Pacelli’s Christopherson shines at state again, BP’s Ille takes 41st
Published 9:04 pm Saturday, November 4, 2017
- Pacelli’s Kayla Christopherson early on during the Class A girls race at the Minnesota State Cross Country Meet Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
NORTHFIELD — Pacelli junior Kayla Christopherson added another memorable performance to her list of great accomplishments at the Minnesota Class A State Cross Country Meet at St. Olaf College Saturday.
Christopherson notched her fourth straight All-State finish in her fifth straight state meet as she finished in ninth place with a time of 19:07.4. Christopherson was drained and winded down the stretch, but she had enough in her to pass Annandale’s Emma Fashant at the finish line to edge her out by two-tenths of a second.
Pacelli’s Kayla Christopherson challenges Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Natasha Sortland during the Class A girls race at the Minnesota State Cross Country Meet Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“My goal was to get on the podium and I wasn’t 100 percent sure what place I was in. I had to get it just in case that was the 10th place runner,” Christopherson said. “I put it all out onto the course. In that last mile I had to keep telling myself ‘you’re strong, you’re strong,’ because I was dying.”
Christopherson was the only junior in the top-10 at the state meet and there were no seniors. Tierny Wolfgram, a freshman from Math and Science Academy, won the meet with a time of 17:31.6 and there were a total of five freshmen and two middle schoolers in the top-10.
Christopherson was happy to be amongst the elite runners and she said this year has been one of the toughest fields she’s had to run against.
“I’m so happy. It proves that hard work can get you where you want to go,” Christopherson said. “I think mentally this year was a lot tougher than previous years. The [Winona Cotter’s Grace and Lauren] Ping are back and we had a lot of good runners here. We’re getting better and we’re all getting faster. It’s hard to keep up.”
Christopherson thanked her parents, her school, her teachers, her coaches, her classmates and God for their assistance this season.
Blooming Prairie senior Alec Ille finished up his high school cross country career in the boys state meet in St. Olaf and he finished in 41st place with a time of 16:59.6.
Blooming Prairie’s Alec Ille runs in the Class A boys race during the Minnesota State Cross Country Meet Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“I felt like I did the best I could,” Ille said. “It wasn’t as high as I wanted to finish, but I feel good about it. I feel decent. I didn’t think about it being my last race.”
Ille ran in the last three state meets and he said he’s gotten to know many of the runners over the years. He also hopes to continue running at the college level.
“We’re all brothers here,” Ille said. “It’s still competitive but we’re working together out here and we’ve gotten closer over the years.”
Blooming Prairie’s Alec Ille heads toward the final leg of the Class A boys race during the Minnesota State Cross Country Meet Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

