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Section 2AA Championships
On the boys side, the Willmar Cardinals came in on a gorgeous day and did what was necessary. Led by junior Mahad Hassan in 15:54, the Cardinals scored 39 to 2nd place Chaska Hawks 53.  Mahad blew the field away in the first 400 meters and never looked back.  The second pack, consisting of Zac Mellon, Kyle Schmidt, Andrew Nicklawsky, Mohammed Hussein, Kyle Larson, Pat Bigaouette, Ben Sathre and Ben Rodriguez was led by Nicklawsky for the first 2 miles before he was overtook by Sathre and Schmidt. In the last 800 meters, Mellon came from behind with his 1:51 800 speed to capture 2nd place followed by Kyle Schmidt and Ben Sathre. In a surprise, Willmar's #2 runner on the day was Mohammed Hussein and followed closely by teammate Nicklawsky who had to outkick Kyle Larson of Chaska to the finish.  Willmar's top 5 was rounded out by Abshir Ahmed in 11th place and David Anderson in 16th place.
Willmar and Chaska both advance as a team to the state meet next weekend in St. Olaf on Saturday November 3rd.
On the girls side, the Chaska Hawks got out fast and never looked back as they soared to a 61-77 over Mound Westonka. Mound was led by a 1-2 punch of Julia Harrison and Paige Sotirin who took 3rd and 4th individually.
In a battle of two veterans, Laura Hughes and Brooke Wyffels ran together for the first mile and a half before Laura started to pull away and never looked back.  Wyffels, a senior, placed second again to Hughes after the same results the year before.  Third through eighth place came down to who had the strongest kicks as there was only 4.4 seconds separating the 6 runners.
The Willmar Cardinals came into the meet with an outside shot at claiming second but didn't have the firepower to accomplish that feat.  With no runners in the top 15, the team was relying on it's strong pack to pull them through.  Although their spread today was 56.3 seconds where a week ago they were under 30 seconds. The Cardinals were led by Jackie Johnson in 17th place and Emily Ellingson in 22nd.  The girls look forward to a strong season next year as they return all their runners from the section meet.
Team Results: (Top 2 advance to state)
1.) Willmar 39
2.) Chaska 53
3.) Buffalo 67
4.) Hutchinson 114
5.) Mound Westonka 183
6.) Mankato East 197
7.) Delano 203
8.) Mankato West 216
9.) New Prague 241
10.) Orono 255
11.) Shakopee 273
12.) Marshall 329
13.) Dassel-Cokato 343
14.) Waconia 363
15.) Minnesota Valley Lutheran 399

Top 10: (Top 10 advance to state)
1.) Mahad Hassan (Willmar) 15:54
2.) Zac Mellon (Buffalo) 16:16.4
3.) Kyle Schmidt (Hutchinson) 16:17.7
4.) Ben Sathre (Chaska) 16:20.9
5.) Mohammed Hussein (Willmar) 16:29.5
6.) Andrew Nicklawsky (Willmar) 16:32.0
7.) Kyle Larson (Chaska) 16:32.0
8.) Ben Rodriguez (Buffalo) 16:34.2
9.) Pat Bigaouette (Chaska) 16:38.8
10.) Tom Hall (Mankato East) 16:59.8
11.) Abshir Ahmed (Willmar) 16:59.8
16.) David Anderson (Willmar) 17:12.3
29.) Zac Coquyt (Willmar) 17:39.8
49.) Ryan Larsen (Willmar) 18:13.9		 Team Results: (Top 2 advance to state)
1.) Chaska 61
2.) Mound Westonka 77
3.) Buffalo 126
4.) Marshall 129
5.) Shakopee 131
6.) Hutchinson 141
7.) Mankato East 147
8.) Willmar 157
9.) New Prague 163
10.) Mankato West 235
11.) Waconia 276
12.) Delano 387
13.) Minnesota Valley Lutheran 395
14.) Dassel-Cokato 430
15.) Orono 465

Top 10: (Top 10 advance to state)
1.) Laura Hughes (Mankato West) 14:48.0
2.) Brooke Wyffels (Marshall) 15:00.2
3.) Julia Harrison (Mound Westonka) 15:25.7
4.) Paige Sotirin (Mound Westonka) 15:26.7
5.) Emily VanKeulen (Marshall) 15:28.0
6.) Anna Neu (Shakopee) 15:29.6
7.) Megan Ackerman (Buffalo) 15:29.9
8.) Alissa Retterath (Hutchinson) 15:30.1
9.) Jenna Urick (Chaska) 15:35.5
10.) Claire Bulat (Chaska) 15:38.2
17.) Jackie Johnson (Willmar) 15:58.9
22.) Emily Ellingson (Willmar) 16:05.9
24.) Jayne Cole (Willmar) 16:06.3
46.) Danielle Erickson (Willmar) 16:49.8
48.) Halie Larson (Willmar) 16:55.2
54.) Ashley Wigton (Willmar) 17:03.4