Three compete in state XC

Running has always been Kara Roll’s sport of choice, and the track has led her to success. But last year, she discovered another sport that didn’t have her going in circles, but rather over hill and dale in cross-country.
Roll, a senior at Mott-Regent High School, was among three Hettinger County Huskies who qualified for the state cross-country meet last weekend. She joined New England athletes Abby Binstock and Patti Kathrein in the 5,000-meter Class B race among 260 runners during the state championships.
Binstock, a freshman, placed 167th in 24:33.3. Roll ran a 25:21.1 and Kathrein, an eighth-grader, finished with a time of 25:21.7.
Last season, the Mott-Regent and New England school districts made both golf and cross-country available to all their students. While New England has traditionally had a cross-country team, Mott-Regent fielded Roll under the new agreement for the first time last season.
Roll, Binstock and Kathrein all returned from last season, and both Binstock and Roll competed at the state cross-country meet last season after reaching qualifying times as well.
The runners are being coached by Justin Kathrein, a 2023 graduate of New England High School who competed in cross-country while in high school.
Roll is not new to the state stage, as she has competed on relay teams at the state track meet the past three years. Last spring, Roll competed in the state track meet as part of the 4x400 relay team. In 2025, she competed on the 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams, and she was on the 4x800 and 4x400 state qualifying relay teams in 2024.
She was motivated to join cross-country as a springboard into the track season, she says.
“I definitely joined to get ready for track. That’s my main sport that I love so much, but it’s definitely been fun. It keeps you resilient,” Roll says. “It’s definitely prepared me for those longer distances in track.”
While she was new to cross-country last year, Roll knew what to expect, as her mother, Mary Roll, is also a runner and a track coach.
“I definitely kind of knew what it was, just having the strategy for the race, to start out hard, set that pace, and then go out your last 800,” Kara says.
But she was surprised when the starting line included a mass of hundreds of runners.
“I didn’t know so many people did it. I thought it was going to be like 15 people running around the golf course, but no, there’s a lot of people,” Kara says with a laugh.
She doesn’t plan to pursue the sport in college, but wants to continue to run recreationally in road races. She would rather pop in the AirPods and hit the road.
“Almost for the love of it again instead of worrying about my time and competing and everything and just running for fun,” she says.