PREVIEW
Saint James Invite
Location: Voss Park, Butterfield
Weather: Cloudy, mid 50s, slight chance of rain
Boys
Virtual Meet Projection: Saint James (31.5), Luverne (69), Fairmont (69.5)
Top Individuals: Dalton Piotter (Mountain Lake, 16:46), Seth Pierson (St. James, 17:02), Troy Parulski (St. James, 17:03), Dalton Desollar (Luverne, 17:05), Mitchell Buerkle (Springfield/Cedar Mountain, 17:14)
The Skinny: After a somewhat disappointing 3rd place finish at the Milaca Mega Meet on Saturday, the St. James boys fell three spots to 6th in the coach's poll. They'll look to follow up that showing with a convincing win at their home meet, where they're favored on paper to win by a solid margin. Luverne and Fairmont should be battling for 2nd. Dalton Piotter is the only boy who has broken 17:00, and he's done so twice already this season. St. James will be led by their duo of Seth Pierson and Troy Parulski, who will look to lead the chase pack. Dalton Desollar and Mitchell Buerkle have also dropped times in the low 17s. Pierson and Parulski both looked stellar at the Milaca Mega Meet, each running sub 17:30, while Desollar has done so twice, so expect a tight race among the top five.
Girls
Virtual Meet Projection: Luverne (51), Fairmont (81), Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet (85)
Top Individuals: Tenley Nelson (Luverne, 18:35), Makenna Thurston (LCWMN, 18:54), Laura Thompson (Fairmont, 19:17), Regan Feit (Luverne, 19:18), Sarah Krumholz (Fairmont, 19:25), Grace Feder (Gibbon-Fairfax Winthrop, 20:06)
The Skinny: In the girls race, some of the top talent in Class A will create a heavyweight battle. 7th-ranked Tenley Nelson has been on a tear this fall, running 18:35 twice and most recently finishing 4th at a very competitive Rochester Mayo Invitational. Makenna Thurston has been off to a strong start in her own right, and just took 3rd at the Milaca Mega Meet in the D4 race. In their lone matchup, Nelson defeated Thurston by roughly 30 seconds at the Mountain Lake Paul Metcalf Invitational. Thurston will look to lower that deficit roughly after about a month. Regan Feit, Laura Thompson, and Sarah Krumholz should lead the charge behind those two, as each have run in the mid 19s. Thompson and Feit have both broken 20:00 multiple times this season. On the team side, the 3rd-ranked Luverne girls will look to back up their 3rd ranking against a strong Fairmont squad. In the virtual meet, they're expected to win by 30 points, creating a battle for 2nd between Fairmont and LCWMN.