ROCHESTER — The Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson/Houston boys cross country team knew it was going to take its best to defend its Section 1, Class 1A title. What stood in the Eagles way was talented Winona Cotter — led by one of the state's top runners in Erik Semling. ADVERTISEMENT With that in mind, junior Trey Hegland pulled LARPH together for one last pep talk right before the start of Thursday's Section meet.
"I gathered everybody up and we went go through our emotions," Hegland said. "If you see somebody pass you, think about the team, the last miles, and go for it." The pep talk worked.
Led by a fifth place finish from Hegland, LARPH saw its top five runners all finish 15th or better to record 50 points and defend its Section title on Thursday at Northern Hills Golf Course. Cotter finished second (54) to reach state for the second straight year and second time since 2013. Semling earned medalist honors in dominating fashion, finishing with a time of 15 minutes and 54.
7 seconds to defend his section title. It also gave the Semling household a clean sweep after his older sister, Sonja, won her third section title in the girls race. Other individual state-qualifiers included St.
Charles sophomore Ivan Daood (16:57.3), RAACHE sophomore Luke Dirks (17:03.4), Pine Island sophomore Vaughn Anderson (17:11.
2), Lake City junior Conrad Seydel (17:14.8), Lyle/Austin Pacelli eighth-grader Zemecha McManus (17:16.9) and St.
Charles senior Eddie Burlingame (17:29.1). Burlingame q.
