NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Sore shins, the flu and a duct-taped shoe weren’t enough to block Richfield senior Obsa Ali from the winner’s circle on Saturday.
Minnesota’s top-ranked cross country runner all season, Ali ditched his right shoe with 400 meters remaining and blazed from there to the Class 2A championship, covering the 5,000-meter course at St. Olaf College in 15 minutes, 15 seconds.
“This feels amazing,” Ali said. “I feel like I just lost 1,000 pounds. This is a huge weight off my back. It was keeping me up at night.”
Ali, the big-school runner-up last season, pulled away from Wayzata’s Connor Olson with 800 meters remaining to win. Olson placed second in 15:17, and Hutchinson’s Isaiah Barlow was third in 15:32.
The trio went out together from the starting gun in glorious running conditions. They traded the lead throughout, with Olson and Ali making a small move to pull away just beyond the two-mile mark.
But at some point after the one-mile mark, Ali said Zack Benning of Hastings accidentally stepped on his right foot, which caused his shoe to come partially off. Ali said he ran about a mile with his foot smashing down the heel of his shoe. After pulling away from Olson, and after the course surface changed from gravel to grass, Ali ditched the shoe so he wouldn’t have to contend with it on his finishing kick.
Ali was presented with the duct-taped shoe in the finishing chute. He taped it, he said, in an effort to keep it on. During the section meet, he had to stop twice to tie the shoe but still had plenty of time to win. Ali wasn’t going to take such chances with a state title on the line.
“(The shoe) was messing with my head,” he said. “I went for it.”
Ali has had sore shins since the Classic Suburban Conference race and on Monday came down with the flu. He ran 20 minutes a day, at an 8-minute per mile pace, to prepare for Saturday’s race. He is Richfield’s first cross country champion since 1982, when Paul Gisselquist won in 15:34 at the University of Minnesota golf course.
“Obsa had a great day,” Barlow said. “To fight the flu and everything else, that is impressive.”
Olson led Wayzata to the big-school team title with 53 points. Edina was second with 66 points, and two-time defending champion Stillwater was third with 99.
Wayzata was a repeat team champion in the girls race, finishing with 37 points, nearly 100 fewer than runner-up East Ridge (134). Lakeville South was third with 165.
The Trojans, ranked No. 6 nationally, displayed an impressive pack-running style with their five scorers placing in the top 19.
Alexandria sophomore twins Bethany and Megan Hasz finished first and second, respectively, in the individual race. Bethany’s winning time was 13:53, 20 seconds ahead of Megan.
“We knew it was a possibility that one of us would win it,” said Bethany, who is 29 minutes younger than her sister. “We are always happy for each other.”
Follow Tim Leighton at twitter.com/PrepsNow.
