NORTHFIELD — It wasn’t perfect, but it’s a solid start.

Austin freshman Haley Splinter got a taste of her first state cross country meet and she came out with a respectable finish at St. Olaf College Saturday.

Splinter shook off a fall at the two-mile mark of the 4,000 meter race to take 46th place out of 156 runners at the Class ‘AA’ meet. She recovered quickly from the mis-step and she was glad it wasn’t worse.

“My foot came out from under me and I hit gravel. It wasn’t tough (to finish) but I just kind of went in shock,” Splinter said. “I saw some girls fall and body slide, so I was just happy I didn’t do that.”

Splinter finished with a time of 15:47.2, but she was aiming to get a personal best time of 15:20.

“It could’ve been better, but (it didn’t work out) today,” she said.

Splinter was near the front of the pack place very early in the race, but the field caught up to her as she held her pace. Splinter said wasn’t really focused on what place she was in as much as she was thinking about her targeted time.

“(Running at state) was a great experience. It gave me a lot to think about,” she said. “You’ve got to push yourself harder than you want to.”

Lining up with over 100 of the best runners in the state also had it’s impact on Splinter.

“As soon as the gun went off I knew it would be scary,” she said. “I was right in the middle and everyone comes right in. It’s a scary thought when every one is lining up, because you know there’s going to be girls better than you.”

Austin head cross country coach Tony Einertson said that Splinter felt pretty nervous the morning of the race, but now that she’s ran at a high level and finished in the top 50, she should have more confidence in the upcoming years.

“She’s got those jitters out of her and she knows she belongs with this group of girls,” Einertson said. “She’s only a freshman and hopefully she gets three more chances at this if she stays healthy and everything goes like we think it can.”

Maria Hauger, a freshman from Shakopee won the Class ‘AA’ title with a time of 14:40.8 and Albert Lea freshman Chrissy Monson took 12th with a time of 15:13.6.

The weather was near perfect for the race with the temperature in the 50s.