The Cotter cross country teams finished an incredibly successful season with both teams on the champion’s podium, the boys earning silver medals and the girls bronze medals for their respective 2nd and 3rd place team finishes at the State Meet on Saturday, November 4.

The meet was held at the University of Minnesota’s Lee Bolstad Golf Course on the St. Paul campus after moving from St.Olaf in Northfield, where the meet had been held for many years.  Cotter had run on this property, although a slightly different course, in September at the U. of M’s Roy Griak Invitational.

The Class A boys race was held at noon on a sunny day with the temperature an almost perfect 40 degrees.

After winning the Three Rivers Conference meet two weeks earlier the boys first goal was to beat LA-RPH (Lewiston-Altura, Rushford-Peterson-Houston) who took first place at the Section 1A meet in Rochester. LA-RPH ended up in 8th place.

Each of the top five scoring finishers ran a personal record (PR) to move all the way up to the 2nd spot, only trailing Heritage Academy by 8 points.

“The boys had a truly incredible day, it’s almost unheard of to have the top 5 runners all PR, the coaches are incredibly proud of their effort and performance.  They were calling this one ‘John’s Last Dance’ in a tribute to John Fritts and I think they really wanted to come through for each other,” Coach Costello said.  “The training plan is geared to have them peak at State, but it doesn’t always play out like that.”

8th grader Erik Semling finished 6th with a time of 15:59, becoming the first 8th grade boy in any class to break 16:00 in the State meet.  John Fritts placed 16th with a 16:39, 9th grader Ryan Littlefield bounced back from illness to run a 17:12, sophomore Kellen Groth ran a 17:17, and sophomore Logan Granseth ran a 17:36 to round out the top 5 scorers, senior Jackson Cada and 8th grader Jonah Hatanpa finished 6th and 7th, with Jackson also running his best time of the year.

Erik and John earned All State honors, John and Kellen also earned All-State Academic award, given to 10-12 graders who finish in the top 15 in their section and have gpas over 3.75.

“The expectations for the team at state was to get in the top 3 as a team and we managed to do even better with our 2nd place finish. Even though the team had high expectations as individuals, all the team wanted to do is run the best race that they could. The thing that stood out to me the most at state is the chance that both teams had to spend time together and just bond as a team and deepen our friendships,” senior captain John Fritts said.

The girls also were Three Rivers Conference champions and also ended up 2nd in the section to Rochester Lourdes.  In a dramatic development, Sonja Semling, Cotter’s strongest runner and the defending section champion, collapsed in the last 200 meters of the section race and the rest of the Cotter team rallied to still qualify for the State meet.

Sonja was cleared to race at State and returned to form, finishing in 9th place with a time of 19:10 and earning All-State recognition. Hazel Freyre, a junior, was Cotter’s 2nd finisher at 20:12.  Isabelle Katwa, a 7th grader, had an incredible race finishing 3rd for Cotter at 20:50, followed closely by 9th grader Brooklyn Staudacher at 20:53, and senior Audrey England at 21:26.  Macy Piechowski, a junior,  (21:38) and senior Bethany Peratt (2;40) rounded out Cotter’s line-up.

“The core of the girls team has been running together for 5 years and it was really cool to see their effort payoff. They definitely ran their best race of the year, it was a great team effort and the best result we could have hoped for, ” Costello said.

“This season was unforgettable. We went into the season with high hopes and exceeded our expectations. Through hard work, dedication, and goal setting, we pulled through and achieved more than what we could have imagined. When the race was over, I couldn’t believe how well we had finished as a team,” Sonja said. “We have a special group of kids on this team and I am forever grateful that I made the choice to join this sport.” 

“I really enjoyed cross country because so many people are welcoming and so supportive like a family. Going to the State meet, I was definitely expecting us to do well and I never thought my first year on the team would result in such greatness. What stood out to me going to the the State meet, was all of the fun we had together and how we got to show everyone how much work we put in this season to make it there. I love Cross Country and I am excited for more years of running left to come,” Isabelle Katwa said.

Team award winners were as follows: Most valuable runners = Sonja Semling, Erik Semling, Most Improved Runners = Audrey England, Michael Welch, Rambler Award = Kyra Kotsmith, John Fritts.