Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Albert Lea boys’ cross country team competed at the Class AA state meet for the first time in 40 years over the weekend at St. Olaf College in Northfield. 

The Tigers finished in 16th place, scoring 370 as a team. The Hornets of Big Lake won the team title with a final score of 92. 

Junior Gavin Hanke was the top finishing Tiger, coming in 34th place with a time of 17:06.80. Head coach Jim Haney said Hanke has been a great leader all season and went out with a determined performance to finish where he did. There were 160 runners in the event. 

Sophomore Isaiah McGaffey was the next Tiger to cross the finish line, coming in 100th place with a time of 18:04.44. Following McGaffey, were juniors Pacey Brekke and Luke Wangsness. Brekke finished in 139th with a time of 18:53.08, and Wangsness came in 141st with a time of 18:59.86. 

Junior Henrick Lange was the final Tiger to count for the team score, finishing in 145th place with a time of 19:06.25. 

Eighth grader Ty Stout and senior Brennan McCalla also ran for Albert Lea, but finished outside the team’s top 10. Stout finished in 153rd with a time of 19:33.23, and McCalla came in 159th with a time of 19:56.72. 

“The coaching staff is incredibly proud of the boys cross country team,” Haney said. “The team has made so many strides this season and has rewritten history in regards to cross country in Albert Lea. The team will take away a lifetime experience using the experience they got during the week of the state meet to help fuel another run at state next year. 

“The team will be losing valuable senior experience, but we will be having many runners back from the state team to compete for another chance at state next year.”

The winner of the state meet was Breck junior Alden Keller with a time of 15:53.27.