The Minnesota State High School League's 2026 Boys Cross Country State Meet included a pair of team championships decided by a single point, plus close finishes individually.
Here is a recap of the State Meet. Click on an individual class to jump to that section.
Class A
After a 1-2 finish in the Class A Boys Cross Country State Meet for the second year in a row, Cotter/Hope teammates Erik Semling and Ryan Littlefield eyed the live scoring board for a glance at the team standings.
“Please stay,” Littlefield said, noticing the Ramblers in first for at least that moment.
“This is like two years ago,” Semling said, recalling missing out on the 2024 title by five points to Redwood Valley. “Come on, come on!”
After bringing home two runner-up trophies and third-place hardware the last three seasons, Cotter/Hope finally got its first Boys Cross Country state title.
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Barely.
The Ramblers’ 126 points topped Sibley East’s score by a point.
“I’ve always wanted two blues,” Semling said. “Two blue, gold medals.”
Semling won individually for the third year in a row, cruising to the finish line in a 5,000-meter time of 15:16.6. Littlefield repeating as the runner-up was key, his 15:37.7 time beating three challengers from qualifying teams by less than four seconds. Sauk Centre senior Logan Wiehoff was third in 15:39.7.
“Sometimes I wish I was the top guy. I want to win my state championship,” Littlefield said. “But it’s also really nice to have another guy on the team who’s just as fast, if not better.”
“I definitely fed off of Erik for sure. He took the lead right away and I followed suit.”
Ninth-grader Jonah Alexander was 14th (16:18.3) and ninth-grader Cooper Knuesel and junior Jonah Hatanpa provided the other critical points.
“I think everybody was just very focused today,” Semling said. “The last couple of years, we could have maybe done it, but we needed the right day and we needed to perform on the day. Not everybody is going to perform all of the time but today everybody did and that’s what we needed.”
Redwood Valley was third with 142 points.
Class AA
St. Paul Como Park senior Charlie Loth entered the Class AA Boys Cross Country State Meet ranked sixth in the coaches poll.
But the defending state champion was confident.
“Every year, our coach has us peak at state,” Loth said. “No matter what.”
That was the case for Loth for the second year in a row, as he raced to the gold medal in 15:10.1 over 5,000 meters. Detroit Lakes junior Connor Malecka (15:17.0) and Willmar senior Zach Engstrom (15:21.8) followed him.
“This year was way, way harder than it was last year,” Loth said. “Throughout the whole race, it felt like I kept going up another notch in intensity. From the beginning to the end, it just got faster, faster, faster. There was never any lull in the speed.
“I think just having those guys up there with me pushing the pace the whole way made it way harder than last year but also way more rewarding.”
Loth’s gold helped the Cougars, champions last year, collect another trophy with 143 points good for a third-place finish.
Did slowing down cross his mind?
“At this point, there’s what, 400 meters left?” Loth asked himself before the final stretch. “There’s no reason not to give it all. If I fall down, if I can’t keep going, at least I tried as hard as I could. I knew there was a chance that I could get him so I just had to give it everything I could.”
With 70 points, Perham returned to the top of the team standings for the ninth time and the first time since winning three consecutive Class A titles in the two-class system from 2017 to 2019.
Sophomore Brody Freeland paced the Yellowjackets with a fifth-place finish in 15:30.8. Sophomore Ethan Johnson and junior Bryce Brown went 16-17. Junior Ben Mathiason and junior Parker Hendrickx rounded out the team scoring.
Mankato East was the team runner-up with 99 points.
Class AAA
Eastview senior Luke Bakken is confident in his kick.
“It’s one of the best weapons I have,” he said.
On Saturday, he used it to win a state championship. Bakken (15:06.9) outran Rosemount senior Channing Goodwin (15:07.5) to the finish line by less than a second in a thrilling Class AAA Boys Cross Country State Meet 5,000-meter race to achieve a dream he said he’s had since ninth grade.
“After my track season, I felt like it could actually happen,” Bakken said.
Ironically, it was being outkicked for the 1,600-meter title five months ago that gave him that mindset. He has worked with his coaches and teammates to strengthen that final push, including with workouts like 800-meter runs that progressively accelerate into a sprint.
“I was just so close (in track) that I knew if I kept training and kept working at it, I could get it,” Bakken said. “It’s so awesome that it came true.”
Two Rivers junior Max Molinaro (15:14.8) placed third.
“There were some points where Channing and Max pulled away from me but I brought it back and gave myself a chance in the last 400,” Bakken said. “It felt great to kick.”
The team race was just as close.
With 127 points, Minneapolis Washburn edged Wayzata by a point and Rosemount by three to bring home the first Boys Cross Country state championship in school history.
Junior Khalil Omar’s fourth-place finish in 15:24.4 led the Millers, followed by senior Thomas McVay in ninth (15:38.2). Senior Theo Rasmussen, junior Steffan Drekonja and senior Sawyer Dodge completed the feat.
“Coming into it, we knew we were favorites but we didn’t like to think of it that way,” Omar said. “We always wanted to come in as underdogs. I think that mentality really helped us today.”
