Great Meets In Perham And Owatonna Highligh Another Big Day

PREVIEW

Fairmont I-90 Invite

Location: Cedar Creek Golf Course, Fairmont

Weather: Mid-40s, clouds

BOYS

Virtual Meet Projection: Saint James (63), Mankato East (65), Worthington (84)

Top Individuals: Jett Oachs (Mankato East, 16:07), Dalton Piotter (Mountain Lake, 16:30), Drew Hastings (Belle Plaine, 16:30), Adam Koller (Worthington, 16:42), Troy Parulski (Saint James, 16:56), Seth Pierson (Saint James, 16:57), Matthew Wedzina (Mankato East, 16:57), Grant Strukel (Blue Earth Area, 16:59)

The Skinny: Saint James has slid down the Class A rankings a little bit as the season has gone on and currently sit at sixth, but they are also coming off an extremely strong run at their home invitational last week that saw both of their top two runners, Troy Parulski and Seth Pierson, break 17 minutes for the first time in their respective careers, while all of their top 5 went 17:38 or better. In this meet, they'll get a great chance to match up against two evenly-matched Class AA teams from Mankato East and Worthington, a battle which the virtual meet has pegged them to win primarily thanks to their superior 1-5 spread (42 seconds for Saint James, and 1:31 and 1:15 for Mankato East and Worthington respectively). However, both Class AA teams have much better depth, so if one of Saint James' top five falters, they would easily take advantage. Both teams also have superior low sticks and athletes who could come away with the win - Jett Oachs from Mankato East (who owns the best time in the field of 16:07) and Adam Koller from Worthington. Of course, two other runners who will factor into the final outcome are Mountain Lake's Dalton Piotter (who is fresh off a caree-best run at Redwood Valley) and 11th-ranked Class A runner Drew Hastings of Belle Plaine (who has been under 16:54 in each of his last five races). 

GIRLS

Vitual Meet Projection: Belle Plaine (58), Fairmont (65), Mankato East (82)

Top Individuals: Laura Thompson (Fairmont, 19:50), Marissa Whitehead (MCW, 19:57), Sarah Krumholz (Fairmont, 19:58), Mckenna Herrmann (Belle Plaine, 20:08), Izzy Lind (Saint Peter, 20:09), Olivia Beschorner (Mankato East, 20:18)

The Skinny: There are several interesting battles going on in this meet, one of which will be the head-to-head matchup of the two Section 2A favorites Fairmont and Belle Plaine. They previously faced each other a month ago at the Gerry Smith Invitational with Belle Plaine having a solid lead over Fairmont by 43 points, but both teams have gotten better since then and the projected point difference has shrunk to seven. Belle Plaine currently holds the eighth ranking in the polls, while Fairmont recently fell off the rankings, so a good performance here could easily get them back in the top twelve. Mankato East could potentially mix things up in the team battle too. In the individual battles, there really is no real favorite in this race. Laura Thomson and Sarah Krumholz have traded the top spot on Fairmont a couple times this year (though Thompson has held it more), while Mckenna Herrman has been Belle Plaine's top runner for most of the season. Saint Peter's Izzy Lind has three wins to her credit this year already, and has several individual State qualifications to her credit. And then there is four-time All-State runner Marissa Whitehead, who has been off last season pace so far this year when she was 7th in State, but has seen a few solid races recently, including getting back under 20 minutes in Milaca. Any one of those runners could come away with the win.

(written by Mark Rice)