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Jada Goeson became the first female runner to ever advance to the state cross country meet from New York Mills.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Jada Goeson became the first female member of the New York Mills cross country team to compete in a state tournament last week. The junior placed 77th out of 160 runners from across the state.

On a wet course at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Goeson finished with a time of 21:03.2, in what turned out to be a log jam of competitors as several people finished a few tenths of a second apart. 

“It was an exciting experience for Jada and her coaches who had never been involved in a state meet before since Jada was the first female cross country athlete from Mills to qualify for the state meet,” said head coach Greg Esala.

The meet was won by Olivia Pauly of Saint John’s Preparatory School with a time of 18:20.5.