Division 3 (Medium Schools)
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projections: Perham (33), Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin (132), Mora (154), Martin County West (239)
Top Individuals: Geno Uhrbom (Greenway, 15:36), Brandon O'Hara (Perham, 16:02), Clayton Anderson (Perham, 16:12), Cooper Lennox (Mora, 16:16), Cameron Stocke (Virginia, 16:25), Bailey Evenson (Perham, 16:32), Jacob Mccleary (Perham, 16:35), Nels Trandahl (Rockford, 16:42), Symon Keiser (Jordan, 16:43)
The Skinny: The focus of this race will be the team from Perham, who is currently ranked first in Class A. This team has an incredible group of boys that have been ranked as the top team all four weeks of this season after winning the State Championship last fall. The projection that this team is almost 100 points better than GNK, who are ranked fifth, is an incredible nod to the team that they have this year. They have seven boys that are projected to finish before every team's fifth runner. There are two other teams in the Class A top-twelve running this race too, and the virtual meet pits one of them, Mora, in a battle with GNK for second. It will be interesting to see how close Mora can get to beating Greenway, as they have had an up-and-down start to their season (though they have looked solid in their last two meets). The fourth ranked team in this field, whom the virtual meet only projects to finish 6th, is North Shore. The reason for that particular ranking is mainly because North Shore hasn't had a chance to run on a quick course this year despite placing very well at the meets they've run at. This meet will be a tell-tale sign of just how well the returning fifth-place finishers at state can compete without their graduated star Jake Paron.
Along with the top ranked team, this race features the top ranked individual in Class A of Geno Uhrbom. He has had a great start to his season and most recently was challenged by some solid Class AA runners where he finished runner-up (his first runner-up finish in a regular season race in two years). He is the defending champion of the AA race at Milaca last year. Coming in behind him will be a solid race for second featuring Brandon O'Hara and Cooper Lennox, ranked fourth and fifth respectively. O'Hara is a fun one to watch as he placed 55th at the state meet last year and has already run a 54-second personal best and won two races (his highest finish in years prior was fourth). Lennox is off to a really strong start to his season and seeing great improvements compared to last year's start to his season in which he finished eighth in state. With these two seeing large jumps in improvement this year, it will be exciting to watch how they match up against each other and Uhrbom. A few other names to watch are Virginia's 8th-grader Cameron Stocke, whose stock is well up after three great races to start the season, and Jordan's Symon Keiser, an All-State runner on the other end of the spectrum who unfortunately has been disappointed with his results so far.
(written by Emma Benner)
Virtual Meet Projections: Perham (60), Lake City (133), Mora (142), St. Croix Central (171), Jordan (186)
Top Individuals: Natasha Sortland (ZM/KW, 18:37), Caitlin Covington (Perham, 18:48), Marissa Whitehead (Martin County West, 18:59), Laura Thompson (Fairmont, 19:17), Jacey Majerus (Lake City, 19:21), Marie Hamlin (St. Croix Central, 19:21), Sarah Krumholz (Fairmont, 19:25), Ava Cusciotta (Rockford, 19:28), Liz Birkeland (Perham, 19:41), Hailey Wegscheid (Perham, 19:45)
The Skinny: In the 3A (now D2) girls race last year, Natasha Sortland's upset victory (and Kick of the Week) was arguably the moment of the meet. A year later, all eyes will be Sortland to defend her title. However, fans will not get to witness a rematch (and possible sprint to the finish) with Ingrid Buiceag-Arama, as ZM/KW moved to this smaller division this season. 9th-ranked Sortland will have to fend off Perham's 1-2 punch of Caitlin Covington and Liz Birkeland, who each have dropped multiple sub-20:00 efforts on the year. So too has Laura Thompson, who has done well to take over the low stick role for Iliana Ramon. Marissa Whitehead has yet to break 20:00 this year, but has been in the top seven at State each of the past two years, so she'll look to contend for her first win of the season. The fastest time this fall belongs to Jacey Majerus, who just dropped a 19:21 at her home invite. Sortland has run 19:23 this fall, so expect those two to be the frontrunners.
On the team side, the top ranked Perham girls win by nearly 100 points in the virtual meet. Though they have been quite strong this season, they perhaps have not been as dominant as one might expect. That being said, there is no reason to think the top-ranked team in the state won't win, but it could be closer than it is on paper. With unmatched depth, the Perham girls appear to have a decent chance to repeat at State. The Lake City girls have climbed their way to 8th in the Class A rankings, and will be favored for 2nd. They've finished within 15 points of Cotter and Stewartville so far this year. Other ranked teams include 10th-ranked Fairmont and 11th-ranked Proctor. The Fairmont girls still have a couple low sticks in Laura Thompson and Sarah Krumholz, but have had a fairly sizable 1-5 split this year. In such a large race, that gap will be extremely crucial. The Proctor girls are fresh off a strong win at the Eveleth Lions Invitational, and should also contend for a top three finish. And don't sleep on the Jordan girls, who only lost one girl from a 9th place finish at State last season.