Gammon-Deering, Dean are all-state
STATE CROSS COUNTRY
Jimmy Dean finished his Brainerd Warriors varsity cross country career with no regrets.
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Little Falls Flyers' Manon Gammon-Deering has another year to improve on what she did Saturday during the state cross country meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
Both Dean and Gammon-Deering ran to all-state finishes - top 25 runners - in the Class 2A state meet to conclude the season.
Dean placed 20th in 16:30.8 with a mile time of 5:10.0
"It was an interesting race," said Warrior head coach Dave Herath. "Jimmy was in the top 20 the whole way. He went out in the lead pack, which is something he has not done before in the state tournament.
Brainerd's Jimmy Dean raced to a 20th-place finish Saturday during the Class 2A state cross country meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield. The top 25 runners earned all-state honors. Bill Johnson
"It was a beautiful day, but the course was saturated, so the pace wasn't super fast," Herath added. "At the mile mark he was where we hoped he would be. He ran comfortably and put himself in position to do really good things."
Herath credited Dean's success all season to giving him the confidence to try the more aggressive strategy. The new approach helped Dean to a lifetime best time.
Warrior teammate Chris Knutson placed 99th as he ran a 17:20.1
"Chris was a little disappointed with the place," said Herath. "He was right where we hoped he would be after the mile and just four seconds off the leader. For whatever reason things didn't end that way."
It was Knutson's first individual state tournament and Herath said the pace and the field can be daunting.
"We talked to both Jimmy and Chris and just said this is your last cross country race and we don't want to hear you saying if only I had done this or that. We wanted them to give their all and they both did."
Gammon-Deering did as well as she raced to a 15:14.0 placing her 13th. The junior had a mile time 5:44.94.
Last season Gammon-Deering placed 47th with a 15:26.9
Little Falls junior Manon Gammon-Deering placed 13th in her second Class 2A state cross country meet Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Gammon-Deering finished in 15:14.0 to earn all-state honors.
Bill Johnson
The Staples-Motley Cardinals boys' finished 13th in the Class 1A meet, 168 points behind Plainview-Egin-Millville, who knocked of the top-ranked Perham Yellowjackets by two points.
Seniors Gunner Johnson and Jordan Bendson led the Cardinals with a 12th- and 13th-place finishes respectively.
Johnson ran a 17:18.1 to finish 33rd overall, while Bendson finished 34th overall with a 17:18.9.
Isaac Fuhrman finished 75th in the team competition, Tyler Jenniges was 82nd and Justin Ziegler finished 86 to round out the Cardinals 268 points.
The Cardinals Emma Pogrebas placed 46th with a time of 16:15.2 and Kaytlin Roth finished 68th with a 16:35.5.
Class 2A Boys' team scores: 1-Eden Prairie 47, 2-Wayzata 57, 3-Burnsville 113, 4-St. Thomas Academy 139, 5-Stillwater 163, 6-White Bear Lake 208, 7-Moorhead 211, 8-Totino Grace 225, 9-Lakeville North 244, 10-Alexandria 257, 11-Owatonna 272, 12-Andover 284, 13-Willmar 289, 14-Mankato East 330, 15-Cambridge-Isanti 340, 16-Forest Lake 379
Individual winner: Aaron Bartnik (EP) 15:55.1
Brainerd results: 20-Jimmy Dean 16:30.8, 99-Chris Knutson 17:20.1
Class 2A Girls' team scores: 1-Elk River 120, 2-Prior Lake 123, 3-Eden Prairie 127, 4-Lakeville South 144, 5-Monticello 167, 6-Roseville 173, 7-Totino Grace 176, 8-Shakopee 178, 9-Lakeville North 235, 10-Rosemount 235, 11-Grand Rapids 235, 12-Moorhead 243, 13-Mounds View 268, 14-Minnetonka 282, 15-Chanhassen 360, 16-Woodbury 392
Individual winner: Maria Hauger (Shakopee) 14:40.8
Little Falls results: 13-Manon Gammon-Deering 15:14.0
Class 1A Boys' team scores: 1-Plainview-Elgin-Millville 100, 2-Perham 102, 3-St. Cloud Cathedreal 110, 4-Minnehaha Academy 147, 5-Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 173, 6-Waseca 176, 7-Holy Family Catholic 223, 8-Adrian 225, 9-Jackson County Central 240, 10-Eveleth-Gilbert 257, 11-Albany 259, 12-Esko 260, 13-Staples-Motley 268, 14-Fairmont 277, 15-Mora 318, 16-Cotter 338
Individual winner: Mubarik Musa (Worthington) 16:01.8
Staples-Motley results: 12-Gunner Johnson 17:18.1, 13-Jordan Bendson 17:18.9, 75-Isaac Fuhrman 18:37.0, 82-Tyler Jenniges 18:49.1, 86-Justin Ziegler 18:56.3, 90-Blake Miller 19:02.4, 105-Josh Freese 19:28.7
Class 1A Girls' team scores: 1-Waseca 81, 2-Perham 92, 3-Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 121, 4-Adrian 154, 5-Park Rapids 190, 6-Fairmont 2-6, 7-Annandale 218, 8-Esko 219, 9-La Crescent 239, 10-Holy Family Gatholic 252, 11-St. Cloud Cathedral 253, 12-Albany 256, 13-Blake 258, 14-Rochester Lourdes 297, 15-Cook County-Two Harbors 299, 16-New London-Spicer 313
Individual winner: Maddie McClellan (Perham) 14:55.2
Staples-Motley results: 46-Emma Pogrebas 16:15.2, 68-Kaytlin Roth 16:35.5
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.