Tostenson earns state berth in cross-country

Jon Tostenson earned his first-ever state berth to the State Cross-Country Meet by placing fifth at the Section 6A Meet, Thursday at Long Prairie-GE.
Tostenson ran a time of 17:19 during a cold and blustery day, giving the Benson-KMS cross-country program its third-straight season of sending at least one individual to state.
Josh Bailey earned state berths in 2015 and 2016, while Tostenson, a senior at KMS who has qualified to the State Track Meet three-straight springs, will compete at his first State Cross-Country Meet.
The Benson-KMS boys team placed 10th of the 21 teams, while the Benson-KMS girls, led by Allie Mitteness in 30th place, finished 21st.
“It was a cold, windy, and misting during the races, not ideal conditions, but the kids just did their normal prerace routines,” coach Samantha VanHeuveln said.  “Jonathan ran the race like he has been running all season.  He got to the spot he wanted and just raced right there.  He knew the top two guys would be really fast, so he just stayed with the next four guys, sometimes leading them, but basically just holding that spot until the finish.”
The 2017 State Cross-Country Meet is set for Saturday, Nov. 4 at St. Olaf College.  The only girl to qualify for state in the past 12 seasons is Bethany Rosemeier in 2013, while Ben Murphy also qualified to state for the boys’ cross-country program in 2008....
 
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Pictured: Jon Tostenson earned a berth at the State Cross-Country Meet by placing fifth at the section meet.