Canby/Minneota’s Merritt, Ourada earn All-State honors; girls team sixth at state

Braelyn Merritt and Zach Ourada of the Canby/Minneota girls and boys cross country teams, respectively, earned All-State honors at the Class A state meet held on Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
Merritt, a junior, finished ninth among team competitors and 20 individually out of 158 girls in a time of 19:43.4 at the state meet. Her time is 29.12 second faster than she ran at state a season ago.
Ourada, a junior, placed 24th out of 159 boys in a time of 16:41.6. His time was 30.28 seconds faster than he ran at state last year.
The Canby/Minneota girls’ team, which qualified for state after finishing second in the Section 3A meet the previous week, came in sixth among the 16 competing teams with 200 points.
The seven runners competing for the C/M girls’ team are all underclassmen and includes one junior, two sophomores, one freshman. and three seventh-graders.
Perham, a perennial power in cross country, won the meet with 56 points with its runners coming in 7th, 10th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. St. Cloud Cathedral was second with 78 points and Staples-Motley third with 107.
Mya Pesek, a seventh-grader, was the second runner for C/M, coming in 27th among team competitors in 20:25.2. She was 56th individually. The other three C/M runners were Claire Stoks, a sophomore, 40th in team scoring in a time of 20:48.1; Jordyn Jostock, a seventh-grader, 54th in 21:29.8; and Nohemi Diaz, a sophomore, 70th in 21:56.5. The other two runners competing were Charolette Brunsvig, a seventh-grader; and Hannah Vlaminck, a freshman.
“We are truly proud coaches of Zach and the girls’ team on how they represented Canby/Minneota cross country at the state meet,” said head coach Allyson Pesek.
Jade Rypkema, a senior from Nevis, won the girls’ meet in 17:43.5. Last year’s state champion, Amanda Overgaauw, a senior from Murray County Central, was second in 17:49. Her twin sister, Ashley Overgaauw, was third in 18:52.1.
Brandon Kampsen, a senior from Sauk Centre, won the boys’ race in 15:49.5 Henry Karelitz, a senior from Nova Classical Academy, was second in 15:55.6, while Bjorn Anderson, a sophomore from Perham, was third in 15:57.9.
Heritage Christian was the boys’ team champion. Luverne placed second and Perham third.

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