Lightning’s Bakken becomes his school’s 1st cross country champion
Eastview senior wins state Class 3A race with late surge Luke Bakken didn’t have to slay Godzilla, just outrun him. Before every cross country season, Eastview boys coach Thomas Sharp asks runners to identify a “Godzilla Goal,” meaning something that seemed so far out of reach that it could only happen in a movie. Then he’d ask them what they thought they needed to do to achieve their lofty goals and encourage them to try. Coming off a 2025 season where he finished 20th in the state Class 3A meet, Bakken’s Godzilla Goal for his senior year could be only one thing – winning the state championship. Then he went out and did it. Using the finishing kick that has now become his trademark, Bakken passed Channing Goodwin of Rosemount and Max Molinaro of Two Rivers to win the boys Class 3A championship Nov. 7 at Majestic Oaks Golf Course. All three ran career-best times. Bakken finished in 15 minutes, 6.9 seconds to Goodwin’s second-place 15:07.5 and Molinaro’s 15:14.8, good for third place. Bakken and Goodwin had the two fastest times in the entire state meet, including runners in the Class 2A and Class 1A races. It was the third
