PREVIEW
Location: Northland Community College, Thief River Falls
Weather: 60's, mostly sunny
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Sartell-Saint Stephen (34), Moorhead (57), Detroit Lakes (117)
Top Individuals: Alex Nemeth (Sartell, 15:51), Dawson Strom (Moorhead, 16:12), Zach Johnson (Moorhead, 16:25), Tanner Olson (Detroit Lakes, 16:28), Christian Sterton (Ada-Borup/NCW, 16:31)
The Skinny: Moorhead looked extremely good earlier this week at the Shocky Strand Invitational. Not only did they beat the ranked Willmar squad, but three of their top seven nearly PRed in the first meet of the season. Now having taken down Willmar, the next returning state qualifying team to face is Sartell. Gutted a bit by graduation, Sartell still comes in with a solid team on paper, so it will be interesting to see how well they reload, though with Moorhead running their second meet in four days, it begs the question if Sartell doesn't retain their advantage by freshness alone. In any event, Sartell's top returner Alex Nemeth should easily challenge for the win, though the season debuts of Tanner Olson and Christian Sterton (who was 14th at the Class A Championships last year) will be just as interesting. Either one of Moorhead's Strom or Johnson should be in the mix too.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projections: Sartell-Saint Stephen (50), Alexandria (50), Becker (86)
Top Individuals: Ingrid Buiceag-arama (Sartell, 18:54), Victoria Kolbinger (Becker, 19:17), Bethany Miller (Alexandria, 19:18), Aleah Miller (Alexandria, 19:21), Jerzie Finstad (Thief River Falls, 19:33), Melton Taylor (Moorhead, 19:35)
The Skinny: The virtual meet has this race end in a dead heat between Sartell and Alexandria, with Alex winning the tiebreaker by putting six in the top 18 (while Sartell put five in the top 20). And to make things more interesting, Becker is well within striking distance of both of their section rivals. Adding Moorhead to the mix, and four of the top six Section 8AA squads from 2017 will be racing here, including both state qualifiers. It will be an eye-opening race so see how the section might fall into place this year. Three-time State qualifier Ingrid Buiceag-Arama probably enters as the solid favorite individually, not only because of her top seed time, but because she historically has been a strong starter. The Millers of Alexandria and Tori Kolbinger of Becker could make it interesting, though, and maybe even Jerzie Finstad running on her home course.