PREVIEW
Lakeville Applejack Invitational
Location: Aronson Park, Lakeville
Weather: Partly cloudy, mid 80s, humid, mildly windy.
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Minnetonka (68), White Bear Lake (71), Saint Paul Central (87), Farmington (121)
Top Individuals: Max Lauerman (Minnetonka, 16:09), Maxwell Nelson (White Bear Lake, 16:09), Mickies Kiros (Saint Paul Central, 16:09), Tryg Solberg (White Bear Lake, 16:14), Lloyd Young (Bloomington Kennedy, 16:16), Jack Otterson (Lakeville South, 16:20), Colden Longley (Bloomington Jefferson, 16:21)
The Skinny: This year's rendition of the Lakeville Applejack will undoubtedly be a quick one for the boys, with the top three athletes all being juniors and sharing PRs of 16:09. Max Lauerman and Mickies Kiros are both off to hot starts, each of them running those PRs already in this young season. Lauerman took the second place finish at the Nike Heartland Preview last week, while Kiros took the win at the Hastings Minnaert Invitational. Post-race Kiros expressed his goal to keep up with the big dogs such as Acer Iverson come championship season, so expect him to take this race out quick. Out of the three, Maxwell Nelson of White Bear Lake had the best performances last spring. He ran an impressive 9:40 as a sophomore, taking 2nd place and edging out 12th-ranked Austin Streit at the True Team State Championships. That type of track speed will help him throughout the race as Aronson Park is a relatively flat course that tends to produce some quick times. Another athlete to keep an eye on is Lloyd Young, the projected 5th place finisher on Saturday. However, Young is the top returner from last year's race, where he placed 5th. Additionally, when he ran his 16:16 PR last week, he took 13 seconds off his previous best, proving he's in even better shape than last year. His 9:33 3200m from the spring should benefit him immensely on this course as well. When looking at the team projections, Minnetonka and White Bear Lake are projected to be incredibly close. The two teams are almost identical in structure: Max Lauerman and Maxwell Nelson have very similar PRs, Adam McCollor and Isaac Maruyama have very similar PRs, Kade Haden and Reese Thompson are neck and neck, and Harry Koeppen and Michael Smith are relatively close. This means that the race between the two teams will be decided in those individual battles and who can win their assignments. St. Paul Central was ranked earlier in the season, and while they have fallen out since then, they are still an excellent team and projected to take third. Also look out for Farmington, a group recently featured on Workout Wednesday that has been running well.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Edina (30), Farmington (54), Andover (109), Lakeville South (136)
Top Individuals: Anna Fenske (Farmington, 17:05), Lauren Peterson (Farmington, 17:26), Brianne Brewster (Lakeville South, 17:39), Maria Rickman (Edina, 18:14), Macy Iyer (Edina, 18:22), Morgan Richter (Edina, 18:31), Maddy Lawler (Edina, 18:36)
The Skinny: Several ranked teams and individuals will square off on the girls side, which should create a very exciting race. Ranked individuals include Lauren Peterson (2nd), Brianne Brewster (7th), Morgan Richter (12th). These three and national talent Anna Fenske are some of the best in the state and will definitely take advantage of the quick Aronson Park. Fenske gapped the field by nearly a minute last year, and finished in a 18:04 solo effort, her second consecutive year winning the race. Expect her to be a crucial part in that lead pack, if not out to a lead of her own early on. After the Farmington duo and Brewster, 5 consecutive members of Edina's second ranked team are projected to finish based on PRs. With only 26 seconds separating all of them, there's little to no chance any of the other teams will be able to complete the upset. Other ranked teams include Farmington at 8th, Andover at 9th, and Lakeville South as an honorable mention. Farmington will be an interesting team to watch throughout the season, as Fenske and Peterson evolve as national talents and the rest of their team continues to improve behind them. Andover is a sneaky team this season, because they have a bunch of really talented girls, but no dominant low stick. If they can pack up well in this big field they have a good chance to compete with Farmington. As for Lakeville South, they're coming off a solid 4th place finish at the Baumann/Rovn Invite, and Brewster is running phenomenally so far. Lakeville North placed 8th in their only bout this year at the Faribault Invitational, so expect them to run fiercely and show their improvement on Saturday.
(written by Adam Wilkinson)