Varsity 3A
This weekend will provide lots of excitement for the class 3A teams, who will all have their first big meet of the season. This race will tell us a lot about which teams are to be taken seriously, as we hit the halfway point in this cross country season. Since Milaca is generally a fairly fast course, these teams will have a good chance to run fast times to give them confidence as we get closer to conference and section competition.
In the guys individual race, Hutchinson's Mitchell Grand is the top returner, and he will have the fastest PR going into this race with a time of 16:24. Grand has only ran 17:03 so far this season, but with his clear history of being a top runner, he is clearly going to be one of the favorites going into this race. Austin's Henry Hinchcliffe ran 16:40 earlier this week at the Lake City Invite, which immediately puts him in the talk for individual contenders heading into this race. Big Lake's Matthew Trutna threw down a 16:43 last week, so he will for sure be one to watch out for also. Other notable athletes are Mound Westonka's dynamic duo of Charlie Rienhardt and Alec Van Gelder, both who have broken 17 already this season, and our Grand Forks Red River neighbors will have their top two athletes in the thick of the competition as well, as Tim Dunham and Cole Senseth have both run under 17 minutes. There isn't a clear frontrunner in this race, so the crowd could potentially be treated with a wild, sprinting finish.
For the guys team race, defending champion Sartell is lined up to race in class 4A this year, so that'll leave the team competition a lot more open than it would be if Sartell was racing. However, GF Red River will be the clear favorite going in. In the virtual meet, Red River wins by 42 points, with 69 points as a team. The runner's up and first Minnesota team is expected to be Austin High School, who are projected to place three in the top 13. Benilde St. Margaret's has shown tremendous improvement as a team, and they are currently projected to take 4th in this race, with Saint Cloud Apollo just ahead of them. In a packed race, with nearly 30 teams participating, it's going to be vital for these teams to get out fast if they want a chance at succeeding.
The girls individual race will be another one that is wide open. The top athlete in the field based on their 2017 time is Sartell's Ingrid Buiceag-Arama, who ran 19:01 at the Monticello Invitational two weeks ago. Close behind is Benilde's Tracy Renier. Reinier has been running very well her senior season so far, including a time of 19:18 last week at Rum River in the scorching heat, taking 3rd overall. Bemidji's Sadie Hamrin and Visitation's Margaret Dalseth will also be big names to watch out for, with both having PR's within the last year under 19, and only a second seperating their two times (18:55 and 18:56). In 2017, they have run 19:39 and 19:56 respectively so far. Dalseth in praticular has quietly turned into a high level competitor in the state, especially after her great track season of 5:14 and 11:54 in the 1600 and 3200 respectively. Also, Austin's Abigail Lewis has a PR of 18:31, but she ran that time in 2015. Her most recent run was a time of 19:52 in a third-place finish at the Lake City Invite. The other names to watch out for include Monticello's Elise Yeager (who has the third-fastest 2017 time in the field), Thief River Falls' Jerzie Finstad, fellow Visitation athlete MaryKate Schoonover, and Emily Nelson from our western neighbors from Grand Forks Red River.
In the girls team competition, our virtual meet could hardly have gotten closer. In the end, Visitation pulled out ahead of Monticello by a mere two points, 107-109. This is unsurprising, however, as Visitation has been on a roll so far this year, winning multiple team competitions and getting strong performers from each of their runners. In particular, Visitation dominated the MN Private School Championships last week, easily taking 1st with just 27 points. Monticello has not raced as often as Visitation so far, however, so we still may not know everything their team is capable of. Behind those two teams we expect to see a gap until both of the competition's out-of-state teams, New Richmond and GF Red River take their place in the top four.