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Brainerd's Dean, Knutson state bound

Section 8-2A cross country

By JEREMY MILLSOP

Sports Writer

LITTLE FALLS - Brainerd's Jimmy Dean and Chris Knutson and Little Falls' Manon Gammon-Deering added one more week to their season.

Little Falls' Manon Gammon-Deering placed sixth Thursday at the Section 8-2A cross country meet in Little Falls. The junior will run in next week's Class 2A state meet.
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The trio advanced as individuals to the Class 2A state cross country meet Nov. 7 by finishing in the top 10 of the Section 8-2A meet Thursday at the Little Falls Country Club.

Dean placed third with a 16:53.1 to advance to his fourth state meet.

"That's been his goal since the end of last year's state meet," said Warrior head coach Dave Herath. "He ran a very good race. He was under control the whole way. He was in third place from the mile mark on. He just stayed there. The two guys ahead of him were the defending state champion and a guy who finished in the top 10 last year. Jimmy kept them in site and set a very solid, workman like pace. He wasn't going to be denied."

Jimmy Dean of Brainerd placed third Thursday at the Section 8-2A cross country meet in Little Falls.
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Nor was Knutson, who placed seventh with a 17:05. The state meet at St. Olaf College will be his first.

"Chris had a great performance," Herath said. "He finished 10th at our conference meet last week, but came back with a great run (Thursday). That was his goal coming into the year. He had a disappointing finish last year. He got injured down the stretch and couldn't run the way he wanted to. He vowed that wasn't going to happen again."

Chris Knutson

Their efforts placed the Brainerd boys' in fourth. Moorhead won the boys' team title and Alexandria also advanced to state with a second-place 68.

Brainerd's Riley Nelson finished 25 followed by Jeff Emery in 43rd and Alek Rudstrom in 60th.

The Little Falls Flyers boys' team placed 11th and were led by Preston Zimny's 31st-place time of 17:57.4.

Gammon-Deering secured the sixth position with her 15:13.3. Her state-bound efforts landing Little Falls in sixth place, one spot behind the Warrior girls.

Brainerd was led by Rebecca Yeh's 21st-place time of 15:59.4 Anna Gessell was 23rd, Megan Holmes 26th, Courtney Wing 28th and Michaela Quast 34th.

"With the girls we knew it was a five-team meet," Herath said. "There was a big break in the points after us. There were three teams ranked and we weren't and we came up short. We raced well. The girls ran the race we were trying to get them to do. They just couldn't close it. It was the first time all season we had our seven fastest girls running at the same time."

The Flyers' Chelsea Rutz finished 33rd followed by Mattia Hendrickson in 36th and Maria Hauer in 41st.

The top two teams and top 10 individuals advance to the state meet.

Boys' team scores: 1-Moorhead 44, 2-Alexandria 68, Monticello 126, 4-Brainerd 139, 5-Sartell 154, 6-Detroit Lakes 169, 7-St. Michael-Albertville 169, 8-Fergus Falls 217, 9-St. Cloud Tech 231, 10-Bemidji 236, 11-Little Falls 277, 12-Big Lake 328, 13-St. Cloud Apollo 353, 14-Rocori 394, 15-Sauk Rapids 436

Individual winner: Lukas Gemar (Moor) 16:33.14

Brainerd results: 3-Jimmy Dean 16:53.1, 7-Chris Knutson 17:05.7, 25-Riley Nelson 17:39.3, 43-Jeff Emery 18:24.4, 60-Alek Rudstrom 18:47.99, 77-Jack Hegarty 19:13.34, 81-James McLean 19:20.59

Little Falls results: 31-Preston Zimny 17:57.4, 40-Eli Ploof 18:17.4, 50-Ricky Devine 18:34.0, 69-Austin Gessell 19:07.8, 87-Alexander Kresha 19:39.64, 88-Stephen Luing 19:40.14, 92-Will Marvin 19:51.39

Girls' team scores: 1-Moorhead 87, 2-Monticello 89, 3-Alexandria 98, 4-Sartell 109, 5-Brainerd 132, 6-Little Falls 188, 7-St. Michael-Albertville 220, 8-Rocori 233, 9-Bemidji 246, 10-Becker 257, 11-Detroit Lakes 271, 12-Fergus Falls 312, 13-Big Lake 314, 14-St. Cloud Apollo 363, 15-St. Cloud Tech 390, 16-Sauk Rapids 439

Individual winner: Heidi Peterson (Sartell) 14:51.43

Brainerd results: 21-Rebecca Yeh 15:59.4, 23-Anna Gessell 16:01.9, 26-Megan Holmes 16:08.2, 28-Courtney Wing 16:09.7, 34-Michaela Quast 16:27.63, 49-Sarah Fairbanks 16:58.98, 75-Gretchen Kletscher 17:49.33

Little Falls results: 6-Manon Gammon-Deering 15:13.3, 33-Chelsea Rutz 16:24.6, 36-Mattia Hendrickson 16:29.7, 41-Maria Hauer 16:40.7, 72-Lauren Zimny 17:35.38, 101-Laura Moe 19:07.98, 110-Whitney Evans 20:34.68

Next meet: Class 2A state meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield Nov. 7.

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