Things were going well for Forest Lake junior Norah Hushagen through the first two kilometers of Saturday’s Class 3A state cross country meet.

Hushagen was executing her plan to perfection and had pushed herself into the top spot.

Then she went around a corner, and went to the ground.

“So that was something I didn’t account for, but it happens. It was pretty muddy,” Hushagen said. “It was just me (who fell down), then people jumped over me.”

But it didn’t phase her.

“I just kind of bounced right back up,” said Hushagen, who crossed the finish line lathered in mud on her arms and legs. “It was motivation like, ‘Oh, shoot, I just lost a few seconds, I better go even faster.”

So that’s what she did. Hushagen swiftly out-paced the field over the remainder of the race, cruising to a state title in a time of 17 minutes, 27.6 seconds – 33 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, Mia Hoffman of Bemidji. Hushagen’s teammate, Anna VanAcker, finished fourth. Wayzata cruised to the team title.

The gap at the finish was wide, but that wasn’t something Hushagen realized mid-race.

“With all the people yelling and screaming, it’s just like you’re in your own world. For all I know, they’re like right there,” she said. “So I just kept thinking, ‘They’re right there. They’re right there. They’re right there. I’ve got to go.’”

The victory wrapped a dominant fall in which Hushagen won the majority of her races. Even at the Roy Griak Inviational, where she placed third, the junior was the top-finishing Minnesotan. But the course Saturday, she noted, was different than the one they use for the Griak. She ran it on Friday to learn the ins and outs of the setup, but refused to cross the finish line in training – that was a feeling she wanted to reserve for her championship moment.

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“I always thought it’d be cool to be the first one to cross the finish line, just one time,” Hushagen said. “It was incredible.”

MECHURA WINS BOYS TITLE

Roseville junior Robert Mechura has a lot of confidence in his finishing kick. He has put ample time in training into building those fast-twitch muscle fibers and constructs his race strategy around his ability to close strong.

But even Mechura was a little nervous about the advantage Minneapolis Southwest’s Sam Scott built in the latter half of the Class 3A boys state cross country meet Saturday at Les Bolstad Golf Course on the University of Minnesota campus.

“With maybe a (kilometer) and a half (left), there was a bit of a gap,” Mechura said. “It seemed kind of big.”

But Mechura started to close it on an uphill portion of the course.

“And I knew it was time to kick. I wasn’t even sure for most of the home stretch that I was going to catch Sam,” Mechura said. “But I just gave it my all and I slowly reeled him in and eventually I felt confident, and I just kept pushing and pushing.”

Scott was getting estimates of his lead from onlookers during the race, but noted those aren’t always accurate. At one point late in the race, he took a look back.

“Which maybe wasn’t a good idea,” Scott said. “You just push as hard as you can in the home stretch and hope no one catches you.”

But Mechura did, using his elite kick to chase down Scott, making the race-winning pass with about 20 meters to go to win the state title in a time of 15 minutes, 4.2 seconds – three ticks clear of Scott, who finished second for the second-consecutive year.

Wayzata cruised to the team title with Minnetonka placing second, and Mounds View third.

Mechura, meanwhile, finished 36th at last year’s meet. That, he noted, is a bit misleading.

“I lost my shoe, and then I had to run on the gravel,” he said of last year’s race. “So I knew I probably could’ve got like 10th last year.”

Did he tie his laces tighter this year?

“Well, yeah,” Mechura said. “And they’re different shoes. If they would’ve fallen off, I would’ve done some things differently than I did last year.”

Even a jump from 10th to first is significant. Mechura noted his ascension started between last year’s cross country and track seasons. It was his success in track in the spring that gave him the inkling something like Saturday was possible.

“So I’ve had my eye on it for awhile,” he said. “It means a lot. It’s a big deal, and I’m really happy about it and grateful. But it’s just another step in the right direction. … It’s just a checkpoint, but it’s really good.”