PREVIEW
Rocori Invitational
Location: River Oaks Golf Course, Cold Spring
Weather: 60 and rainy, possible thunderstorms
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Willmar (19), Alexandria (83), Cambridge-Isanti (96)
Top Individuals: Hudeife Mire (Willmar, 15:57), Samuel Ringger (Sauk Rapids-Rice, 16:09), Mason Wendt (Willmar, 16:22), Aden Aden (Willmar, 16:42), Fuad Bashir (Willmar, 16:48)
The Skinny: Assuming they are finally healthy, Willmar will be the team to beat today, and it isn't very close. Ranked at the start of the season, they fell off early when many of their top runners either weren't running or were a bit dinged-up. Their top runner, Hudeife Mire, still has not raced this year, and neither has Aden Aden. Coming off a third-place finish behind Buffalo and Prior Lake last week at the Hutchinson Invitational, Willmar will try to use this race to get back in the winners bracket. Of course, this has allow allowed runners like sophomore Fuad Bashir to really step up, as he has become Willmar's top runner the past few meets despite entering the season without one of the five fastest times on the team, and in the abscence of Willmar's other top runners, he might just be the individual favorite today.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Willmar (16), Alexandria (66), Monticello (96)
Top Individuals: Heidi Schmitz (Willmar, 17:56), Leah Hansen (Willmar, 18:34), Serena Monson (Willmar, 18:44), Elsie Duininck (Willmar, 19:02), Emma Fashant (Annandale, 19:07)
The Skinny: On the girls side, Willmar has not only been healthy, but they've been as good as advertised. Willmar is coming in strong this meet and is nearing a perfect score. They have won two of their three meets this season in pretty dominating fashion and today should be another one of those showings. They are currently ranked sixth and are lead by Leah Hansen being ranked tenth and Heidi Schmitz being in the honorable mentions (of course, those two runners have tradded spots in the rankings so far this year). Their top five are all seniors so they will be looking to make their final marks this season. The individual winner will be a Willmar athlete, it just depends on which one. It seems that it will come down to Schmitz, Hansen and Amel Dayib as they have been finishing near each other all season.