Como Park was ranked fifth in its class heading into Saturday’s Class 2A boys state meet. Cougars junior Charlie Loth was ranked seventh.
But the meets aren’t run on paper.
What more appropriate way for a first-ever St. Paul Public School boys cross country team title to occur than from an underdog role?
A dream performance at the right time on the biggest stage put the Cougars atop the podium at Les Bolstad Golf Course.
Loth raced to an individual crown, the first in program history. The junior finished in 15 minutes, 31.1 seconds – three ticks clear of Orono senior Gabe Hallen.
Loth was in a lead pack of about four runners that pulled away from the field. That group ran together until Loth and Kasson-Mantorville’s David Obst took off to set up what appeared to be a two-man finish.
But as they descended down the final hill, Loth started to pull away and Obst took a tumble, allowing Loth to cruise to the championship. Obst finished fourth.
“Everyone was so tired,” Loth told reporters. “I was exhausted, too. But I wasn’t going to be more tired than anyone else. I had to go for it.”
Como Park senior Ben Clark finished in ninth, while junior Arthur Anderson placed 11th. Neither Clark nor Anderson even received votes in the coaches’ poll, which ranks the class’ top 12 individuals.
“When we were on the starting line, you could tell the (Cougars) were ready to go,” Loth told reporters. “This is incredible. I didn’t think something like this was possible.”
Hazel Small and Logan Small rounded out the Cougars’ top five, which finished with a team score of 75 – 14 points clear of second-place Perham, the state’s top-ranked team.
Loth is just the fourth-ever St. Paul public school individual boys cross country state champion, and first since Highland Park’s Oliver Paleen won the Class 2A crown in 2019.
Class A
Erik Semling from Cotter Hope won the boys individual title.
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