A strong finish by Elliot Fenske at the Section 1AA Championships held Thursday, Oct. 28 at Brooktree Golf Club in Owatonna, earned the Tiger senior a return trip to the Class AA state meet.
Fenske, who finished 28th at the state meet last fall, sat in 11th place with 800 meters to go in the 5000-meter race before a strong closing kick moved him up to seventh in the final rankings. The top 10 finishers advanced to state.
"Elliot was battling a bit of a cold," Tiger coach Keith Revels said, "but he found a different gear the last 400 meters or so."
Fenske finished in 16:25.3 to punch his return ticket to state and finished almost a minute and a half and 53 places in front of the next Tiger runner.
As a team Farmington finished eighth in a 14-team field, one spot higher than in 2009. Owatonna edged Lakeville North 54-61 to win the section title. Both advanced to the state meet team competition.
Farmington finished with 263 points, one fewer than Rochester John Marshall and two better than Missota Conference rival Northfield.
"Not a bad showing," Revels said. "We had six runners in under 18:31. Our pack moved up in the field."
Junior Lincoln Kirchoff and sophomore Ben Olson hit the finish line together; Kirchoff finishing 60th in 18:06.8 and Olson 61st in 18:07.5. Freshman Dan Block and senior Carl Elmer formed another duo with Block placing 67th in 18:23.4 and Elmer 68th in 18:25.4.
Sophomore Adam Wallenta ranked 72nd in 18:31 and sophomore Alec Wilson 86th in 19:03.9 to round out the varsity scorecard.
Fenske will take the short ride to Northfield this Saturday, Nov.6. to run the state meet course at St. Olaf College.
