PREVIEW
Metro Invitational
Location: Round Lake Park, Eden Prairie
Weather: 85 degrees, humid
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Wayzata (34), Eden Prairie (85), Roseville (99), Saint Paul Highland Park (101)
Top Individuals: Acer Iverson (Roseville, 15:04), Nicholas Scheller (Chanhassen, 15:20), Grant Price (Wayzata, 15:45), Andrew Brandt (Wayzata, 15:46), Torin Christianson (Chanhassen, 15:49), Jake Derouin (Eden Prairie, 15:51), CJ Young (Maple Grove, 15:56), Conor Gregg Escalante (Saint Paul Highland Park, 16:17), Patrick Mclean (Maple Grove, 16:18), Oliver Paleen (Saint Paul Highland Park, 16:20)
The Skinny: Pound-for-pound, this meet might be the most stacked meet of the season so far. Finally running their varsity squad after years of treating this meet as a JV meet, the number one ranked Trojans are definitely the favorite to run away with the team title. However, after Eden Prairie's impressive performance at the Bauman/Rovn Invitational last week, where they finished a close second to Edina, all eyes will be on the Eagles to make this race closer than expected. After those two, it projects to be a dogfight for third, as Roseville, St. Paul Highland Park, Chanhassen, and Maple Grove all will be closely fighting for points, but if EP's fifth runner can step up, the virtual projection shows the two top teams running step for step, especially in comparing the two team's times from just this young season. Individually, frontrunners (and Class AA ranked performers at 11th and 9th, respectively) Price and Brandt both hold PRs of 15:45. There's no reason either two couldn't contend for second place, except for 7th and 8th ranked runners Scheller and Derouin, who will be looking to showcase their talent with a solid battle for the victory here. And not to be lost in the shuffle is Highland Park's Oliver Paleen, who could catapult himself onto the state rankings by beating any of the aforementioned runners. Projected to take the top spot is, of course, second-ranked runner and 2017 NXN individual qualifier Acer Iverson from Roseville, who will be looking to show he has the chops not only to take the AA state title in November, but challenge for another NXN berth.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Wayzata (18), Eden Prairie (78), Saint Paul Highland Park (93)
Top Individuals: Emma Atkinson (Wayzata, 17:15), Caroline Sassan (Wayzata, 17:17), Rhynn Paulsen (Wayzata, 17:56), Lauren Mccollor (Wayzata, 18:02), Liesl Paulsen (Eden Prairie, 18:05), Molly Moening (SPHP, 18:09), Meghan Pierson (Chanhassen, 18:21), Bergen Haag (Roseville, 18:38)
The Skinny: Like on the boys' side, it will be up to rising squad Eden Prairie to challenge Wayzata. Everyone knows how good Wayzata is, but after battling it out to take second at Bauman/Rovn behind Edina and beating out Willmar, Eden Prairie may just be the most interesting team to watch. However, how close anyone can get to the perennial powerhouse and number-one ranked team is anyone's guess. Wayzata is projected to take the win with a dangerously low score of 18 points and put their top five runners in the top seven, broken up only by 8th-ranked Liesl Paulsen of Eden Prairie, previous all-state runner Molly Moening and Saint Paul Highland Park, and Chanhassen's rising sophomore Meghan Pierson. Trojans Emma Atkinson and Caroline Sassan will no doubt be a familiar sight at the front of the pack, but EP's Paulsen doesn't seem poised to let them go without a fight. Other runners to watch should be Eden Prairie's Ella Bakken, who opened her season a minute-and-a-half quicker than 2017, and her fellow Eagle Ananya Vegesna, who began her season with a PR of a similar amount.