Great Meets In Perham And Owatonna Highligh Another Big Day

PREVIEW

Crosby-Ironton Roger Twigg Ranger Invite

Location: Ruttgers Golf Course, Deerwood

Weather: Mid-40's, still, chance of rain late

BOYS

Virtual Meet Projection: Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin (27), Brainerd (69), Crosby-Ironton (81)

Top Individuals: Geno Uhrbom (GNK, 15:48), Taran Howard (DRN, 17:00), Spencer Engel (GNK, 17:11), Tucker Ringhand (CI, 17:12), Greg Peterson (GNK, 17:16)

The Skinny: Geno Uhrbom is back on a winning streak and likely won't be seriously challenged today to get his fifth win in six outings this season. Last year, this course held him to his slowest time of the season of 17:09 (yet he still won by over a minute), so you know it must be a challenging one and he won't be trying to break the bank. It will be interesting to see if Taran Howard can keep up his hot streak of dropping time and get as close as he can to Uhrbom, while Crosby-Ironton's Tucker Ringhand has been having something of a breakout season. But while Uhrbom has held a firm grip on the top individual spot in the Class A polls this year, his GNK team has fallen off the rankings the past few weeks, primarily due to the absence of Greg Peterson, their number two runner coming into the season who has not raced since their first race in Virginia back in August. Not having Peterson shouldn't stop GNK from handily taking this meet, however - even without him, the virtual meet projects them to win by over 30 points.

GIRLS

Virtual Meet Projection: Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin (41), Brainerd (57), South Ridge (70), Crosby-Ironton (74)

Top Individuals: Carlee Plackner (GNK, 20:54), Kaitlin Olson (GNK, 21:22), Lily Peterson (CI, 21:37), Taina Koivisto (South Ridge, 21:38), Molly Saboo (Mille Lacs, 21:43)

The Skinny: Like on the boys side, the girls meet is expected to be won by GNK as a team and as an individual. However, in both cases, the race is expected to me much closer. Carlee Plackner is the only runner to run under 21 minutes this season, but only just barely, and she'll have a number of challenges from CI's Lily Peterson, South Ridge's Taina Koivisto, and her 7th-grade teammate Kaitlin Olson. However, Plackner has consistantly owned better times in the same meets as her rivals, so as long as she keeps up her season trends, she'll likley still get the win. The same goes for the GNK girls, who hold a sixteen-point advantage over Brainerd in the virtual meet, but the Class AA Brainerd's superior depth could potentially cut that deficit down a bit.