Over A Dozen Meets Make Up Massive Day Of Racing

PREVIEW

ZM/KW Invitational

Location: Zumbrota Golf Course, Zumbrota

Weather: Low 60s, cloudy, chance of rain late

BOYS

Virtual Meet Projection: Rochester Century (40), Faribault (54), Waseca (70)

Top Individuals: Mitchell Hanson (Faribault, 16:52), Jackson Murray (Rochester Century, 16:57), Colton Halla (Waseca, 17:01), Griffin Malecha (Faribault, 17:16), Matthew Feldkamp (Waseca, 17:18)

The Skinny: Big 9 rivals Rochester Century and Faribault just recently faced each other for the second time at the Jim Flim Invite in Winona, where for the second time Century came out ahead. However, as opposed to their first meeting where Century was over 100 points better, this time it was a mere 16. All indications are that Faribault is beginning to come on strong, and the could very easily come away with the win here as a team. However, the virtual meet still puts Century a bit ahead, as they project to get five runners in before the fourth runner from Faribault. Individually, it will also be runners from Century and Faribault who we expect to be battling near the front, as Mitchell Hanson and Jackson Murray are the only two runners in the field to have run better than 20 minutes. However, the runner who has been doing the best so far in 2018 is clearly Waseca's Colton Halla, who has already run times of 17:09 and 17:19 this year. Halla could possibly lead his Waseca team to a solid team finish, and they don't project to be too far off the leaders from Century and Faribault.

GIRLS

Virtual Meet Projection: Rochester Century (53), Waseca (55), Faribault (73)

Top Individuals: Helen Li (Rochester Century, 18:36), Natasha Sortland (ZMKW, 18:37), Ella Dufault (Waseca, 18:44), Abbe Dufault (Waseca, 18:54), Ana Mccabe (Waseca, 18:55), Kayla Christopherson (Pacelli/Lyle, 19:07), Ruby Gernandt (Faribault, 19:24)

The Skinny: The virtual meet here is a little bit deceptive, as Rochester Century has not been performing nearly as well so far this year as they did last year. It is going to be tough for them to get a win while the team from Waseca, who have been an honorable mention in the Class AA polls several times this year, continues to do as well as they have done. Sisters Ella and Abbe Dufault, along with teammate Ana Mccabe, have all broken 19 minutes in their career, and have also been running well recently, and while the gap between them and their next few runners is rather large, they should be able to hold on for the win. However, none of those Waseca runners is expected to take the individual win. That honor would need to go to the 6th-ranked hometown star Natasha Sortland, fresh off her second consecutive Milaca Mega Meet championship. Sortland has been doing everytihng she can this year to keep her name in the conversation as one of the best in a stacked Class A field. Another runner whom we expect to content is Pacelli/Lyle's Kayla Christopherson, a three-time top-ten finisher at the State Championships, and one of the top seniors in Class A. Usually a slow starter before heating up towards the end of the season, Christopherson if coming off her first race under 20 minutes and has improved almost every race so far. One more athlete to watch out for is Centruy's Helen Li who, while she hasen't yet been hitting the times this year that she has in the past, has much too strong a track record to count out completely.