Owatonna girls finish ninth at state

A new trail at Majestic Oaks Golf Club in Ham Lake greeted Owatonna girls cross-country for their fourth consecutive trip to the big meet, but the new terrain didn’t slow down the Huskies who managed to finish ninth in a field of 16 teams.

After four years of qualifying, Owatonna’s star-studded team has cracked the top 10 and improved its podium positioning amongst the state’s best for the third straight season.

While the total race time lasted just under 20 minutes for the Huskies’ final finisher, the team’s culture and consistent improvements are the rewards of a much slower process.

“It’s not a year-by-year thing. It’s the culmination of years and years of hard work building this culture,” said Owatonna girls cross-country head coach Tasheena Cooke.

The team earned its ninth-place finish with 249 team points, sandwiching itself between Farmington’s 212 in eighth and Maple Grove’s 262 in 10^th.

However, the team was not the only entity to crack the top 10 in Ham Lake.

Junior Gracie Randall started fast and never looked back en route to placing fifth in the 158-athlete field to earn herself all-state honors as one of Minnesota’s top 25 runners.

Randall was able to accomplish the feat by crossing the line in 18:04.60, just 31 seconds behind Minnetonka senior Evie Malec in first.

Owatonna’s next finishers came in a tight pack with Clara Sennott and Clara Meier crossing just six seconds apart in 70^th and 77^th place.

Sennott led the way in 19:22.70 with Meier close behind at 19:28.10 to secure critical team points for the Huskies.

Since the state meet features runners not associated with qualified teams who race as individuals, Sennott and Meier’s qualified placements differed from their individual finishes.

Sennott was instead bumped up to 43^rd and Meier was upgraded to 47^th to play a key role in Owatonna’s 249-point total.

Leah Leckner was the next Owatonna athlete to join the pack, finishing in 20:05.90 to take 109^th as an individual and 71^st for the Huskies.

The team’s final qualified runner to finish was Sophia Qualley in 20:26.60, good for 125^th individually and 83^rd for the Huskies.

Runners Amelie Tolle (145^th individual – 102^nd team) and Kaylin Herman (149^th individual – 104^th team) also finished for the Huskies, but were not included in the team’s five-runner point total.

The Huskies’ 249 points were the lowest the team has scored in its four-year state stretch with the next lowest total coming when it scored 317 for 15^th in 2023.

Owatonna’s incredible 2026 season will catapult the team into 2027 with major momentum.

Out of the team’s seven total runners at state, five will return with the exception of Qualley and Tolle, who are both set to graduate in 2026.