Despite the mud and the rain Albert Lea’s Chrissy Monson came out looking stunning at the Section 1AA cross country meet Thursday at Brooktree Golf Course in Owatonna.

Monson earned a return trip to the state meet with a second-place finish for the second straight year at the section meet. Monson battled Lakeville North’s Taylor Perkins for first place the entire race and was beaten by a little more than a second.

“It was great competition and Chrissy performed to the best of her abilities,” said Tigers head coach Jim Haney. “At state she will face the great runners in the state and I have a very good feeling that Chrissy will be in the thick of the front of the race.”

Monson ran the 4-kilometer race in a time of 15 minutes, 21.8 seconds and Perkins finished with a time of 15:20.4.

The state meet is next Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Last season Monson finished 28th in her first state meet.

The Albert Lea girls’ team finished 11th as a team with 305 points, accomplishing the team goal of defeating three teams. Lakeville South won the meet with a team score of 37 and had four runners place in the top 10.

Rachel Kenis placed 57th with a time of 17:41.5, Ashley Tewes was 75th with a time of 18:16.6, Lauren Klick 84th with a time of 18:48.6 and Carol Lein placed 87th with a time of 18:51.3.

The Tiger boys placed 14th with a score of 335. Lakeville North won the meet with 60 points, edging out Owatonna by 11 points.

Steve Kreun placed 28th to lead Albert Lea, finishing in a time of 18:06.9 in the 5-kilometer race.

Blair Bonnerup took 71st place with a time of 19:16.5 while Luc Malimanek was 73rd with a time of 19:19, Andy Christian 79th with a time of 19:34.5 and Joe Daniels 84th with a time of 19:44.3.

Haney said the future looks bright for the cross country teams as each squad loses just one senior.

“There is a bright future for the cross country teams as I have many young members looking to move up to the varsity level,” Haney said.