 74 -- just 10 points ahead of the Vikings.

Boys

In the boys portion of the section meet, the Vikings secured a top five finished, but much like the girls, the teams success didn't translate into any state tournament berths.

Senior Mike Heidelberger was the closest Viking to making the big show at St. Olaf College in Northfield. He finished in 17:14 in 12th place. His time left him 16 seconds away from the state meet.

Ryan Norman finished out his North Branch career with a top 20 finish in the section. His 17:34 left him in 19th place.

Junior Joe Klun earned a 31st place for the Vikings by finishing in 18:03. Sophomore Colin Charpentier wasn't far behind, finishing the race in 18:09 in 33rd place.

Tommy Toohey got the last points for the Vikings, finishing in 42nd place in a time of 18:29.

A pair of seniors, Boyd Suparat and Zach Good, rounded out the varsity running squad for the Vikings with 57th and 60th place finishes, respectively.

North Branch finished with 137 total points in the meet in fifth place. Forest Lake ran away with the meet, scoring a miniscule 49 points. Duluth East will be the other team representative in the state meet from Section 7AA, as they scored 103 points. Grand Rapids finished third with 112 and Cambridge-Isanti placed fourth with 117.

Adam Zutz of St. Francis earned the meet win with a 16:23.

"I really felt that our girls and boys teams really ran well. The competition in our section is very tough and some very good teams finished ahead of us," Hasleiet said. "I want to thank our seniors for everything they've done over the years to contribute to our season. They will be greatly missed next year."

The batch of seniors from the squad include Berthiaume, Privratsky, Heidelberger, Norman, Suparat and Good.

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