Class A Girls
There may not have been as much drama in the individual battle on the girls side of Class A as there was for the boys, but the team battle left nothing to be desired.
Perham and Fairmont had raced each other once earlier in the season at the Milaca Mega Meet, and in that battle, Fairmont came out on top by a margin of seven points. But Perham had been missing a runner that day that may have made the difference, and they soon were back on top of the state polls. This time both teams featured full and determined lineups. In the end, the margin was closer, but the result was the same. Fairmont took the State Title by a margin of two points, the closest team finish at State since 2011 (a one-point victory by the St. Cloud Cathedral boys over... Perham).
Fairmont had a mere 38-second spread (which was the smallest of all Class A girls teams), and was primarily made up of upperclassmen with six juniors or seniors. Three of those seniors, Jenna Pavich, Molly Hawkins, and Emily Haugen, have run with their team each of the past four years and have seen them progress each year from 14th in 2013, to 3rd, to 5th, and finally to Fairmont's first team title ever. Time can only tell if they Fairmont can develop into the type of running dynasty that other teams have built around the State, but they have a great start.
The team from Perham, like their boys team, has a very long history of success having qualified for State every year since 2003, but they didn't win their first team title until just last year. Senior and third-place finisher Brynnan Covington was a member of each team since 2011, making 2016 her sixth time competing at State. She was the only runner older than a sophomore that ran on Saturday, and one of two seniors on Perham's nine-person team. With so many underclassmen and such a long history of success, Perham remains in great position to attempt to earn the title again next year.
But as much of a battle as there was on the team side, the opposite was equally true for individuals. Math & Science Academy's eighth-grader Tierney Wolfgram entered the day as the overwhelming favorite thanks to her unmitigated dismantling of Class A competition all year. Her performances were reminiscent of last year's champion Grace Ping (who has moved to Utah, and handily defeated many of Utah's best runners in a Pre-Footlocker race last Saturday). Like Ping last year, Wolfgram gave the whole state a strong indication of just how good she was when she defeated every other Minnesota runner at the Roy Griak Invitational back in September.
Wolfgram took the lead from the gun and never looked back, crossing the mile marker in 5:28 and the two-mile in 11:37 before cruising to a 45-second victory in 18:23. But the long gap between first and second did not mean there was no drama at the finish. Martin County West eighth-grader Marissa Whitehead, who was not really expected to compete for one of the top-five spots, unleashed a furious finish to nip Brynnan Covington, who had come into State having not lost to any Class A runner this year except Wolfgram. The finish was in stark contrast to the only other time those two runners raced during the season at the Milaca Mega Meet, where Whitehead finished a full 52 seconds behind that race's winner in Covington. But strong wins in Whitehead's conference and section meets clearly had prepared her to battle strong against Minnesota's best competition.
With the small schools wrapping up their seasons and distributing their most prestigious awards, the afternoon was now ready to feature the battles from Class AA.