It is, quite simply, a cross country runner’s worst nightmare.

When Loyola senior Joe Goettl was running in fifth place and had less than 300 meters to go in the Section 2A Meet at Fairmont last week, he took a wrong turn and ran off course. By the time he had gotten back to where he should be, Goettl had slipped to 12th.

Since only the top 10 finishers qualify for state, Goettl was denied a state tournament berth in his final season.

“I wasn’t feeling too good when I realized what had happened,” he said. “I know I could have finished fifth. The lead pack was pretty far in front but I wouldn’t have had any problem holding on to fifth.”

Goettl has been one of the top Class A runners in southern Minnesota the last few seasons, and one of the best to every come through the Mankato Loyola program.

“It was just one of those things,” Loyola coach Dale Compton said. “It was a new course at Fairmont and he was sitting in a good position but, with about 250 meters to go, he made a wrong turn and it cost him.

“He was at a point on the course where he couldn’t see the four runners ahead of him. He made one mistake and you can’t do that in the section meet.”

St. James’ Jon Surber ended up fifth in 17:27. He was followed by Martin County West’s Matt Stoffel (6th, 17:36), Waseca’s Blake Malecha (7th, 17:42), Fairmont’s Sam Viesselman (8th, 17:44) and Robby Riley (9th, 17:45) and MCW’s Adam Kleine (10th, 17:45). Goettl’s 12th-place time was 17:52.

Goettl, who plans to run track for the Crusaders in the spring, is not sure if he’ll be a cross country runner in college or not. It will probably depend on where he goes to school and if he feels he has the time to do so.

It’s said that timing is everything — in sports, in show business, in a lot of different fields. During his entire prep career, last Thursday was the only race in which Goettl has taken a wrong turn and that means he won’t be running in Northfield Saturday.

“It’s too bad had to happen in that race because Joe has had such a great season and a great career,” Compton said. “He’s been the face of our team for the last five years since Loyola brought the program back.”

Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com.