State cross country: Class of the division will run at St. Olaf

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It will be quite a star-studded field at the starting line at St. Olaf College in Northfield tomorrow when the State Class AA girls’ cross country meet begins.

Among those stars are two from Alexandria and Megan and Bethany Hasz will join three-time defending champion Maria Hauger of Shakopee, a senior who is ranked No. 1 in the final Class AA coaches’ poll.

In fact, every one of the top-12 vote-getters in the final poll qualified for tomorrow’s race.

Megan earned the No. 3 spot in the final poll, with Bethany right behind at No. 4., edging out Jenna Truedson of Bemidji, the Hasz sisters’ primary competition this season. In fact, Truedson is the only runner to have beaten either girl this year.

But both Megan and Bethany turned the tables on Truedson at the Section 8AA meet last week, blasting past the Lumberjack runner to take first and second, respectively.

This will not be the first state trip taken by the Cardinal runners. They finished fourth (Megan) and fifth (Bethany) at last year’s meet.

Eight of the top 10 finishers from last year’s meet are back. Truedson was third last year, while Kaytlyn Larson of Lakeville South was sixth, Nicole Heitzman of Andover was seventh, Danielle Anderson of Eagan was eighth and Anna French of Wayzata was 10th.

The Class A boys’ race will start at 10 a.m., followed by the Class A girls’ race at 11 a.m. The Class AA boys’ race will start at 1 p.m., followed by the Class AA girls’ race at 2 p.m. A combined awards ceremony will take place approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the girls’ race in each class.

TOP 12 CLASS AA GIRLS’ INDIVIDUALS

FINAL COACHES’ POLL

Maria Hauger, Shakopee

Danielle Anderson, Eagan

Megan Hasz, Alexandria

Bethany Hasz, Alexandria

Jenna Truedson, Bemidji

Bethany Kozak, White Bear Lake

Anna French, Wayzata

Carly Bandt, Mounds View

Taylor Perkins, Lakeville north

Rachel King, SMA

Mariah Betzler, Monticello

Emily Betz, East Ridge

Tags: alexandria sports, cross country, sports, cardinals, state, meet, class, aa