In boys Class AA, Mahad Hassan of Willmar finished fourth individually and the Willmar boys took sixth ending a two year reign as state champion. Hassan, who was 14th overall last year, was tied for second with Peter Gagnon of Minneapolis Washburn but faded a bit in the final 800 meters. The juniors fourth-place finish ties for the best ever by a Cardinal individual at the state meet. Andrew Nicklawsky finished 29th, improving 30 places from a year ago.
Willmar actually finished with the same number of points as Eastview but dropped to sixth on the tiebreaker, the sixth runner. In the last four years, Willmar placed second, first, first and now sixth at Northfield.
