Despite only a handful of teams competing, the Rebels Northwoods Invitational is not short on talent. Hosted by Champlin Park High School, this race is a solid warmup of sorts for the season, with the course being a two-miler rather than a 5k. The course is located at Northwoods Park in Brooklyn Park, and consists of two laps on a one-mile loop. Though there aren't any major ascents, it's not a particularly fast course: last year, the boys race was won in 10:24, while the winning time for the girls was 11:32. Lake Conference powerhouses Edina and Hopkins headline the event, with the Monticello boys, Shakopee girls, Orono, Rogers, and St. Francis also expected to attend. The forecast predicts a cloudy day, with both temperature and humidity in the mid-60s, solid weather for some decent performances.
Meet Schedule:
Girls' Varsity (2 mile) - 9:00AM
Boys' Varsity (2 mile) - 9:30AM
Girls' JV (2 mile) - 10:00AM
Boys' JV (2 mile) - 10:30AM
In the girls individual competition, a trio of Edina runners are poised as favorites. Emily Kompelien, Maria Rickman, and Morgan Richter are currently ranked 5, 8, and 12 respectively in the coaches' poll. They are also the only returning athletes who broke 12 minutes at this race a year ago.
In the boys race, Eli Hoeft, the Hopkins junior is the favorite. He sports a PR of 16:24 in the 5k, and is the top returner from this race last season. Hopkins also bring in sophomore Nikolai Schmanski and his 16:52 PR, and other challengers include Rogers' Hyrum Teasdale (16:52) and Champlin Park's Connor Janostin (16:57). Edina will be holding out their top athletes, but they will still bring plenty of quality runners from their deep JV team.
On the team side, the two-time defending State champion Edina girls squad should walk away with the victory easily. In a virtual meet using athletes' best 5k times, Edina nearly achieves a perfect score with an 18 point performance, distancing themselves from Shakopee's 48 points.
With Edina running their B team, Hopkins emerges victorious in the boys virtual meet based on best times with 25 points, followed by Edina's 45 points and Champlin Park's 100 points in third place.