By Les Knutson
Murray County News Staffwriter
Competing in a light drizzle on a cool afternoon at Luverne last Thursday (October 25), Murray County Central / Fulda cross country runner Justin Clarke placed fourth among a huge field of 146 finishers, representing 23 teams at the Section 3A Meet which advanced eight qualifying individuals to next week’s state meet.
Clarke, a junior, ran the 5,000-meter course which includes a couple of trips up a steep hill in 17:06.6 as he was actually the first individual qualifier — not from one of the two advancing teams — to enter the chute.
“Justin ran by far his best race of the season, probably of his career,” declared MCC / F head cross country coach Dominick Damm. “He moved up with the leaders early on and was able to stay there. He competed really well.”
It’s Clarke’s third straight state-meet qualification as he earned advancement in both 2016 (as a freshman) at Luverne and last year with a 10th-place overall finish (as a sophomore) on a cold and windy day at Madison.
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