On Thursday, Stewartville High School will be hosting its annual Bill Glomski Invitational. With 21 teams competing, this meet is enormous. However, this meet will have both quantity and quality, as some of the top talent (including lots of ranked athletes) in Class A will be present. The race will take place at Bear Cave Park in Stewartville, just south of Rochester. The first gun is set to go off at 4pm, setting the stage for an exciting evening meet.Weather is projected to be in the mid-60s and sunny, with about 10mph wind, decent conditions for solid times. The course doesn't appear to be particularly fast or slow, but the amount of depth present should result in exciting battles on both the girls and the boys side.
Schedule
4:00 JH Boys 1600m
4:10 JH Girls 1600m
4:20 JV Boys & Girls 5000m
4:55 Varsity Girls 5000m
5:30 Varsity Boys 5000m
The boys race features two of the top 4 athletes in the coaches' rankings, along with a few others who should also contend for the W. Leading the way is Matt Steiger of La Crescent, who just missed the State title a season ago by less than a quarter of a second. He's currently ranked 2nd in the state. Even with Steiger's impressive resume, 4th-ranked Owen Keiser of Jordan should be right on his heels. RACE Jaguars runners Josiah Eide and Caleb Jones were 4th and 5th respectively at Stewartville last year, so they could also surprise with a victory. Steiger and Keiser won't just be going for individual glory, however. Jordan stands as the 4th-ranked team in the state, while La Crescent sits in the 6th spot in the rankings. In MileSplit's virtual meet (using average 5k times), La Crescent is projected to squeak out the win over Jordan by a measly one point (53 to 54), indicating the team battle will be neck and neck. RACE Jaguars were not far behind with 58 points, so it's anybody's guess on which of the three will come out victorious.
The girls race will also have some of the best talent in the state, individually and in the team competition. Kayla Christopherson of Austin Pacelli sits in the 6th position in the coaches' rankings and has back to back top 10 finishes at State, so she'll likely be at the front of the pack. 10th-ranked Kailee Malone of Stewartville should be right on her heels, as will her teammate Abby Orvis, and both will look to clinch a strong performance on their home turf. If not the favorite for the individual crown, Malone and Orvis will lead their 4th-ranked team to the win. They're projected to win the virtual meet with 76 points. Though Stewartville enters on favorites, they'll have defend their home grounds from the 8th-ranked Lanesboro/Fillmore Central squad, as they're predicted to finish right behind in 82 points. Look for a close battle between these two teams only separated by a few places.