PREVIEW
Heartland Classic
Location: Central College XC Course, Pella, IA
Weather: 80, Mostly Sunny, Slight chance of rain
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Dowling Catholic (97.5), Sioux Falls Lincoln (107), Edina (113), Stillwater (151)
MN Meet Projection: Edina (113), Stillwater (151), Benilde-Saint Margaret's (682)
Top Individuals: Tim Sindt (Ankeny, 15:13), Kolby Greiner (Iowa City West, 15:23), Will Ode (Dowling Catholic, 15:32), Max Manley (Edina, 15:33), Willem Gokemeijer (Edina, 15:35)
Top MN Individuals: Max Manley (Edina, 15:33), William Gokemeijer (Edina, 15:35), Addison Stansbury (Stillwater, 15:46), Ethan Vargas (Stillwater, 16:00), Lucas Selman (Edina, 16:01), Lars Dewall (Stillwater, 16:09)
The Skinny: Alongside many of the top teams and individual performers in Iowa, comes two of the titans of Minnesota running in Edina and Stillwater. This will be the first time both Edina and Stillwater compete against each other since last year's State Cross Country Championships, where Stillwater placed 2nd and Edina 3rd. This will also be the first time that Stillwater's boys varsity runners will compete in two weeks. The last time out they came in second to Wayzata at the Columbus Catholic Invitational on a tiebreaker. Edina, on the other hand, will be running their second meet after a pair of meet cancellations early in the season. They did win their only other meet of the season last week at the Bauman/Rovn Invitational, and will look to do it again against stiff competition. The state's top-ranked runner Max Manley will look for his second individual win of the season with Willem Gokemeijer (who is making his season debut after missing last week) looking to be not far behind him. Addison Stansbury will be a factor here too, as last year he was the runner-up at this meet. Benilde Saint-Margarets will look to compete against some larger schools.
MN Meet Projection: Benilde-Saint Margaret's (890)
Top Individuals: Micah Poellet (Linn-Marr, 18:03), Anna Jennings (PLV South, 18:09) , Brooklyn Mckee (Johnston, 18:15), Lilly Geelan (Linn-Marr, 18:37)
Top MN Individuals: Abigail Swanson (BSM, 20:52), Megan Steck (BSM, 21:21), Sage Waymire-rozman (BSM, 21:26)
The Skinny: With neither Stillwater or Edina's girls squads attending, Benilde-Saint Margaret is the only Minnesota team in Pella, and are projected to finish in the bottom half of this massive and stacked field. Perennial powers Johnston and Dowling Catholic ought to finish near the top, while Nebraska's Lincoln Southwest could be a factor if their runners run at the same caliber they saw near the end of last year. And with Paige Horner missing the competition in favor of competing at the International Triathlon Union's Junior World Championships in Australia today, the field is wide open for several girls to take the win.