Miner and Thies are off to State
October 30th, 2008Sibley East cross country standouts Hannah Miner and Andrew Thies are State Meet bound.
The two Wolverines qualified for State on Thursday with top finishes in the Section 2A Meet at Montgomery. Miner was the section champion while Thies finished runnerup.
The State competition will be held Saturday at St. Olaf college in Northfield. Girl qualifiers will race at 10:00 a.m. followed by the boys at 11:00 a.m.
Sibley East students, on Friday, will hold a pep rally for Miner and Thies at 11:15 a.m. in Arlington.
MINER
Miner, a ninth-grader, continued to make tremendous strides in her high school cross country career. She became the first Sibley East girl to win the section and qualify for State.
A focused Miner, tabbed Fab Freshman by the Mankato Free Press last week, ran away from the section field. She clocked a winning time of 15:15 in the 4,000 meter race. That was three seconds shy of her school record set earlier this season.
Miner was eleven seconds faster than the section’s second place finisher Lauren Fries of Fairmont. Fries is also a ninth-grader.
“It was a dream come true for Hannah,” Sibley East coach Mike Vrklan said. “We knew she had the potential to do real well and she went out and got the job done. She ran extremely well and was very focused from start to finish.”
Rachel Ling was the next best girl finisher for Sibley East. The sophomore captain placed 66th with a time of 18:10.
Sibley East’s Sonja Sprandel clocked a season best time at the section meet. She finished the course in 23:03. That was 24 seconds faster than her previous best mark this season.
Maren Miner, a seventh-grader, completed the varsity scorecard. She was the 100th finisher with a time of 19:49.
Fairmont won the section team title. Blue Earth also earned a trip to State with a second place finish.
THIES
A sophomore, Thies earned his second straight trip to the state meet Thursday by finishing second in the Section.
Thies clocked a runnerup time of 17:04 in the 5,000 meter race. That was four seconds shy of first place finisher Andrew Gerdts, a sophomore from Le Sueur-Henderson.
“Prior to the race, you could tell Andrew was mentally ready,” coach Vrklan said. “He ran really well and chased the leader throughout the race. It wasn’t until the last 40 meters that Thies dropped off.”
According to Vrklan, Thies has been “gaining on” Gerdts throughout the season. He said it will be exciting to see how the two fare at the state competition.
Thies improved five spots on his seventh place section finish a year ago. In the state meet last year, Thies placed 80th.
Sibley East’s Eric Schultz, who also qualified for State a year ago, finished 20th in Thursday’s section meet. He clocked a time of 18:16, 13 seconds shy of his season best time.
Mitch Setterman followed for the Wolverines. The sophomore placed 50th with a time of 19:11.
Other Sibley East boys competing at Section included: Riley Norman (19:33), Todd Pioske (22:08), Hunter Solomonson (23:06) and Noah Tackmann (26:28).
Sibley East’s boys finished sixth in the 20-team section meet. Jackson County Central won the section. Fairmont also qualified for State as a team by finishing second.
