It's Championships Galore On Conference Tuesday!

2017 Minnesota XC Meet Previews

Oct 17, 2017

Weather: Sunny; high of 68, mid 60s around race time

BOYS

Top Teams: Little Falls (34), Mora (54), Saint Cloud Cathedral (70)

Top Individuals: Hunter Zupko (Little Falls; 16:37), Cooper Lennox (Mora; 16:45), Drew Peterson (Little Falls; 17:08), Basil Ricker (Becker; 17:10), Elijah Weiss (Albany; 17:14)

The Skinny: Little Falls will likely take the team title here let by senior Hunter Zupko, although they could be challenged by a Mora team that is having an excellent season even after the loss of the Schwinghamer brothers and Alec Sanbeck. Hunter Zupko is the favorite here based on his season best from last week, but it will be a challenge to beat Class A's #12-ranked Cooper Lennox, especially since Zupko have only been healthy enough to compete for three weeks.

GIRLS

Top Teams: Becker (22), Mora (72), Albany (80)

Top Individuals: Victoria Kolbinger (Becker; 19:29), Allison Hendrickson (Becker; 19:33), Cheresa Bouley (Zimmerman; 19:34), Kristine Kalthoff (Albany; 19:42), Lexi Dehmer (Becker; 19:54)

The Skinny: Becker will look to put all five of their scorers in the top ten. They are more or less assured of the team title with our virtual meet projecting them to win by 50 points. But it will be a big meet for Class A's #5-ranked Mora too, as they are getting to the point in the season where it might be critical for them to develop a lowstick runner so they can best take advantage of their amazing spread (which was 13 seconds at the Swain Invitational). The individual title will be a little closer here with Victoria Kolbinger battling it out with her teammates Allison Hendrickson and Lexi Dehmer, all of whom have average around the upper-19 minute mark this year. But Perahps the overall favorite in the race has to be returning All-State runner Kristine Kalthoff, who has improved her season best time in every meet this season.