Both will represent the Lakers at the Class AA state meet, which is Nov. 1 at St. Olaf College in Northfield. The girls' race starts at 2 p.m.

Stach finished fourth overall on the 4,000-meter section course with a time of 15:08.9, while Brinkley ended up seventh (15:26.3).

The Lakers finished fifth in the team standings with 171 points. Ninth-ranked Eagan won the title (56), followed by Eastview (73).

Rosemount was third (108), followed by Henry Sibley (139). South St. Paul was sixth (172), followed by Apple Valley (180), Burnsville (190), Bloomington Jefferson (193), Visitation (206), Park (213), Holy Angels (370), Richfield (427) and Simley (436).

The top-eight individuals not on the top-two state qualifying squads also earn spots in the Class AA field. The top-five runners count in the team standings.

The Lakers were without one of their top runners in sophomore Madi Scholl. She suffered a stress fracture early in the fall and missed nearly the entire season. That left the Lakers' depth a little short.

Other finishes for Prior Lake at sections included sophomore Grace Jondal (38th, 16:26.7), junior Olivia Thielen (58th, 17:15.4), sophomore McKenzie Zenner (64th, 17:39.3), senior Andrea Citrowske (68th, 17:51.2) and junior Jessica Krosnowski (73rd, 18:00.2).

Last year was the first time this century the Lakers were not represented at the state meet. The team also had its string of 10 straight state team appearances snapped a year ago.

The state meet will be the first for both Stach and Brinkley, who have been running No. 1 and 2 for the Lakers all season long.

To see more photos of the Lakers at the section meet, go to Scoreboard's Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.890914330933918.1073742262.197190936972931&type=3