NORTHFIELD – The conditions for distance running were very favorable Saturday on the campus of St.

Tuesday, November 09, 1999

NORTHFIELD – The conditions for distance running were very favorable Saturday on the campus of St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Melissa Roche and Eric Beck made the most of them.

Both of Albert Lea’s runners in the Class AA state high school cross country meet finished their season on a very positive note, placing 18th as individuals.

Roche, a senior competing in her fourth state cross country meet, finished the 4,000-meter girls’ race with a time of 15:13.4. She was the second Big Nine Conference runner to cross the finish line, behind Winona’s Sairey Vitck who was eighth in 15:05.7.

The winner of the girls’ race was Kasandra Hendrickson of Hutchinson in 14:37.1.

Bloomington Jefferson won the girls’ Class AA team championship with 65 points, followed by Edina with 113. Section 1AA representatives Winona and Northfield placed eighth and 11th, respectively.

Beck clocked 16:19.1 in the 5,000-meter boys’ race, his second state meet. The junior was the third Big Nine finisher, behind runner-up Ted Gustafson of Owatonna (15:41.5) and sixth-place Josh DoBell of Mankato East (15:49.2). Nick Schneider of Benilde-St. Margaret’s took the gold medal in 15:30.9.

The boys’ Class AA team title went to Hopkins, with 78 points. Mounds View was second with 104, with Owatonna third at 112. The other Section 1AA representative, Mankato West, tied for sixth with 194 points.