Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s/Sleepy Eye/New Ulm Cathedral sophomore Noah Christensen will be making his first trip to the state meet for the first time in his three years of running cross-country.
SM/SE/NUC head coach Lisa Hagen said she knew Christensen had talent even during his first year of running with the team and saw Christensen reaching this state milestone down the line.
“He is quite talented and his first year as an eighth-grader, I told him that he will be going to state in a few years,” Hagen said. “He came in with so much potential and his hard work, determination, along with God’s grace has gotten him very far.”
Christensen’s average time this season has been 17:30, while his PR is 17:02. On Oct. 18 in Springfield, Christensen won the boys race and became the conference champion as a result. He was also named the Tomahawk Conference Boys Runner of the Year following that race.
After qualifying for state with a fifth-place finish (17:02.77) at the Section 2A Cross-Country Championships in Norwood Young America last week, Christensen and coach Hagen have high hopes for the state meet at a challenging course.
“It’s Noah’s first year at state, I want him to establish a good position going out at the beginning of the race and push himself to work his way further up,” Hagen said. “It’s a difficult course to hit a new personal record on, but I’d like to see him do it and hit a sub-17 5K.”
Hagen added that she’s been blessed to coach the athletes she has this season and she’s expecting a great race from Christensen on Saturday.
“Its a blessing to coach these enthusiastic, hardworking athletes on the SM/SE/NUC team,” Hagen said. “I’m proud of each one of them and their accomplishments. Noah isn’t just a good athlete, but also a team leader and he is very encouraging to other team members. It should be a great race for him on Saturday.”
