Varsity 4A
Though much of Minnesota's talent will be at Griak this weekend, Milaca is just as stacked. With 29 boys who have broken 17:00 entered in the boys 4A division, there should be some of the strongest competition we've seen all year in Minnesota. With the Lake Conference powerhouses choosing to attend the Roy Griak Invitational, the boys 4A division of the Milaca Mega Meet will be the Suburban East Conference's chance to show off. Leading the way is Acer Iverson, the junior from Roseville who blazed the fastest 5k time in the state so far this season, running 15:40 to win the Metro Invitational last weekend. Though Iverson is undefeated so far in 2017, Milaca should provide him with the most competition yet. 3rd-ranked Addison Stansbury of Stillwater has been running well, with two sub-16 efforts under his belt already. The only other runner who's broken 16 minutes this year is Ben Olson of Blaine. Olson started his season with a bang, running 15:58 to win the Anoka ABC Early Bird Invite. However, just one week later, he was upset by Tom Breuckman of Andover, who will look to replicate that result at Milaca. Blake Iverson of Maple Grove has done well to take over the reins from Alex Miley, and has performed to the caliber of an All-State runner so far. Of the rest, watch out for a few sets of ultra-talented teammates working together. Mounds View's Austin Streit and Lukas Hessini have been a formidable duo. A third Mustang, Dave Dahl, has had a disappointing 2017 campaign, though his 16:09 PR suggests that he could up front with a rebound race. Sartell-St. Stephen's trio of Alex Nemeth, Zach Nemeth, and Ryan Fernholz have been stellar, as has Stillwater's quartet of Lars Dewall, Ben Wicklund, Jack Degonda, and Joe Hesse-Withbroe. Eli Hoeft of Hopkins, little brother to Owen, should also make a splash. And don't sleep on SEC runners Ben Vanderbosch of White Bear Lake, Grant Wittman of Woodbury, and Joe Reimann of East Ridge, who have each broken 16:40 this year.
With 4 ranked teams attending, the team battle should shed some light on which teams could be legit contenders at State. Leading the way is Stillwater, which should be of no surprise to any Minnesota distance fans. Their entire top 5 has run 16:40 or faster this season, and with a projected average time of 16:22, they run away with the virtual meet in a strong 41 points. It's the battle for 2nd place that should be the most intriguing, as Mounds View, White Bear Lake, and Sartell-St. Stephen are ranked 7th, 8th, and 9th respectively in the coaches poll. Sartell-St. Stephen is projected to take 2nd with 100 points, followed by Mounds View's 168 and White Bear Lake's 169. Sartell-St. Stephen and White Bear Lake are buoyed by low 1-5 spreads, each of which are right around 30 seconds. Mounds View's performance largely hinges on Dave Dahl returning to form, as if he does, their expected deficit may be reversed. Expect Hopkins to be in pursuit, as they're expected to take 5th with 187 points. Don't sleep on the Roseville boys either, who are projected to take 6th in 198 points. With Acer Iverson essentially a lock for a top 3 position, they'll need good days from their 4th and 5th man to move up into the top 5, as their scoring is expected to be 1-31-33-65-68. And lastly, the Wayzata boys B team is predicted to take 7th, but have an unthinkable 6.17 second 1-5 spread. That pack running could lead them to place higher, as in such a huge meet, a few seconds can be plenty of places.
Though the girls 4A race doesn't have quite the depth that the boys does, with 26 teams entered, it should still be an exciting day. With most of the top teams choosing to attend Griak, only one ranked team will be running in the race, and not a single ranked individual will be competing. Though the Sartell-St. Stephen boys will be running in the 4A race, the Sartell girls will run in 3A, so the absence of 12th-ranked Ingrid Buiceag-Arama will leave the individual title open for the taking. There are 9 girls who have gone sub-20 in 2017, so it's anyone's guess who will emerge victorious. Of all expected competitors, the fastest time recorded in 2017 belongs to Bergen Haag of Roseville, who's fresh off a 19:22 PR run at the Metro Invitational. She'll have friendly company up front, as her teammate Samantha Kurkowski ran 19:33 in her first race of the year, but hasn't broken it since. Perhaps this will be her breakthrough race. White Bear Lake's Maggie Blanding and Chaska's Olivia Anderson join Haag as the only athletes that have broken 19:30. Blanding is fresh off an impressive 4th place finish at the Anoka Rum River Invitational, while Anderson ran her time in her first race of the season and hasn't broken it since. She'll look to rebound on Saturday. Despite all this talent, the favorite status resides with Prior Lake's Mallory Stach, who has broken 19:00 multiple times, and is the defending champion to this race. She won 2016's edition of this meet by a whopping 25 seconds, and she'll look to create a similar gap this weekend. The next best returner is Duluth East's Molly Weberg, who has rattled off two victories in the each of her last two meets. Weberg took 3rd in 2016. Don't forget to keep an eye out for Woodbury's Tiffany Holliday, a qualifier to the 2017 State 3200m, and Mounds View's Morgan Dahl, who owns an 18:46 PR. Lastly, out of state visitors Abigail Hoffarth, Allie Wahlund, and Adriana Wilder, all of Minot (ND), have each broken 20 minutes this season.
Despite that trio projected to each finish in the top 10, Roseville's overall depth has them winning the virtual meet with 70 points over Minot's 87 points. However, in the wake of their victory at the Rochester Mayo Invite, the favorite to win is 10th-ranked Stillwater. Though their 5k season bests only have them taking 6th with 179 points, they haven't had much of a chance to run quick times yet. Their projected 40.70 second 1-5 split is the lowest expected spread in the field, signalling they'll be in contention for the win. Just a few seconds slower, Andover's 43.71 second 1-5 spread has them finishing 3rd in the virtual meet with 160 points, followed by White Bear Lake's 168 and Maple Grove's 171. With Hopkins expected to take 7th with 180 points and Centennial predicted to follow with 196, the 3-8 finishers are projected to all be within 36 points of one another. This sets the stage for an extremely tight battle in which nearly every place will matter, which should be a treat for spectators.