PREVIEW
Mankato West Invitational
Location: Minneopa Golf Course, Mankato
Weather: Low 60s and partly cloudy
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Austin (40.5), Albert Lea (55), Mankato East (75)
Top Individuals: Henry Hinchcliffe (Austin, 15:57), Vidal Moreno (Albert Lea, 16:20), Metijwok Omod (Austin, 16:25), Jett Oachs (Mankato East, 16:29), Brockdon Lawhead (Austin, 16:35)
The Skinny: Austin High School has a group of top four runners that are hard to beat but make it a close race with their fifth runner falling a bit behind their top pack. This opens the doors to Albert Lea challenging for the win. Albert Lea's runners have been having a lot of success recently, and have just as much depth as conference rival Austin. But Austin's advantage is in having Henry Hinchcliffe and Meti Omod up front, who are able to beat the top runners from Albert Lea. Either one of those two runners could easily come away with the win. Omod in particular is very interesting to watch. He has seen great improvements in his performances this year and is somewhat of an unknown after last year being his first cross country season and he only competed in the conference and section meet.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Mankato West (54), Austin (60), Rochester Mayo (78)
Top Individuals: Abigail Lewis (Austin, 18:53), Izzy Lind (Saint Peter, 19:14), Lani Schoper (Mankato West, 19:27), Morgan Hose (Austin, 19:27), Madeline Butrum (Rochester Mayo, 19:50)
The Skinny: Mankato West comes in as the team projected to win with a top five all within the top twenty, none of whom are seniors. Their advantage over Austin is slim however, and once only 2018 performances are considered, Austin looks to be the stronger team. Abigail Lewis is the top runner in the field after a stunning performance last week at the Lake City Invitational, running her best time in nearly two years. If the four-time State qualifier has another similar performance, she'll be making a very strong case to get ranked. Izzy Lind could be her biggest competition as a winner of two meets this season. The rest of the top runners in the field mostly finished a ways behind Lewis at Lake City.