Katherine Geist out in front of the pack in the Section 8A Cross Country meet
Crookston’s Katherine Geist continued her remarkable junior season remaining undefeated in races this year while earning a return trip to the State meet after winning the Section 8A Girl’s Cross-Country Meet at Bagley’s Twins Pines Golf Course.
In a constant mist on a slick grass course, Katherine Geist appeared unfazed by the elements distancing herself from the other 110 runners competing as soon as the starting gun was fired. With only an ATV ahead of her, Geist breezed through the winding course and ran across the finish line of the 5-kilometer race in just 18:54.7, nearly 30-seconds faster than the runner-up. “Katherine pretty much did what she’s done all year,” said her coach Kirk Misialek. “She’s won eleven in a row and done what we asked her to do this week and I think we kind of prepped her up for the big race, the state race. I was pretty confident she was going to do well today, and she did and she ran a pretty good time. She’s got another week to train and show the big time what she can do.”
After winning her eleventh race of the season, Geist was pleased with her form heading into her final race of the season at the State Meet. “I think I had a great race,” said Geist, “I worked really hard and my plan was just to lead. I was hoping to take the section title and I’m really glad I could do that today. It was pretty cold once I took all my warm-ups off but it didn’t really hold me back or help me.” Geist is looking forward to one last week of practice before competing in the State Meet, “I’m super excited, I’m really excited to taper this next week and really I hope to drop some time at State.”
Crookston’s Emily Gillete ran a strong race as well for the Pirates wrapping up her season an 89th place finish with a time of 24:48.8.
Katherine will represent the Crookston Pirates next Saturday, November 3 at the Minnesota State Cross-Country Meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
Katherine Geist crosses the finish line to win her 11th race of the year
| Pirate | Time | Place |
| Katherine Geist | 19.22.1 | 1st |
| Emily Gillette | 30:32.8 | 89th |
Emily Gillette running in the Section 8A Cross Country meet
