NORTHFIELD -- For Linda Keller, the state meet was just another milk run.
Once the race took shape, she never trailed and ended up winning by 13 seconds over Naomi Landecker of Staples-Motley.
Keller is a Paynesville junior whose part-time job is milking cows on the family dairy farm near Hawick.
After last year's third-place finish in what was only her second year of the sport, she has been rated No. 1 all year in Class A. Landecker, fourth at Northfield a year ago, has ranked No. 2 all fall.
Typically, Keller was low key and soft spoken in the fenced, cool-down area soon after completing an undefeated season.
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"Yes," she admitted, "it's a big relief" to fulfill the expectations that come with a season-long four-star rating.
"I got off to a really great start; it was very fast; (Landecker) and I went out together," said Keller.
They matched strides through 3,200 meters when Keller started to edge away on the uphill shoestring loop. She entered the 150-meter long avenue to the finish all alone and was cheered loudly by the fans jammed against the low fence.
"It was a heckuva race," said her coach Todd Spanier. "It was what I expected. Naomi and Linda had mirror seasons; both unbeaten and really unchallenged to this point."
Keller was unable to pull the young Bulldogs' team into the top 10. Kaitlyn Frenchick, the only senior who was running in her fourth state meet, was 100th overall followed closely by two eighth-graders.
Gabi Swoboda, a freshman from Redwood Valley, came in 11th. Minnewaska's Maren Greenwaldt and Halle Christianson finished side-by-side, also in the top 20. Junior Kelly Swenson and eighth-grader Tera Walker took 22nd and 23rd place, respectively, running for Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd.
Ryan Swenson, Kelly's younger brother, went out with the leaders and held on for a 14th-place finish, good for all-state honors. Ahead of the freshman from Dawson were 10 seniors, two juniors and a sophomore.
Also among area runners, junior Nate Thooft of Redwood Valley took 55th and sophomore Taylor Bodin of MACCRAY placed 64th.
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Keller's title is the third for Paynesville. Jen Hess won in 2000 and 2001.
She's the fourth Tribune area runner to win a cross country state title this century. Greg Liebl of Montevideo won in 2000 and Nikki Swenson won in both 2003 and 2006.
Class AA
BOYS
Team scoring
(1) Wayzata 62 (2) Rosemount 110 (3) Brainerd 147 (4) Stillwater 161 (5) Eastview* 174 (6) Willmar 174 (7) Moorhead 179 (8) Eden Prairie 204 (9) Chaska 216 (10) White Bear Lake 245 (11) Owatonna 259 (12) Forest Lake 294 (13) Andover 296 (14) Mounds View 325 (15) Lakeville North 327 (16) Duluth East 355
*Eastview won tiebreaker (best 6th runner) with Willmar
individual
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TOP FIVE -- (1) Rob Finnerty, Burnsville, 15:28 (2) Jordan Carlson, Rosemount, 15:37 (3) Peter Gagnon, Mpls. Washburn 15:44 (4) Mahad Hassan, Willmar, 15:51 (5) Robel Kelbede, Mpls. South. 15:55
WILLMAR -- (4) Hassan 15:51 (29) Andrew Nicklawsky 16:23 (41) Mohamed Hussein 16:32 (112) Absir Ahmed 17:14 (121) David Anderson (145) Zach Coquyt 18:08 (150) Ryan Larsen 18:51 .
GIRLS
Team scoring
(1) Burnsville 90 (2) Eden Prairie 106 (3) Minnetonka 122 (4) Prior Lake 134 (5) Lakeville North 159 (6) White Bear Lake 167 (7) Roseville 198 (8) Coon Rapids 209 (9) Centennial 210 (10) Moorhead 244 (11) Elk River 258 (12) Brainerd 275 (13) Grand Rapids 281 (14) Chaska 293 (15) Winona 294 (16) Mound-Westonka 342
Individual
TOP FIVE -- (1) Laura Hughes 14:28 (2) Cassy Opitz, Eden Prairie, 14:45 (3) Emma Bates, Elk River, 14:47 (4) Katie Moraczewski, White Bear Lake, 14:53 (4) Danielle Berndt, Bloomington Kennedy, 14:54
AREA INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS -- No area qualifiers
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Class A
BOYS
Team scoring
(1) Perham 88 (2) Adrian 150 (3) Pequot Lakes 161 (4) Pine City 165 (5) Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 173 (6) Mora 182 (7) St. James 207 (8) Esko 210 (9) Minnehaha Academy 214 (10) Staples-Motley 219 (11) Lake City 225 (12) Holy Family Catholic 230 (13) Byron 242 (14) Albany 264 (15) Redwood Valley 313 (16) Fairmont 332
Individual
TOP TEN -- (1) Donny Wasinger, Winona Cotter, 15:52. (2) Kevin Lachowitzer, Perham, 15:58 (3) Andrew Hoffman, St. Anthony Village, 16:20 (4) Ryan Tholen, Tracy-Milroy/Balaton, 16:21 (5) Clayton Foster, Pequot Lakes, 16:23 (6) Taylor Zinnel, Saint James, 16:28 (7) Kenny Fillbrandt, Glencoe-Silver Lake, 16:34 (8) Adam Stainiger, Chisholm, 16:35 (9) Tom Pesch, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, 16:37 (10) Zach Faith, St. James, 16:40
AREA INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS -- (14) Ryan Swenson, Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle Valley, 16:46 (28) Tanner Wendroth, Paynesville, 17:02 (65) Taylor Bodin, MACCRAY, 17:31 (84) Brendan Ruter, New London-Spicer, 17:46 (94) Jordan Radel, NLS, 17:53.0 (97) Darren Reuss, Montevideo, 17:53.7 (120) Owen Hein, Montevideo, 18:15
REDWOOD VALLEY -- (55) Nate Thooft 17:26 (86)) Travis McDougall 17:46 (122) Nick Hastreiter 18:16 (131) Brian Riley 18:28 (148) Nate Remmele 19:03 (153) Kris Hodgson 19:16
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GIRLS
Team scoring
(1) Adrian 97 (2) Holy Family Catholic 142 (3) Perham 152 (4) Staples-Motley 154 (5) Mora 169 (6) Esko 181 (7) Luverne 186 (8) Fairmont 188 (9) St. Cloud Cathedral 195 (10) Rochester Lourdes 227 (11) St. Paul Academy & Summit 256 (12) Paynesville 266 (13) Blue Earth 268 (14) Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 275 (15) LaCrescent 281 (16) Crosby-Ironton 370
Individual
TOP TEN -- (1) Linda Keller 14:30.2 (2) Naomi Landecker, Staples-Motlery, 14:43 (3) Marissa Janning, Watertown-Mayer, 14:48 (4) Maddi McClellan, Perham, 14:58 (5) Lauren Rice, Holy Family, 14:59 (6) Abby Anderson, Perham, 15:01 (7) Kaycee Knutson, Esko, 15:03 (8) Anne Hart, St. Paul Academy, 15:16 (9) Kris Ostrem, Lewiston-Alberta/Rushford-Peterson, 15:18 (10) Adriana Flores, Medford, 15:20
AREA INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS -- (11) Gabi Swoboda, Redwood Valley, 15:25 (17) Maren Greenwaldt, Minnewaska, 15:31.8 (18) Halle Christianson, Minnewaska, 15:31.8 (48) Spencer Erickson, New London-Spicer, 16:03
LAC QUI PARLE VALLEY/DAWSON-BOYD -- (22) Kelly Swenson 15:35 (23) Tera Walker 15:37 (116) Kate Seivert 17:05 (139) Ashley Storlein 17:36 (140) Jennifer Kack 17:38 (149) Whitney Hermanson 18:03 (155) Kierstynn Milbeck 18:28
PAYNESVILLE -- (1) Keller 14:30 0 (100) Kaitlyn Frenchick 16:47 (105) Andrea Schlangen 16:49 (107) Brittney Hemmesch 16:50 (136) Katie Weidner 17:33 (157) Bri Jager 18:32 (161) Shanna Hoekstra 23:11
