By JOHN SHERMAN john . sherman @ apgecm . com

( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN )

Edina ’ s boys cross country captains for 2021 are , from left , front : Kurt Lebakken and Jay Lebakken . Back : Will Liethen , Ethan Richter and Hoken Opsahl .

Entering his 20th year as Edina ’ s head cross country coach , Jamie Kirkpatrick has the type of team he loves to work with .

“ They are hard workers , and they are fun to be around ,” Kirkpatrick said prior to a recent workout that began at Edina Community Center . “ Basically , we have a senior-heavy team . Six of the top seven for our first race are seniors .”

That group of seniors includes the five captains - twins Jay and Kurt Lebakken , Ethan Richter , Will Liethen and Hoken Opsahl - plus Charlie Koelbl . In the first line-up of the year they were beside junior Andrew DeFor .

“ Our captains are leaders in terms of running ,” Kirkpatrick said . “ But that isn ’ t the only reason

they were elected captains .” The Hornets leaders in the

Lake Conference and Section

6AA Meets last year , Richter and DeFor , were all-conference and all-section based on their

high finishes . Richter placed 10th in the Lake Conference Meet with a 5K time of 16:25 , while DeFor finished 12th in 16:27 . Kurt Lebakken was next for the Hornets , taking 24th place in 16:45 and earned a spot on the all-section team by running 17:02 . Edina placed third in the section behind champion Armstrong and runner-up Eden Prairie , but ahead of Lake rivals Wayzata and Minnetonka .

“ Our goal this year is to have a tight top five for section and state and onward [ to the Nike Heartland Regional and National Meets ],” Kurt Lebakken said .

“ As a team , we have a good chance to win some of the big meets ,” Richter said .

“ This group of seniors has run together since eighth grade ,” Liethen said . “ We ’ re committed

to working hard for each other , and team chemistry is our focus . Our highest goal is to win state , like the team did three years ago .”

“ Jamie has so much experience as a coach ,” Opsahl said . “ We know we can trust the process with him . All of us trust him with everything we ’ ve got .”

“ It has been a pleasure to be coached by Jamie ,” Kurt Lebakken said . “ We always listen to his rationale and follow the training . There is training outside of just running .”

“ Jamie has different training for preseason and postseason ,” Jay Lebakken added . “ The workouts he designs are interesting . There is no question he ’ s a very knowledgeable coach .”

See Boys CC , Page 9