Ten Class A Boys Teams With Shots At Winning In 2018


Staples-Motley

At one time, Staples-Motley was a powerhouse program that even Perham may have been jealous of. In one stretch of fifteen years, the Cardinals qualified for State every single year, and won seven championships in a span of eight of those years. And in one of those meets, they set the all-time State record for the best team score with 22 points (the year after scoring 27, the second-lowest total ever). But before last year, Staples-Motley had not been back to State since 2009. That all changed thanks to a young team led by the superb freshman Emmet Anderson, who went on to finish sixth individually and guide his team to tenth. All seven of those runners return, a year older and (hopefully) a year better. The 1-5 spread of 2:20 is a bit bigger than they should be comfortable with, but seniors Ben Bartczak, Bentley Christensen, and Brayden Christiansen all looking good on the track (not to mention Bartczak's all-time PR of 17:40), that gap should close and Staples should be all the better for it. It's not hard to see SM potentially finish in the top five.

Top 2017 Returners

1) Emmet Anderson 2021 16:06.90
2) Hunter Klimek 2020 16:57.90
3) Tanner Robben 2021 17:32.00
4) Ben Bartczak
2019 18:16.90
5) Bentley Christensen 2019 18:27.60
Average Time: 17:28.26 Total Time: 1:27:21.30 1-5 Split: 2:20.70
6) Isaac Christoffersen 2020 18:31.41
7) Brayden Christiansen 2019 18:33.10