The state cross country meet is a tough, tough place. Just ask Albert Lea runner Chrissy Monson about it.

Monson competed in her first state meet and found how difficult the meet is Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield in the Class AA championship.

Monson was running in eighth place at about the one mile mark of the 4-kilometer race when she caught an inadvertent elbow. The contact made Monson trip over her feet and as she fell she hit her head on a tree.

Dazed for a moment she picked herself off and showed the tenacity that she has all season. She regrouped and sprinted to finish the race for 28th place and a time of 15:07.5, despite an aching head.

“I just knew I had to do it,” Monson said. “I’ve wanted this so bad for so long.”

After the race Monson was in the medical tent for several minutes while she recovered from the race.

Her time at the state meet is only 21 seconds back of her section time where she took second behind Claire Guidinger. Her section time of 14:46 would have put her in the top six at the state meet and she seemed on pace with that early on.

“She had a real nice race,” Albert Lea head coach Jim Haney said. “She’s a tough little gal.”

Monson started the race quickly and worked her way in with the lead group of runners but she said she felt she started a little too quick.

Her goal entering the meet was a top 25 finish for all-state recognition, she was just three seconds back of 25th place.

Casey Opitz of Eden Prairie won the meet with a time of 14:24.5 and Guidinger finished second with a time of 14:35.8. Eden Prairie won the Class AA championship by a wide margin. The Eagles had four runners place in the top 10 and the team had just 48 points. Lakeville North finished second with 111 points and Woodbury took third with 137.

Albert Lea senior Ethan Marquardt nearly made the top 25 but said the hills got the best of him.

Marquardt, in his second trip to state, attempted to improve upon a 34th place showing last year. He did so with a 27th place finish and a time of 16:13.1. He was ninth-tenths of a second behind 25th place finisher Abdi Hassan of Burnsville.

“His goal was to finish in the top 25 and he was very close to that,” Haney said. “I’m very proud of him.”

Marquardt set a pace from the start to put him in the top 25, but said five runners passed him on a hill.

It was a successful season Marquardt as he placed fourth at the section meet and did not finish worse than fifth at a meet all season.

Lucas Gemar of Moorhead won the meet with a time of 15:23.1. His nearest competitor was Robel Kebede of Minneapolis South. Kebede was eight seconds behind Gemar and Mahad Hassan of Willmar took third.

Wayzata won the boys’ title with a total of 55 points. Eden Praire was second with 106 and Moorhead third with 146.

United South Central/Alden-Conger runner Jordan Haroldson gave a gutsy effort in his last race of his high school career in the Class A boys’ meet.

Haroldson has battled a calf injury for the last few weeks and the injury flared up a mile into his race.

“From about the mile on it started hurting pretty good, but I was able to fight it,” Haroldson said. “It was pretty tough but I knew I wasn’t going to let me stop in the last race.”

Haroldson evolved into a No. 1 runner for the Rebels last season and made his first trip to the state meet after winning the section meet. He finished 30th last year at the meet and came into this year with a goal of placing in the top 25. He finished 69th with a time of 17:30.2 in spite of being in pain.

Haroldson battled through the pain for the last two miles and although he didn’t reach his goal, he was happy with the season as a whole.

“It’s a good accomplishment to get up here at the end of the year,” he said.

Haroldson ran in the top 10 at every meet this season and was ranked in the state for a majority of the season.

Moses Heppner of Warroad won the Class A meet with a time of 16:08.2. Blake won the meet with a total of 121 points. The Warriors beat out Perham and Pequot Lakes for the championship.

Haroldson finished his high school career as a two-time conference champion, two-time most valuable on the USC/AC team.

“Jordan’s been an important part of our program for three years,” said Rebels head coach Kent Viesselman. “We knew going into the race that the calf could be a problem, and we controlled what we could control in the weeks going into the state, but I guess it just wasn’t to be. You have to be at the top of your game at the state meet. At that level, there isn’t much difference between the athletes.”