PREVIEW
Location: Moorhead Soccer Complex, Moorhead
Weather: 75, sunny, some wind gusts
Boys
Virtual Meet Projection: Fargo Davies (61), Bemidji High School (63), Perham High School (72), Moorhead High School (76)
Top Individuals: Jacob Bright (West Central Area, 16:10), Dawson Strom (Moorhead, 16:12), Andrew Lundstrom (Fargo Davies, 16:19), Clayton Anderson (Perham, 16:24), Zach Johnson (Moorhead, 16:25), Christian Sterton (Ada-Borup/NCW, 16:31), Brandon O'Hara (Perham, 16:33)
The Skinny: The four-way battle for first place according to the virtual meet could hardly be closer, and that battle doesn't even include Class A's seventh-ranked team from West Central Area. Unfortunately for Minnesota homers, Fargo Davies is the team projected to come away on top of the dogpile, however Bemidji, Moorhead, and Perham have all looked stronger than their North Dakota rivals so far this season. In particular, Perham looks in fine form already after their 8th-place finish in a stacked St. Olaf Showcase field, and might be the favorite overall. And as Moorhead has already beaten Bemidji head-to-head twice, it will prbably be a good battle between Perham and Moorhead for the win. On the individual side of things, there are a lot of good runners to watch. Both Jacob Bright and Brandon O'Hara are ranked in Class A right now, and Ada-Borup's Christian Sterton placed 14th at State last year while Clayton Anderson was 31st. Moorhead's due of Dawson Strom and Zach Johnson each have two races under their belt and finished in the top five in both, and Davies' Andrew Lundstrom has been a top-20 finisher in his State meet both of the last two years.
Girls
Virtual Meet Projection: Fargo Davies (19), Perham High School (47), West Central Area School (89)
Top Individuals: Bridget Henne (Fargo Davies, 18:44), Megan Lundstrom (Fargo Davies, 18:45), Caitlin Covington (Perham, 18:48), Mckenna Lovehaug (Fargo Davies, 18:51), Ryleigh Wacha (Fargo Davies, 19: 03), Lexi Bright (West Central Area, 19:21)
The Skinny: Based on the raw numbers, Fargo Davies (the defending State champion in North Dakota) looks like a strong favorite with five of the top seven PRs in the field. But once you consider that each of those times were run on what appears to be a rather quick course last year, and also once you compare this season's results so far, the battle between them and Class A's top-ranked Perham appears to be much closer. It's hard to ask for much more than a battle between two fairly-evenly-matched State Champions, but if Perham is going to take advantage of NoDak competition, they'll need to stick to the heels of their rivals. 11th-ranked West Central Area is projected at third, as they will be running their third race of the year. Individually, Caitlin Covington has a great shot at the meet title as her PR is right in line with those of Bridget Henne, Megan Lundstom, and McKenna Lovehaug, who were all in the top 26 at State (Covington was 19th in Minnesota's State Meet last year).
(written by Mark Rice)