PREVIEW
Big Lake Battle at Liberty Invitational
Location: Liberty Big Lake Junior High, Big Lake
Weather: 60s, cloudy, solid chance of rain
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Cambridge-Isanti (41), Rogers (42), Becker (62)
Top Individuals: Basil Ricker (Becker, 16:59), Alexander Heidorn (Rogers, 17:01), Ryan Droubie (Cambridge-Isanti, 17:11), Dylan Larson (Cambridge-Isanti, 17:17)
The Skinny: This meet may be pretty small, but it features a great battle of evenly-matched Mississippi 8 Conference teams (plus the Granite Ridge Conference squad from Becker). Cambridge-Isanti and Rogers are separated by a mere one point in the virtual meet, and Becker has been looking stronger than both of those teams thus far this year. Basil Ricker in particular has been looking strong, as he just broke the 17-minute barrier for the first time last week in Little Falls, and if the only runner under that barrier in the field. He has to be considered the favorite in this race, though Roger's Heidorn has a PR within seconds of Ricker.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Monticello (36), Becker (40), Rogers (79)
Top Individuals: Elise Yeager (Monticello, 19:15), Victoria Kolbinger (Becker, 19:17), Gabriella Witschen (Monticello, 19:40), Danielle Nuest (Becker, 19:41), Maria Laudenbach (Saint Francis, 19:46)
The Skinny: Another great team battle ought to be expected on the girls side between Monticello and Becker. Both teams have multiple sub-20-minute runners, but the difference could be depth. Monticello has far more runners in their middle tier than Becker, who have an excellent front four in terms of PRs, but a significant gap from there. Due to this, Monticello is probably the favorite here, but that could change if Becker's top four exceeds expectations. Individually, Elise Yeager owns both the top PR and season best in the field, so she'll likely be the favorite, but with the top-heavy nature of these teams, one of Becker's runners may just take it.