Naiya Ayers will represent Jackson County Central cross country at the State Meet for a third straight year and David Botello-Ramos will make his debut after qualifying at the Section 3A Championship in Luverne on Thursday.
Ayers posted a time of 20:35.1 to finish ninth place in the varsity girls race. The Huskies sophomore will make her third consecutive trip to State.
Botello-Ramos came home 10th place with a personal record of 17:07 in the varsity boys race. The Huskies freshman will make his debut at State.
The JCC girls collected 180 points in sixth place. Ester Botello-Ramos ran 21:46.6 in 24th place, Stevie Untiedt ran 22:46.4 in 46th place, Carly Clark ran 23:01.9 in 49th place, and Abigail Mohr ran 23:10.5 in 52nd place.
The JCC boys collected 201 points for eighth place as a team. Kayden Mitchell ran 18:46.8 in 37th place, Brycen Mitchell ran 19:10.7 in 45th place, Grant Ambrose ran 19:52.8 in 61st place, and Gavin Tusa ran right behind him with 19:56.8 in 62nd place.
Danica Wood with 25:02.3 in 86th place and Samantha Van Wyhe with 26:28.8 in 99th place also ran for the JCC girls among 100 varsity runners. Nolan Brinks with 21:21.3 in 89th place and Eric Bouten with 21:52.4 in 98th place also ran for the JCC boys among 100 varsity runners.
Full results are available online.
The top two teams and top six individuals from a non-qualifying team advanced to the State Meet. Redwood Valley scored 56 points to win the girls section team title. Luverne qualified for State with 64 points as the team runner-up. Redwood Valley scored 34 to complete a section team title sweep. Windom Area had 81 team points to qualify for State as the team runner-up.
The MSHSL Cross Country Running State Championship will take place on Saturday, November 7, at Majestic Oaks Golf Course in Ham Lake. The Class A girls race begins at 12:15 p.m.