Great Meets In Perham And Owatonna Highligh Another Big Day

PREVIEW

Perham Yellow Jacket Harrier Classic

Location: Arvig Park, Perham

Weather: Cloudy, mid 40s

BOYS

Virtual Meet Projection: Perham (48.5), Moorhead (59), Bemidji (92.5), West Central Area (110)

Top Individuals: Emmet Anderson (Staples-Motley, 15:51), Brandon O'Hara (Perham, 16:02), Zach Johnson (Moorhead, 16:04), Clayton Anderson (Perham, 16:12), Dawson Strom (Moorhead, 16:13), Jacob Bright (West Central, 16:15), Alex Luz (Fargo North, 16:25), Bailey Evenson (Perham, 16:32), Jacob Mccleary (Perham, 16:35), Riley Berg (Bemidji, 16:35)

The Skinny: After two previous close matchups, Moorhead and Perham will again face off. This time around, Moorhead will try to play spoiler to Perham's home meet after the Yellowjackets did the same at the Moorhead Dragon Twilight. Perham won that battle by 12 points, but Moorhead returned the favor at their only other meeting, winning the Little Falls Lucky Lindy Invitational. At that race, they were just four points in front of Perham, so expect another extremely tight face off. Individually, Emmet Anderson and Brandon O'Hara are the 3rd and 4th ranked athletes in Class A, and should have an epic battle here. In their only matchup so far, Anderson finished four seconds in front of O'Hara at the St. Olaf Showcase. Though they each ran at Griak, Anderson was in the Maroon Race, where he finished runner-up to Brady Yoder. However, his time was six seconds quicker than O'Hara's from the Gold Race. Don't sleep on Zach Johnson either, who hasn't run slower than 16:15 since August. Alex Luz and Jacob Bright are two other names to keep an eye on, as they've had strong starts to the year. Perham and Moorhead also each have incredibly deep rosters, so their packs should take up most of the front groups.

GIRLS

Virtual Meet Projection: Perham (69), Lakeville South (102), Moorhead (123), Staples-Motley (152)

Top Individuals: Brianne Brewster (Lakeville South, 18:15), Anna Lien (Fargo North, 19:23), Kira Sweeney (Staples-Motley, 19:32), Caitlin Covington (Perham, 19:38), Liz Birkeland (Perham, 19:38), Anna Bernhardt (Shanley, 19:40), Gwen Youso (Bemidji, 19:47), Onnica Stansbury (Sheyenne, 19:53), Avery Heinz (Lakeville South, 19:58)

The Skinny: The girls team race should not be nearly as close as the boys. The 2nd-ranked Perham girls are looking strong once again this year, and are clearly stronger top to bottom than any other team in this field. The Moorhead girls have solid depth, but it will likely not be enough to counter the frontrunning of Perham's duo of Liz Birkeland and Caitlin Covington. Those two will also be among the favorites in the individual battle. However, the big favorite will be Brianne Brewster, the 3rd-ranked runner in Class AA, is fresh off a fantastic performance at Griak to take 5th.  Anna Lien, Anna Bernhardt and Birkeland will likely lead the chase pack, as Lien just ran 19:23 at the Willmar Invite and Birkeland and Bernhardt ran sub-20 on the tough Griak course. Covington had an off day at Griak, but has been Perham's top runner for most of the year, so keep an eye out for her and Birkeland to work together. Sweeney owns the third quickest season best in the field, running her time at the New London-Spicer Little Crow Invitational. She should make a splash as well.

(written by Sam O'Donnell-Hoff)