STATE MEDALIST — Fairmont's Macy Hanson, shown crossing the finish line during last week's sectional meet, captured medalist and all-state honors by placing fourth during Saturday's Class AA state cross country meet at Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul. (Photo by Greg Abel)

ST. PAUL — Macy Hanson just keeps rewriting the Fairmont girls cross country program’s record books. Ironically, the Cardinals’ junior phenom eclipsed her own previous mark during Saturday’s Class AA state meet at Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul.

Hanson earned state medalist honors and all-state accolades for a third consecutive year by covering the 5K course in a time of 18:31.3 to capture fourth place individually and established the school’s record for lowest time at a state cross country meet. Hanson set the original mark of 18:36.5 when she captured fourth place overall during the 2022 Class AA state competition at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Hanson also garnered medalist honors — via a top-10 showing — when she crossed the finish line in 18:57.89 to capture all-state honors with a seventh-place performance during the 2021 Class AA state meet. Hanson also netted 31st place as a seventh-grader by running a 19:48.9 at the 2019 Class A state competition.

Hutchinson senior Isabelle Schmitz, a University of Minnesota Gopher cross country and track & field commit, pocketed her second state championship by eclipsing the 18-minute mark with a winning time of 17:56.5. Schmitz won the 2021 Class AA gold medal in 17:59.44 at St. Olaf College in Northfield before claiming runner-up individual honors to St. Paul Highland Park’s Luna Scorzelli in 2022.

Monticello’s Isabel Mahoney claimed second place overall with a time of 18:12.2 on Saturday, while Allyson Sample earned the bronze medal by covering the 5K distance with a third-place time of 18:27.2 to power Marshall to the Class AA girls cross country state team crown. The Tigers netted 81 points to outdistance St. Paul Highland Park and Alexandria, who both generated scores of 101.

Grace Lewis-Mosher, who placed eighth overall with a time of 18:38.1, and St. Paul Highland Park teammate Scorzelli — who collected ninth place individually in 18:46.1 — joined Alexandria’s Citori Halbe and Mahoney in setting a fast pace out of the starting gates on Saturday.

“The race did not go like I thought it would,” said Hanson, who held sixth place after the first completed mile, but trailed Lewis-Mosher’s leading pace by just four-tenths of a second. “Five runners went out fast and broke away from the field, so I dropped in behind and stayed with them.

“When I glanced at the time clock and saw a 5:30 pace at the first-mile marker, I thought that was too fast and the timing was off a bit.”

Hanson was correct as Lewis-Mosher led the 160-runner Class AA girls field with a 5:48.1 clip, followed by Halbe, Mahoney and Scorzelli with 5:48.3s, while Schmitz and Hanson were next one-tenth of a second behind, respectively.

Schmitz made her move during the second-mile segment and grabbed a lead she would not relinquish. Schmitz held a narrow 11:38.2-11:38.4 margin on Mahoney heading into the final 1.1 miles.

“I just ran my pace (6:06.2) and was in 10th or 11th place after two completed miles, but when I passed a runner starting the final mile or so, I don’t know what happened, but my mindset changed and I passed another runner, then another,” said Hanson. “From seeing the course on Friday, I knew there were three big hills during the final backstretch, and I wasn’t worried because I put a lot of time in my workouts running those. I felt stronger on the hills and ended up passing six or seven runners to place fourth.

“Hills were definitely good for me.”

Hanson said she ran Saturday’s state course at Les Bolstad Golf Course almost two and a half minutes faster than when she competed in the Roy Griak Invitational earlier during the regular season.

“An incredible performance,” said Fairmont co-head coach Stew Murfield. “Macy kept pace with the lead group from the start even though it was faster than I thought they’d run considering how muddy the course was after holding five races earlier in the day.

“She ran a 6:36.6 during the final 1.1 miles and that’s an outstanding time.”

St. Peter sophomore standout Keira Friedrich earned state medalist and all-state honors by placing 10th overall with a time of 18:48.9. Friedrich proved a model of consistency in St. Paul, covering the first mile in an 11th-place time of 5:50.1 before holding 12th place after two miles in the books at 12:00.3.

In the Class A boys state competition earlier Saturday, Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin senior Ryan Pierson earned all-state honors by pocketing 19th place individually, while Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther junior Josiah DeMaris placed 42nd overall.

Pierson, who closed out his prolific prep cross country career with a time of 16:41.4, established the Class A 5K race’s pace by leading the 160-runner field after one mile completed with a time of 5:03.6.

DeMaris, who turned in a career-best state time of 17:01.8 on Saturday, held 49th place after the initial mile in 5:17.9 before improving to 37th place after two miles in the books at 10:46.8. DeMaris bettered his 67th place time of 17:18.8 during the 2022 Class A state competition at St. Olaf College in Northfield. He also placed 39th in 2021 in 17:23.28.

Pierson dropped to 14th place with a time of 10:29.1 after the second mile was completed before claiming all-state recognition with a 19th-place showing. Pierson garnered 12th place in 2022 with a time of 16:31.9, while netting 28th in 2021 at 17:16.25.

Mounds Park Academy’s Eddie Snider, who held third place after both the first and second miles were completed, edged No. 1-ranked William Ahrens of Redwood Valley for the Class A boys state crown, 15:40.0-15:41.0, respectively. Ahrens moved from 15th place earlier in the race to fifth before claiming runner-up and all-state honors.

St. James Area’s Levi Miest and Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey’s Kody Wassman merited all-state accolades by posting times of 16:21.2 and 16:31.7 to finish 11st and 14th overall, respectively, in the Class A boys state meet in St. Paul.

Wassman led the Wolverines to a ninth-place showing (235) in the Class A boys team competition, while Miest guided the Saints to 13th place at 266.

Lev Dougherty, who claimed fifth place individually with a time of 15:57.9, powered Heritage Christian to a narrow 106-114 margin of victory over Cotter for the Class A boys state team championship.

MSHSL STATE CROSS COUNTRY MEET

CLASS AA GIRLS

Individual Results (Top 10 Medalists): 1. Isabelle Schmitz (Hutchinson) 17:56.5; 2. Isabel Mahoney (Monticello) 18:12.2; 3. Allyson Sample (Marshall) 18:27.2; 4. Macy Hanson (Fairmont) 18:31.3; 5. Lauren Eilers (Willmar) 18:34.9; 6. Citori Halbe (Alexandria) 18:36.2; 7. Kaia Osmundson (Chisago Lakes) 1838.0; 8. Grace Lewis-Mosher (St. Paul Highland Park) 18:38.1; 9. Luna Scorzelli (St. Paul Highland Park) 18:46.1; 10. Keira Friedrich (St. Peter) 18:48.9.

CLASS A BOYS

Individual Results (Top 10 Medalists): 1. Eddie Snider (Mounds Park Academy) 15:40.0; 2. William Ahrens (Redwood Valley) 15:41.0; 3. Nick Hansen (St. John’s Prep) 15:56.6; 4. Mark Swanson (Northwest Nighthawks) 15:57.3; 5. Lev Dougherty (Heritage Christian) 15:57.9; 6. Erik Semling (Cotter) 15:59.1; 7. Cole Arens (Wabasha-Kellogg) 15:59.6; 8. Kilen Cilek (Redwood Valley) 16:05.5; 9. Owen Winter (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) 16:19.2; 10. Zane Guderjahn (Bertha-Hewitt) 16:20.2.

Other Area Runners (Top 50 of 160): 11. Levi Miest (St. James Area) 16:21.2; 14. Kody Wassman (Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey) 16:31.7; 19. Ryan Pierson (Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin) 16:41.4; 42. Josiah DeMaris (Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther) 17:01.8.