MANKATO — You couldn’t blame Mankato East boys cross country coach Todd Coyour for thinking he might have a faulty stop watch.

During the team’s preseason time trials in late August, he clocked five of his runners with faster times than the team’s top runner from the year before.

“I had to a do a double-take,” Coyour admitted this week, as he prepared to escort his Cougars to their first state cross country meet in 31 years. “I was wondering to myself if it was maybe just a fluke, but then we did it again in our first meet, and then again in our second meet and so on. When I saw what was happening I knew right away this team had a chance to make it to state.”

That belief held true last week when East finished second in the Section 2AA Meet in Willmar to advance to the Class AA boys event. The only previous time East went to state as a team was in the fall of 1978.

“We’ve managed to stay pretty healthy and that’s always an important factor,” said East senior Jacob Seifert, who has a season-best time of 17:15 over 5,000 meters. “But we knew right after the Hutchinson meet, when we finished near the top, that we were going to have a good team this year.”

Teammate Mike Enfield (17:01), another senior, said the team’s goal is to finish in the top 10.

“We think we can do that,” he said. “As a team we want to be in the top 10 and as individuals we all want to PR.”

East’s top-seven lineup is dominated by seniors. In addition to Seifert and Enfield, the other runners in their final seasons are Ochan Adome (16:15), Kale Karstens (16:53) and David Smothers (17:29). Sophomores Ryan Erdman (16:19) and Adam Lorentz (17:19), complete the starting lineup.

Coyour said East is definitely deserving of its state meet berth.

“Collectively, they’ve logged over 2,000 miles and now it’s finally paid off,” he said. “It shows what hard work and dedication can accomplish.”

Class AA girls
Mankato West senior Laura Hughes is the only area runner competing in Class AA. She qualified by finishing second in the Section 2AA Meet with a time of 15:47.

Hughes, who won the Class AA state championship as a sophomore, is looking to close out her cross country career with another All-State performance.

Class A boys
The Waseca boys will be competing as a team and go in ranked fifth in the state. Head coach Gary Meurer said a top-five finish is a realistic goal.

“When you consider that seven years ago the cross country program was on the chopping block at Waseca because of low numbers, this is a pretty nice accomplishment,” Meurer said. “It’s taken the work of a lot of good people to build it back up to where it is now.”

The Bluejays are led by Jeremy Sass (16:45 season best time) and seventh-grade wonder Shane Streich (16:49). Blake Malecha (17:38) and Nick Rudolph (17:49) have been solid Nos. 3 and 4 runners, and rounding out the starting lineup are Nick Hoelmer (17:59), Christian Hall (18:12) and Caesar Gallegos (18:22).

Other individuals to keep an eye are on Le Sueur-Henderson’s Andrew Gerdts, Sibley East’s Andrew Thies and St. James’ Jon Surber.

Class A girls
The Bluejays of Waseca, who dropped down from Class AA this season, are the favorites to win the state title Saturday. All five Waseca runners placed in the top 10 at the Section 2A Meet in Fairmont last week.

“Realistically we have a shot,” head coach Gary Meurer said. “I’m looking at Perham and Adrian to be right up there battling for the title, too.”

The Jays’ top three runners all season have been Hannah McGraith (15:08, season best time), Morgan Larson 15:09) and Allison Streich (15:21). Also among the top five are junior high standouts Sally O’Brien (15:08) and Sadie Novak-Klug (15:38). Allie Hadley (16:09) and Mckenzie Burke (16:07) round out the starting lineup.

“It’s a nice team,” Meurer said. “We’re capable of putting all seven runners in the chute within a minute’s time.”

The Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin girls have also qualified for state and are looking for a top 10 finish.