Joa, Stauffer run to state cross country meet

By John Molene
Posted 10/30/24

Park sophomore Henry Joa surprised everyone, including perhaps himself, and senior Gavin Staufer ran his way back to state. But it was a frustrating finish for Wolfpack junior distance ace Eli …

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Joa, Stauffer run to state cross country meet

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Park sophomore Henry Joa surprised everyone, including perhaps himself, and senior Gavin Staufer ran his way back to state. But it was a frustrating finish for Wolfpack junior distance ace Eli Firchau.
Joa finished a narrow fourth in the Section 3AAA cross country championships at Valleywood Golf Course in Apple Valley Thursday and Stauffer was 11th. Firchau just missed a repeat trip to state, finishing 13th overall.
Joa’s time was 15:43.3 as he trimmed his personal best by a whopping 18 seconds. Stauffer was 11th in 15:57.0, also a personal best. Firchau finished in 15:59.3, matching his best time.
Runners from the top two teams and then the next six fastest individuals advanced to state.
“It went out pretty fast,” said Joa. “I stood in the middle of the pack, but I made my move one-and-a-half or two miles in and it paid off. I was really happy. It felt great.”
Joa was two-tenths of a second out of finishing third and five seconds behind race winner Abram Anderson of Rosemount who won the boys race in a time of 15:38.0.
His goal at state is simple, “Go to state and have fun,” said Joa. “I didn’t even know if I would make state so honestly, I was just hoping to make it. But now I think I want to keep where I’m at because I know it’s a way harder course. I’ll be happy with a 15:40 again. That would be perfect.”
Confidence and training were the keys for Joa’s efforts, said Park co-head coach Brad Narveson.
“Just self-confidence and the training he put in,” said Narveson. “He’s just an animal. He’s a hard worker and he’s been improving all year. You’ve got to credit him with the hard work and the improvement and he really benefits from being able to train with Gavin and Eli. And that really helped him a lot this year.”
The three Park runners are all on the Park boys’ all-tie best performances list. Joa moved into third overall and is two seconds back on the second-fastest time for the 5K. Stauffer ranks fifth on the all-time best list and Firchau is sixth.
“I think we all definitely were all going in with the intention of not taking it out too fast, and I think we all kind of accomplished that,” said Stauffer. “But I’ll be honest the competition was very, very hard. And so I think I could have done a bit better. But overall I’m really happy with my PR. I got my season goal, which was sub 16 by like four or five seconds so I’ll definitely take that. I’m very happy overall with how I did.”
On the other end of the spectrum was Firchau, who missed a state berth by the narrowest of margins.
“I can’t say I’m mad at the race, I mean I tied my PR, like on a tougher course,” said Firchau. “But I missed out on state which was definitely the goal of this year. I’m still happy with the effort, just maybe not super happy with the result.
“The competition was just a lot better than I was anticipating,” Firchau added.
Narveson was pleased for Stauffer but obviously disappointed for Firchau.
“Really proud of him (Stauffer) as a senior to qualify two years in a row for the state meet,” Narveson said. “He fought really hard to the finish line. He PR’d and got under 16 minutes, that’s been his goal all year. Just a tremendous day for him as well.”
“I’m really excited for Henry and Gavin and I feel so bad for Eli right now,” Narveson continued. “He ran as well as he did at the conference meet and this is a tougher course than the conference meet. And he ran the same time, broke 16 and its really hard that he got seventh and didn’t make it. And he works so hard. He’s driven. He’s got another year left and we’re excited to have him back.”
Park’s Ben Paulsen finished 34th (17:25.0), Will Mann was 41st (17:44.1), Liam Fleming 44th (17:53.7), and Samuel Craig 58th (18:38.0).
Park’s boys team had one of its best finishes in the section meet, finishing fourth officially but actually tying Eagan for third in the team race, both with 103 points.
Rosemount won the boys team title with just 44 points. Bloomington Jefferson was second with 66 points and also qualified for state. Park and Eagan scored 103 points each. They were followed by 5, hastings, 127; 6, Eastview, 153; 7, Apple Valley, 172, 8, Burnsville, 189 and Apple Valley 201.
Next up for Joa and Stauffer is a trip to the Minnesota state meet, held Saturday at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Minneapolis.
It’s been a steady climb up the racing charts for Joa, capped by Thursday’s efforts. Firchau, Stauffer and Joa finished 8-9-10 at the Suburban East Conference meet the week before, so it was obvious that Joa’s time was arriving. He showed that in spades Thursday.
Junior Kalin Randrup finished 29th to lead the Park girls, coming in with a time of 21:43.6. Her time moved her to seventh on the all-time Park best list.
Mya Albrecht 36 (22:03.8), Jana Hafiz 39 (22:19.7), Esme Edlund 41 (22:28.0), Allie Devine was 42 (22:31.2), Hollen Thompson 47 (22:57.2) and Aria Waletzko 48 (23:03.7).
All of Park’s runners, with the exception of Thompson, are underclassmen and could return next season. Hafiz (eighth), Albrecht (12th), Thompson (13th), Edlund (14th), and Devine (15th) are all now on Park’s top 15 all0time best chart.
“The girls ran great today,” said Narveson. “Kalin had a personal best and looked really strong leading our team from start to finish. And we had big PR’s from Mya and Esme. Mya was the third fastest seventh grader in the meet. That’s really exciting for her. She should be really proud of that. I think our team keeps getting better and better from year to year and that’s a testament to the girls and the leadership our captain’s provide. Hollen has been a tremendous leader not only for our girls' team but also our boys' team. We’re really going to miss having her around. But we’re young and we have a bright future. I can’t wait to see what the kids can do next year.”
Eagan won the girls team title with 43 points. Eastview was second with 46. Park’s girls finished seventh with 187, one point out of sixth, and a commendable finish considering Park didn’t even field a team in last season’s section meet.
Bloomington Jefferson was third (58), Hastings fourth (121), Rosemount fifth (135), Burnsville sixth (186), Park seventh (187), Bloomington Kennedy eighth (220) and Apple Valley, ninth (234).