PREVIEW
Location: Mankato East HS, Mankato, MN
Weather: Scattered thunderstorms, high 60s
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Mankato East (29), Belle Plaine (60), Sibley East (90)
Top Individuals: Drew Hastings (Belle Plaine, 16:41), Jett Oachs (Mankato East, 16:44), Grant Strukel (Blue Earth, 16:49), Calvin Rykhus (Mankato East, 17:06)
The Skinny: The top group of individuals of Drew Hastings, Jett Oachs, Grant Strukel, and Calvin Rykhus should be closely matched at this meet. Strukel might not have the top personal best but he ran to a 27th place finish at last year's State Cross Country Championships, ahead of Hasting's 33rd place finish. These four athlete's have a good shot of finishing in the top 25 at the State Championships and earning All-State honors. Last year at this meet, Mankato East lost to Owatonna by one point so they will be vying for that team title this year. Owatonna will not be at the meet this year so Mankato East's top competition will be Belle Plaine.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Belle Plaine (17), Mankato East (48), Sibley East (88)
Top Individuals: Lizzy Schmidt (Belle Plaine, 19:36), Cassie Stolt (Belle Plaine, 20:02), Jordyn Williams (Belle Plaine, 20:07), Olivia Beschorner (Mankato East, 20:26)
The Skinny: Belle Plaine highlights this meet as they come into the season ranked seventh in Class A. Last season, their top runner alternated between Cassie Stolt and Lizzy Schmidt, with Jordyn Williams and Malina Koepp not far behind. Behind their top four runners, they have three more that will not be far behind to complete a big win. However, a team to watch that could sneak up a bit is Mankato East, who is seeded second behind Belle Plaine at this meet. After finishing in last at this meet a year ago, their young team is proving that they could make big jumps in improvement this season, starting with today's race.