Totino-Grace brother and sister cross-country runners Joe and Maggie Louiselle enjoyed breakthrough performances at last weekend's Milaca Mega Meet.
Each ran personal bests and placed fourth in their respective races. Joe, a senior with two state meet appearances, finally broke the 16-minute barrier with his 5,000-meter time of 15 minutes, 59.6 seconds. He placed 107th at the state meet as a sophomore and 37th last fall. He is shooting for a top-10 finish at state this fall.
Maggie, a sophomore and former soccer player in her first season of cross-country, clocked a 15:02.8 mark in the 4K, smashing her former best time by about 15 seconds. She showed glimpses of her ability last spring as a middle-distance track runner. She ran the second leg of the Eagles' 4x800-meter relay team that placed 11th in the Class 2A state meet.
The siblings spoke to Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque about their milestone races, their relationship and their ultimate goals for the season.
Q: Before your race, did you feel like you were about to run a personal best, or was your time a surprise?
Joe: I definitely thought it would be a good day. Everyone on the team was feeling great and we had a great warm-up.
Maggie: I definitely surprised myself.
Q:At what point during your race did you get a sense of how well you were doing?
Joe: From the beginning of the race I felt really good. At the two-mile mark. my split was a little fast and in meets earlier this season I kind of struggled from that point on. But this time I felt like I was building instead of holding on.
Maggie:There were a lot of people there and I just kept running. I just felt faster. I got to the point in the race where I knew I had to pass people and I was able to do it. When I saw my time I was definitely surprised.
Q: How did your performance build your confidence for the rest of the season?
Joe: As far as the season goes, going under 16 is definitely where I wanted to be. My goal is to make it to state and finish in the top 10. My ideal place would be fifth, and I think my place would take care of my time.
Maggie: Breaking my personal best by 15 seconds definitely made me think, 'How much faster can I PR by?'
Q: Did you have a chance to recognize each other's accomplishment after the race?
Joe: Yeah, the girls ran after us and I heard she did well. I was really proud of her.
Maggie: We both kind of know we are proud of each other; we don't really have to show it. I know he was really happy for me.
Q: What role did you play in recruiting your sister for cross-country?
Joe: I definitely wanted to get her on the team because you could see during track season she was a good runner.
Q: When did you decide you were ready to leave soccer for cross-country?
Maggie: At the beginning of the summer I still wasn't sure. I did the summer running with the cross-country girls because my mom said it would help me either way. The girls were really welcoming and I decided I enjoyed it better.