Eleven Class A Girls Who Want To Make History In 2018


Makenna Thurston, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, Sr


Makenna Thurston has one of the most impressive ranges in Minnesota. Last season, Thurston ran 18:54 to nab 6th place at State for cross country. However, unlike most All-State XC runners, Thurston elects to focus on sprints during track. And she excels at shorter distances as well: Thurston qualified for State in the 400m, taking 14th. In two 3200s, Thurston only ran 12:27, far from what she's likely capable of. This may be attributed to focusing more on sprint work, so with little distance data from the spring, it's somewhat harder to project potential improvements. That being said, Thurston is coming off her second consecutive top 15 XC finish, and has consistently improved throughout her three seasons in the sport. In both 2017 and 2016, she dropped about 30 seconds from the previous year, so watch out for Thurston to compete for a top five spot in Class A.

2017 XC Results

TIME MEET DATE PLACE
18:54.60 MSHSL State Cross Country Championships 11/04/17 6th
18:59.91 MSHSL Section 2A Championships 10/26/17 1st
19:56.00 Gopher Valley Conference Championships 10/17/17 2nd
19:40.24 Madelia Invite 10/12/17 2nd
19:17.00 Sleepy Eye Invitational 10/05/17 1st
19:37.80 St. James Invite 09/26/17 1st
19:56.13 Milaca Mega Meet 09/23/17 2nd
19:30.70 Windom Invite 09/18/17 1st
19:35.78 Norwood-Young America Lions Invitational 09/12/17 1st
19:59.60 Tri-City United Gerry Smith Invitational 09/07/17 3rd
19:40.20 Mountain Lake Paul Metcalf Invitational 08/30/17 3rd
16:10.40 Fairmont Early Bird Invite (4K) 08/25/17 1st