OWATONNA &045; The season concluded without every goal fulfilled for the Albert Lea High School cross country teams, but it doesn’t deter head coach Jim Haney’s optimism for next fall.

&uot;I am confident that next year at this time ALHS cross country will be a force to deal with in the Big Nine and Section 1AA,&uot; said Haney.

That’s because he’ll graduate a total of three runners from both the girls’ and boys’ squads, which finished 13th and 16th, respectively, in Thursday’s Section 1AA meet at Owatonna.

The girls totaled 376 points, finishing ahead of Austin and Farmington. Lakeville and Dover-Eyota/St. Charles advanced to state with 46 and 48 points, respectively.

Albert Lea places and times: Paige Seadlund, 56h, 17:11; Amy Leach, 72nd, 17:47; Ellen VanderSyde, 76th, 17:55; Mallory King, 79th, 18:01; Anna Keesling, 93rd, 18:43; Amber Flategraff, 94th, 19:13; Alyssa Keesling, 95th, 19:14.

The Tigers’ junior varsity girls were eighth out of 10 teams. Places and times: Marta Behling, 45th, 19:19; Kyra Dannaker, 48th, 19:45; Courtney Springborg, 51st, 19:55; Tara Helgerson, 52nd, 19:59; Elizabeth Burnett, 58th, 20:34; Ziva Dannaker, 61st, 20:41; Faren Culp, 65th, 23:05.

The ALHS boys were last out of 16 schools with 422 points. Northfield won with 86, Winona was second with 89.

Tiger places and times: Levi Budd, 54th, 17:57; Sean Harms, 80th, 18:35; Josh Anderson, 86th, 18:42; Casey Ciffra, 100th, 19:31; Andrew Irvine, 102nd, 19:58; Eric Elleby, 108th, 21:29.

The JV boys were last among 13 squads. Places and times: Steve Stenholz, 56th, 19:40; Josh Klapperick, 70th, 20:30; Drew Klick, 84th, 22:13; Eric Bowron, 87th, 24:08; Matt VanFossen, 88th, 24:16.

&uot;The section meet was very competitive,&uot; said Haney. &uot;Many runners made great strides during the season. I was satisfied with the race of both the boys and girls; they gave their best effort, worked hard and represented themselves, their school and community well. Even though we did not meet our team goals for the year, the future of the program is bright.&uot;

(Contact Jim Lutgens at sports@albertleatribune.com or 379-3437.)