OWATONNA – In a story book world, Melissa Roche would have been feeling great and running her best for the final Section 1AA cross country meet of her career.

Friday, October 29, 1999

OWATONNA – In a story book world, Melissa Roche would have been feeling great and running her best for the final Section 1AA cross country meet of her career.

What happened was probably more fitting.

Roche, clearly not feeling well for Thursday’s big meet at Owatonna’s Brooktree Golf Course, displayed the intestinal fortitude that earned her a fourth trip to the state cross country meet in the last five years.

The Albert Lea High School senior finished seventh – claiming the section’s final spot in the state meet – with a time of 15:13 for 4,000 meters.

According to Tigers coach Dick Montgomery, it was obvious Roche was not as spry as last week, when she won the Big Nine championship on the same course.

&uot;She didn’t run quite as well as she did at conference, but she ran well enough to get in,&uot; said Montgomery. &uot;Two girls that she beat at conference beat her this week. She didn’t have an off-off night, but she ran a slower time. Melissa basically got in on guts tonight. She wasn’t feeling as good as she did in the past.&uot;

The Tigers finished ninth out of 16 teams with 249 points.

Winona won with 80 points. Northfield and Lakeville tied for second with 90, though Northfield took the tiebreaker and will advance to state along with Winona. Red Wing was fourth with 120, Eastview fifth at 136.

Following Roche for the Tigers were Jane Skrlin, 17th, 16:35; Anne Larson, 59th, 16:59; Erin Budd, 62nd, 17:01; Angie Schuhmacher, 67th, 17:09; Tiffany Truesdell, 72nd, 17:14; and Darcy Plantage, 101st, 19:02.

&uot;As a team, we finished about the same as we would have in conference,&uot; said Montgomery. &uot;We basically didn’t go up or down. We finished solidly in the middle.&uot;

The Albert Lea junior varsity did not have a full squad. Placing for the Tigers were Angie Ayers, 58th, 18:54; Katie Karpik, 80th, 19:21; and Vanessa Storlie, 121st, 21:12.

This year’s state meet is set for Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield, with Roche and the Class AA girls running at 11 a.m.