By: Sheila Crowley
Muray County News Sports
Strong, gusty 40-50 mph winds were what nearly 300 cross country section competitors faced last Thursday in Madison.
Twenty-three teams competed at the Section 3A championship with the top two teams and the next five individuals advancing on to Class A state cross country this Saturday, November 5th at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
Murray County Central/Fulda will have two individuals representing them at the state level.
Morgan Gehl, freshman, will make her third trip to St. Olaf. Gehl finished the course at Madison in a stellar time of 19:06.48 – a full 30 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Tenley Nelson of Luverne.
Her rookie year in 2015 Gehl finished 61st in state competition. Gehl, who finished fourth in the Section 3 Meet last year was the first Section 3A girl to enter the chute at the state meet with her eighth-place time of 19:25.5 — just 1.4 seconds from fifth and a mere 1.8 seconds ahead of 12th, as eight times were wedged between 19:24.1 and 19:27.3.
“The state meet will be challenging as it always. This years girls race at state is stacked, there will be two former state champs and eight girls that have been in the top 10. Morgan has a great chance of being in the top ten again this year. Justin placed well at the section meet and will be in the middle of the race at the state meet,” shared Coach Dominick Damm.
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