There has been a lot of chatter about Section 6AA over the years. It is arguably one of the strongest sections in the country and, with Minnesota's state-qualifying system, it is a section where frequent NXN Regional and National contenders are left out of their own state meet. Even with all of that chatter, what happened at last night's section meet likely stunned everyone but the Washburn Miller fans!
Section 6AA claimed the top 4 places in the most recent Class AA coach's team poll with Minneapolis Washburn holding down the #4 spot for 5 weeks in a row. They certainly accepted the challenge and, on a day that was less than ideal with a chilling rain sprinkled with snowflakes throughout the day, the Millers quietly marked history, capturing their first ever team qualification for the state cross country meet.
Seniors Andrew Sell, Hamza Ali and Martin Donovan ran solid races on Wednesday, each finishing within 10 seconds of their best time all season (Sell and Donovan both set new SB times at the section meet). However, it is sophomores Joseph Minor and Matt Cota who truly accepted the challenge at Gale Woods. Minor bested his previous top time by 49 seconds, Cota bested his by 42 seconds. The Millers posted an impressive 33.7 second spread between their #1 and #5 runners, finishing in second place by only 5 points and topping higher ranked Edina and Wayzata by 5 and 6 points respectively. Sell, Ali and Donovan will all have the chance to make a return appearance at the state meet, this time with their team along side them, including Minor, Cota, Caleb Haugland and Ben Perry.