Elite And Exciting Athletes Highlight Class A Distance Races This Spring


Girls

800m

Ava Hill of Mesabi East enters as the defending champion, and after running cross country for the first time, she may very well come into the season stronger than she did a year ago. That endurance may improve her already impressive finishing speed. She won last year's final in 2:16.16, roughly half a second in front of Byron's Taylor Kreitinger in 2:16.67. However, Kreitinger (a superb soccer player in the fall) might actually come into the season as the favorite, as her PR of 2:13.35 stands over two seconds in front of Hill's 2:15.50. Kreitinger's PR came in the 800m prelims at State. Given that she could have run over 7 seconds slower and still qualified for the final, along with running the 1600m, it is possible that tired legs may have been the difference in 2017. If Kreitinger either conserves a little energy or Hill doubles, this race could be a dead heat.

Nell Graham of Triton and Bethany Tenhakes of Milaca finished 3rd and 4th last season. Tenhakes has finished within the top five in each of the last two seasons, and has a strong chance of extending that streak. Graham finished top three after taking 11th in 2016, and continued progression could place her in contention for one of the top two positions. The last returning finalist last year was Mora's Johanna Schwinghamer, who came in 9th. Younger sister to the graduated John and Michael who helped the Mora boys achieve a three-peat in XC, the sophomore Schwinghamer had a challenging cross country season, but has a huge potential for improvement and has a great family legacy to hep build.

The only other two athletes that broke 2:20 last year were Ellie Sholing of Wabasha-Kellogg and Amelia Staat of Grand Meadow. However, neither of these two made the finals a season ago despite their impressive seed times. This experience may place them in a better position to qualify out of prelims this season. Sholing and Staat join Kreitinger and Graham in Section 1A, so if all are to reach the State meet, they must hit the 2:20.40 standard at sections. Last season, the finishing order went Kreitinger-Staat-Sholing-Graham, yet Graham would improve on her position at sections to take 3rd at State. Depending on the day, any of these athletes could emerge as the top runner at this distance.


1600m

Tierney Wolfgram of Math and Science Academy returns to defend her championship after winning by .67 seconds in 2017, holding off a furious kick by Kreitinger. With the top three finishers returning, and Grace and Lauren Ping of Winona Cotter likely joining the fray, prepare for a thrilling battle in this event. As it stands, Grace Ping probably enters as the favorite. At the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase in February, she blasted a 4:55.56 1600m. That time would have been the third fastest run in all of Minnesota during all of last season, and no other girl in Class A has broken 5:00. Wolfgram has come the closest, with a 5:04.47 effort last year. But she has a strong chance to eclipse that barrier, as does Lauren Ping, who ran 5:06.26 in the same competition as her sister's mark.

Last year's runner-up Taylor Kreitinger made up a huge margin on her final lap, but came up just short of a State title. But if she shows the same grit as last year, she could be a near lock for a top four position. She has 2:13 800m speed, well ahead of anyone else in the field. If any tactics are involved, she could be favored to sneak into first or second. Kreitinger will be expected to run in the 800m prelims on Friday, whereas Wolfgram and the Pings will likely run the 3200m. It will be interesting to see what role that difference will play for Kreitinger. Her best chance to win a title is likely in the 800m, so her race strategy may be altered knowing that she'll have that event to race later, assuming she enters both.

Courtney West of Triton sports a 5:07.29 PR from last year and took third. However, being in the same section as the Pings means that for all three qualify, they will have to hit the time standard of 5:11.92. Thankfully, that mark seems well within all three of their abilities, so we shouldn't expect anyone on the outside looking in. Sophomores Madeline Kelly of Providence Academy and Gracie Mallak of Howard Lake/Waverly/Winsted took 5th and 6th in 2017. Kelly missed all of cross country after undergoing knee surgery, so if she's back to full health, she should be near the front. She has finished in the top five each of the past two seasons. Mallak qualified for the Hamline Elite Meet last year, taking 12th in a PR of 5:12.56. If she runs close to (or faster) than that time, a top five finish appears likely. Keep an eye out for the young Grace Drietz of Canby/Minneota, who took 8th last year as just a 7th grader. She could make a huge leap with a year of training under her belt. Chloe Paulson of Pelican Rapids also had a huge showing to take 9th, but even more impressively PRed at State by 7 seconds. Watch for her to have the surprise factor this postseason. Mesabi East's Ava Hill is a wild card here, as she will surely attempt to defend her 800m title. But after a strong first cross country season in which she demonstrated that she can have great success at longer distances, there's a chance she doubles in this event.


3200m

Last season, Tierney Wolfgram cruised to the 3200m title by a massive margin of 21 seconds in a PR of 10:41.25. The Minnesota Gatorade Runner of the Year in cross country dominated on the grass all fall, culminating in a top ten finish at Foot Locker Nationals. Her most impressive finish on the track in 2017 was arguably when she took 2nd in the Hamline Elite Meet 3200m against the top MN talent in both divisions. And at the Minnesota USATF Indoor Track and Field Championships, Wolfgram ran 9:57.42 for 3000m, which converts to 10:41 for the 3200m, so she is clearly already in great shape too for this year too. Of course, the Ping sisters will look to unseat the State XC champ, and have also already posted impressive times indoors. This past Sunday, Grace Ping dropped a 10:38.79 full 2-mile. That converts to a 10:34 3200m, only 3 seconds off of what she ran to win the 3200m at the 2016 State meet when she was just a seventh grader. That mark would already be incredibly strong on its own. But given that she ran it indoors, in early March, and just two days after racing the 5k, the elder Ping might enter the season as the preliminary favorite. During cross country, injury prevented the highly anticipated matchup between a healthy Ping and Wolfgram from truly materializing. Thus, barring any setbacks, this race could be one of the most exciting events of State weekend. Lauren, just a 7th grader, took 11th at Nike Cross Nationals and ran 10:47.33 in the 3200m at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase. She should be right in the mix with the two freshmen stars. As her performance at NXN showed (where she beat Wolfgram), on a good day she can be one of the best few athletes in Minnesota.

The next tier of runners could also be closer than expected, with last year's runner-up Courtney West of Triton appearing set to go sub-11:00 this spring. She ran 11:02.99 at State a year ago and is coming off her best cross country season yet. But as mentioned earlier, being in the same section as the Pings means she may have to qualify via the time standard of 11:25.81, which (needless to say) is certainly within her abilities. Kayla Christopherson of Austin Pacelli and Morgan Arnold of Cotter, who were 9th and 16th at State in XC also find themselves in this position, along with last year's second-place finisher Madeline Perry of RAACHE (meaning that, on a good day, Section 1A could potentially see an unheard-of total of six girls qualify by standard in the 3200m).

The third returner from 2017 is Providence Academy's Madeline Kelly, but she missed the entire cross country season following knee surgery. If she has returned to 100% by State, her 11:11.90 PR suggests that her and Fulda's Morgan Gehl (11:16.96 PR) will could be the next few in pursuit. Given Gehl's breakout 4th place State performance in cross country, she may be headed towards a sub-11:00 time this spring as well. Luverne's Tenley Nelson (15th in this event last year) and Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial's Makenna Thurston each showed major improvement to finish top ten at State during cross country, so they could also make a leap into contention. And of course, don't sleep on Marissa Whitehead of Martin County West, who consistently runs well in championship races. She was 6th in the 3200m last spring and 7th at State for XC this past fall a year after finishing 2nd.