Conference Tuesday - The Biggest Day Of XC Of The Year

Location: Winthrop Golf Course, Winthrop

Weather: About 50, sunny and breezy

Boys

Virtual Meet Projection: Springfield/Cedar Mountain (28), Minnesota Valley Lutheran (48), Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's (51)

Top Individuals: Mitchell Buerkle (Springfield, 17:00), Elijah Kirschstein (Springfield, 17:44), Mitchell Stark (Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, 18:09)

The Skinny: Only two boys have broken 18:00 this season, those being Springfield teammates Mitchell Buerkle and Elijah Kirschstein. Buerkle should be heavily favored to take the win, as his PR of 17:00 is 44 seconds faster than Kirschstein's. He'll look to break into the 16s for the first time in his career. Kirschstein should have no problem cruising to second, with Mitchell Stark the probable third finisher, as only two other runners have broken 19:00 other than these three. Led by Buerkle and Kirschstein, Springfield should have no problem taking the team title. Minnesota Valley Lutheran and Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's will battle for second.

Girls

Virtual Meet Projection: Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (52), Springfield/Cedar Mountain (55), Minnesota Valley Lutheran (71)

Top Individuals: Grace Feder (GFW, 19:32), Abby Nelson (Minnesota Valley Lutheran, 20:38), Abigail Hagen (Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's, 20:44), Lily Mccone (Springfield, 20:51), Chloe Haven (Wabasso, 21:28), Jessica Albrecht (GFW, 21:39)

The Skinny: All in all, the girls competition will be deeper than the boys. Grace Feder is over a minute ahead of any competition this season, and should collect the conference championship fairly easily. Abby Nelson, Abigail Hagen, and Lily mccone are the only other athletes in the field who have broken 21:00. At the Madelia Invite last week, the order of finish was Hagen, Mccone, Nelson, so expect a repeat of that in the chase pack. On the team side, GFW and Springfield look like they will be locked in a blow for blow battle. In the virtual meet, GFW finishes just three points in front of Springfield. Springfield will look to take advantage of GFW's 4-5 gap, as their 5th is projected to finish eight spots higher than GFW's.

(written by Sam O'Donnell-Hoff)