RAPID CITY — Flandreau’s Faith Wiese has been knocking on the door for a Class A state cross-country championship for much of her high school career. As a freshman she finished sixth (19:18) and at the 2023 Class A state meet she finished second (18:12).

On Saturday, running at Hart Ranch outside of Rapid City, Wiese covered the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes and :27 seconds, ahead of Sioux Falls Christian teammates Ellie Maddox (18:40) and Sadie Pettengill (18:47). 

“Winning today is a blessing and you can never take your gifts for granted,” Wiese said. “Some years are going to be great and others might not be as good so you just have to take things as they come.” 

Wiese, a junior, ran with the lead pack that included Maddox, Pettengill, Dakota Valley’s Sophia Redler and Sioux Falls Christian’s Jerica Glasser and Natalie Smith for the first of two laps. On the backstretch of the second lap she made a preordained move

“My race plan was to run with the Sioux Falls Christian girls until I got to the second lap where I could feel the wind pushing me,” she said. “As soon as I got to the bottom of the hill I made my move. My legs were feeling great and I’m not used to that so I just took off and I figured if I’m going to do it now I can’t hold back.” 

The Flandreau girls earned a fourth-place team finish and Wiese was able to share this year and the state meet experience with her younger sister, Calla Wiese, a seventh-grader.

“It was awesome to see Calla get up for 26th place,” she said. “She’s a very driven person and likes to be pushed. Me and my teammates love each other so much and you have to be pushed at the end of the day so it’s nice to have that in a family atmosphere.” 

After winning Saturday’s state title and grabbing a drink of water Wiese went back into the runners' chute to congratulate each runner and help those that had fallen get on their feet. She says that part of the race is her favorite. 

“At the end of the day we are all friends and children of God,” she said. “Someday after high school running I just want to say hi to them and at the end of the day I’m lucky to be able to run with them and they are awesome runners.” 

For years the Flandreau cross-country and track coaches have been telling Wiese that she was good enough to win state titles. 

“They’ve always told me that someday I would win one so it was great to finally have that come true,” she said.