It's Championships Galore On Conference Tuesday!

Weather: 70 and sunny

BOYS

Top Teams: Holdingford (47 points), Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (88), Paynesville (97)

Top Individuals: Noah Bundrock (HLWW, 16:40), Jake Andres (Pierz, 16:54), Michael Miller (Maple Lake, 17:00), Christopher Borash (Royalton, 17:09)

The Skinny: Holdingford is a very underrated, upperclassman-led team who has been in a lot of competitive meets this year, so it's great that they can finally come into a meet as a strong favorite and really show off their potential. The individual battle, however, looks like it will be a lot more competitive as returning State qualifiers Noah Bundrock and Jake Andres both try to cap very sucessful regular seasons. Bundrock has a better track record, but Andres has been steadily and consistently improving all season, so it could potentially be a quite close race.

GIRLS

Top Teams: Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (36 points), Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball (48), Maple Lake (54)

Top Individuals: Gracie Mallak (HLWW, 18:49), Gwen Helgeson (HLWW, 19:50), Erin Brabec (HLWW, 20:01), Augustus Demarais (Maple Lake, 20:05), Sophie Pribyl (Maple Lake, 20:07)

The Skinny: Each of the top three teams in this meet are potentially State-caliber squads, but Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted simply has too much top-end speed. Eden Valley Watkins may have a 47-second spread, and put five runners in the top 13, but when a school can claim the top three spots in a meet, they are hard to beat. Gracie Mallack missed some time earlier in the year, but it hasn't seemed to hurt her much at all as her season-best of 18:49 is one of the fastest in all of Class A. She should easily run away with this one.