Minnesota Athletes To Watch
The Roy Griak meet has historically seen some pretty competitive races, particularly in the gold division. This year's Larry Zirgibel Gold Race has the makings of a very competitive race, with several top runners from around the region in the starting alleys. From a local perspective, Minnesota will field 15 runners ranked in the most recent coach's polls (8 of 12 from the Class AA poll, and 7 of 12 from the Class A poll) and 9 ranked teams in the first high school race of the day. Along with these runners, there are some other top local runners who are just returning to competition following injury. The following athletes have achieved MileSplit First Team Elite status based on their times so far this season:
- Won the boy's maroon race in 2012 with a 16:17
- Broke the 15:00 minute mark, running a 14:57.50 at the Lakeville Applejack Invitational on September 13
- Finished in 2nd at the 2012 state XC meet, followed by a #3 finish at NXN Heartland and a #10 finish at NXN Nationals. State champion in the 3,200 in early June with a state record time of 8:57.07.
- Ranked #1 in the Class AA XC polls all season
- Finished 13th in the gold race in 2012 with a time of 16:20.02
- Remarkable stats in 2012 with a #5 finish in the Class AA state XC meet, #6 finish at NXN-Heartland and #6 finish at NXN Nationals; PR in the 3,200 at the MN State Track meet with a 9:08.27, finishing in 8th place
- Best time in 2013 is a 15:18.54 at the Mayo Invitational held on September 12
- Currently ranked #2 in the Class AA coach's polls
- Finished 12th in the gold race in 2012 with a time of 16:18.37
- In 2012, finished in 5th place in the Class A state XC meet, followed by a 37th place finish at the NXN Heartland regional race
- Has placed 1st in each race he has run this season, and has set a personal goal of going undefeated in his senior year
- Best time in 2013 is a 15:33.40 at the Milaca Mega Meet held on September 21
- Currently ranked #1 in the Class A coach's polls
- Didn't run in the Griak race in 2012
- Finished in 13th place in the Class AA state XC meet with a time of 15:51.2; placed 4th in the 3,200 at the MN State Track meet with a 9:02.37
- Best time in 2013 is a 15:39.20 at the Run of the Lakes Invite held on September 17th - this is 9 seconds faster than his 2012 season best time
- Currently ranked #8 in the Class AA coach's polls
There are several other strong athletes to watch for on Saturday, including:
- Ephraim Bird (Hope Academy/Minnehaha Academy) - recently won the AA race at the Milaca Mega Meet; has a current season best time of 15:45.11 and is curently ranked #4 in the Class A coach's xc polls.
- Jacob McDermott (Cretin-Derham Hall) - has a couple of wins under his belt at St. Olaf and Rum River; current season best timeof 15:45.4 and is currently ranked #3 in Class AA coach's xc polls.
- Sam Carlson (Bemidji) - recently placed 3rd in the AAAA race at the Milaca Mega Meet with a season best time of 15:50.6 and is currently ranked at #10 in the Class AA coach's xc polls.
- Ian Torchia (Rochester Lourdes) - while his team will be racing in the maroon races, he will be competing in the gold race. Recently took 3rd in the Mayo Invitational with a time of 15:52.67; currently ranked in the Class A coach's xc polls at #3.
- Joe Klecker (Hopkins), - out with an injury for the early part of the fall season, Klecker is ready to run this weekend. He finished in 9th place in 2012 with a time of 16:11.27, followed by a 3rd place finish and season best time of 15:28.5 in the state xc meet and a 20th place finish in the NXN Heartland regionals.
- Shane Streich (Waseca) - recently placed 2nd in the Apple Valley Eagle Invitational and has a current season best time of 16:02.60. He finished in 16th place in the 2012 Griak race with a time of 16:26.77 and is currently ranked #2 behind Hurley in the Class A coach's xc polls.
- Nick Golebiowski (St. Cloud Cathedral) - also out with an injury much of the fall, Golebiowski has only run in the Pierz Pioneer Stampede this fall, finishing in 1st place with a 16:20.3. He finished in 20th place in last year's Griak race with a 16:27.67 adn 4th in the Class A state xc meet with a 15:53.20.
From a team perspective, both Class A and Class AA #1 teams are racing in the gold race - Wayzata and Perham. Wayzata finished in 8th place least year, just 7 points behind the boys from Perham. Both will face strong out-of-state competition and are hoping to keep the Griak Gold title in Minnesota. Last year's top finishing Minnesota team, Edina, also returns with hopes of bettering their 5th place finish - they currenlty hold the #3 spot in the Class AA coach's xc polls.
Who Is Running From Minnesota
|
Team |
Class |
Coach's Poll Ranking |
Athletes (ranked runners in bold) |
| Bemidji | AA | 12 |
Caleb Appleton, 10; Isaac Berg, 9; Joel Carlson, 10; Sam Carlson, 12; Billy Freyholtz, 11; Cody Freyholtz, 12; Noah Holter, 10; Seth Neubeck, 12; Evan White, 12; Ethan Youso, 10 |
| Cannon Falls | A | -- |
Ethan Dalton, 12; Cole Grosslend, 12; Keston Lopez, 12; Bjorn Pearson, 10; Karl Ritzman, 11; Connor Rohr, 12; Karl Trost, 10; Cobie Vagts, 9 |
| Coon Rapids | AA | -- |
Jackson Bednar, 12; David Dujmovic, 12; Ryan Elias, 12; Emmett Haberman, 12; John Koch, 12; Mike Koch, 12; Kyle Mehrhof, 11; Nathan Mueggenberg, 10; Justin Reeves, 11; Corey Vaillancourt, 12 |
| Cretin-Derham Hall | AA | -- |
Cole Bredahl, 10; Dillon Diekmann, 9; Daniel Johnson, 10; Connor Leyden, 11; Jacob McDermott, 12; Jack Spencer, 9; Wyatt Stackpole, 11; Brandon Steer, 11; Will Zastrow, 11 |
| Edina | AA | 3 |
David Ellenberger, 12; Henry Jessen, 12; Matthew Jirsa, 11; Luke Lumbar, 12; Matt Lumbar, 12; Jack Manderscheid, 10; Logan Ramlet, 11; Ben Selcki, 12; Jonathan Shirley, 10; Sam Thomas, 10 |
| Hastings | AA | -- |
Zack Benning, 12 |
| Hopkins | AA | -- |
Logan Athmann, 12; Seth Eliason, 9; Jack Henschel, 10; Owen Hoeft, 10; Joe Klecker, 11; Brett Nelson, 11; Jacob Parker, 12; Hunter Staack, 10; Christian Van Lierop, 12 |
| Minnehaha Academy | A | 3 |
Bjorn Anderson, 12; Ephraim Bird, 11; Sam Carlen, 10; Seth Netere, 9; Zach Newton, 11; Griffin Snow, 11; Erik Ubel, 11; Ethan Wagner, 12; Tom Weber, 12; Andrew Wintz, 11 |
| Minnetonka | AA | -- |
Tom Bissen, 11; Jonathan Croskey, 12; Joe Hlemer, 12; Jacob Johnson, 11; Mason Kiffmeyer, 10; Scott Kvidera, 12; Riley Nelson, 12; Jimmy Sebold, 12; Colin Touhey, 12; Matt Wilkinson, 9 |
| Monticello | AA | -- |
Levi Bican, 10; AJ Abundez, 11; Lawrence Krause, 12; Andrew LaVallee, 12; Andrew Mergen, 10; Derek Secord, 12; Tyler Sirovy, 9; Jon Wall, 12; Jacob Wilts, 10; Oliver Winsor, 12 |
| Mounds View | AA | 9 |
Matt Anderson, 12; Tony Duchenes, 12; George Henson, 12; Andre Hessini, 12; Michael Hoff, 12; Devon McDonals, 11; Dalton Pauly, 12; Alex Plasencia, 12; Ryan Plasencia, 12; Mark Sheldon, 11 |
| Owatonna | AA | -- |
Arthur Bartholomew, 12; Zach Dantzman, 12; Ken Hauer, 10; Brady Heaney, 11; Seth Huseby, 11; Brandon Krogman, 12; Nick Raichle, 10; Nick Rethermeier, 12; Eric Schlicker, 12; Nili Waypa, 12 |
| Perham | A | 1 |
Billy Beseman, 11; Leighton Covington, 12; Jayden Cullen, 12; Jacob Dickerson, 9; Kanyon Edvall, 11; Keeghan Hurley, 12; Chris Knutson, 12; Tanner Monson, 11; Adam Siira, 9; Ben Sullivan, 12 |
| Richfield | AA | -- |
Obsa Ali, 12; Jake Beaudet, 12; Spencer Bergen, 11; Mark Blanchard, 11; Liam Hoppe, 9; Derek James Mattson, 11; Tim Killian, 12; Nathan Libra, 12; Evan Matson, 10; Ben Nygaard, 12 |
| Rochester Lourdes | A | -- |
Ian Torchia, 12 |
| Rosemount | AA | 6 |
Yazan Alsharif, 12; Luke Anderson, 12; Alex Berhe, 11; Ryan Brumm, 11; Ryan Condon, 12; Aaron Elizondo, 12; Sam Ivanecky, 11; Sam Karlson, 11; Cody Sedbrook, 12; Clayton Smith, 11 |
| Shakopee | AA | -- |
Quinn Ahrens, 11; Nathan Coleman, 12; Alex Easton, 10; Allen Lynch, 11; Gavin Menning, 9; Bryon Olfert, 11; Nick Olfert, 8; Kyle Rachel, 10; Karl Wachter, 10; Mike Wagner, 12 |
| St. Cloud Cathedral | A | -- |
Michael Chalupsky, 12; Nick Golebiowski, 12; Mason Halstrom, 10; Tyler Johnson, 11; Michael O'Hagan, 11; Hunter Peterson, 12; Eli Stark-Haws, 11; Nick Staudinger, 11; Zach Tomczik, 11; Andy Zetterlund, 12 |
| Washington Technology Magnet | AA | -- |
Ashenafi Hatte, 11; Heron Lopez, 12; Diego Osario, 12 |
| Totino-Grace | AA | 10 |
Kevin Dado, 9; Kendall Fritz, 11; Grant larios, 12; Thomas Lenard, 10; Joe Louiselle, 12; Luke Russell, 11; Kellen Schmitz, 12; Matt Theisen, 10; James Thibault, 11; Blake Wolters, 12 |
| Waseca | A | 2 |
Shane Streich, 11 |
| Wayzata | AA | 1 |
Aaron Breyer, 12; Jaret Carpenter, 10; Connor Eastman, 12; Ian Eklin, 11; Andrew Millan, 10; Josh Nielsen, 12; Connor Olson, 11; Jack Prazich, 11; Andrew Quirk, 11; Nicholas Shaleen |