Burckhardt, Foster race to Section 7A cross country titles

This week Northland runners started racing off for spots in the state cross country field. On Wednesday in the Section 7AAA meet, Duluth East’s Oliver Miatke and Rowan Bixler each qualified for state.

Then Thursday morning the Cloquet Country Club played host to the Section 7A 5k races.

In the girl’s event South Ridge freshman Addison Burckhardt edged Ely’s Molly Brophy by three seconds to take first place with a time of 19:54.

"It was a really good day to run, it’s colder so I didn’t get so hot. Felt really good it’s my best race, I [set a personal record] today," Burckhard said.

Then in the boy’s event Cromwell-Wright junior Noah Foster, with just one loss on the season, claimed the section crown with a time of 16:33. He beat out the second place finisher in Mountain Iron-Buhl’s Jeffrey Kayfes by 23 seconds.

"My goal, well I’ll train for the next week here and my goal is to go win state," Foster said following the win Thursday.

The top two teams and six individuals from the section meet advance to state. The Carlton and South Ridge girls, and Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin and Esko boys earned the team spots.

Click here for full 7A results. State is set for November 6 at St. Olaf College.