HAM LAKE — An exhausted Zach Engstrom sat in a chair near the finish line of the Class AA state cross country championship meet.
The Willmar senior was catching his breath after finishing in third place in the boys’ race at Majestic Oaks Golf Club. When he found out his time — 15 minutes, 21.8 seconds — the exhaustion turned into excitement. He just ran the best time in school history.
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Add a fourth-place finish for the Willmar boys, and, well, Engstrom broke it down in simple terms.
“This is definitely a good day,” Engstrom said. “This is a great day.”
The Cardinal boys finished with 152 points. Perham claimed the team title with 70, followed by Mankato East with 99 and St. Paul Como Park with 143.
Willmar jumped up 10 places from its finish in 2025. It’s the Cardinals’ first top-five finish since winning back-to-back championships in 2005-06.
“We’re just so proud of them,” said Willmar head coach Kim Shumlansky. “To go from last year and barely making it and being predicted to be 15th and getting 14th, we were excited moving up one place. And now here, coming up to fourth place in one year, jumping 10. We’re gonna be first place next year if we keep doing that.”
Engs...