Forest Lake's Benner speeds her way up state cross-country rankings

Despite battling a knee injury, Forest Lake's Emma Benner is climbing the state cross-country ranks.

Benner, a junior, was the youthful Rangers' top finisher at last year's state meet and has been the team's front-runner ever since. Though injuring the meniscus in her knee over the summer and currently displaying a large wrap on her leg, she's running faster than ever.

"She's so mentally tough. That's the thing about her," Forest Lake coach John Fick said. "It's unbelievable."

After finishing 30th at last year's Class 2A state meet and not being recognized in the coaches' preseason poll, Benner has vaulted to ninth in the state rankings.

"I feel like I just know I can do better," said Benner, in her fifth year running varsity at Forest Lake. "My mental preparation has been better and I've been pushing myself harder because I want it more."

Most recently Benner finished 11th out of 396 runners in the top division at the Roy Griak Invitational with a time of 19 minutes, 20.2 seconds in the 5-kilometer run. Her finish was the fifth best by a Minnesotan in the race.

Before the Griak, Benner ran a blistering personal-best 14:08.10 over 4 kilometers to win the Farmington Invitational, topping the runner-up by more than 40 seconds.

Inspired by parents who run distance races and an older sister who ran cross-country in high school, Benner began running — and winning — 5-kilometer road races in the fifth grade. She's qualified for the state cross-country meet the past three years as an individual and helped Forest Lake reach four consecutive state meets as a team.

Forest Lake has reached the state meet six times in the past seven seasons. Before 2007 the Rangers girls' hadn't qualified for state in more than 30 years. Fick, in his first year as the girls' coach, credited former coach Eric Kaluza for building the program.

"It was pretty impressive what he did," said Fick, who previously coached the Forest Lake boys' team. "Eric did an awesome job with them over the years. He got them to buy in and believe they can be very good. I just took over the ship."

Led by Benner's 14:53.7 at St. Olaf College, the Rangers placed 11th in the state last season after finishing fourth the year before. Benner, then a sophomore, was Forest Lake's oldest runner in the Rangers' top seven at state in 2013. The rest of the team was made up of four freshmen, an eighth-grader and a seventh-grader.

Forest Lake finished in sixth place as a team at the Griak, but was the third-best team from Minnesota. No. 2-ranked Wayzata placed second and No. 3-ranked Edina fifth.

Though still a young group, Forest Lake runners have strength in continuity. Most of the Rangers have been running together for three years. Along with Benner, sophomores Allison Bartlett and Maria Valentin and freshman Caroline Schoessow have been among Forest Lake's top five in the past two state meets.

With Benner leading the way, Forest Lake has a good shot of winning the Suburban East Conference championship this season, which would be a program first for the girls' team, as far as Fick knows.

East Ridge, one spot behind the Rangers at sixth in the state rankings, has won the past four conference titles.