Sam Ringger Guns For First Place, LQPV Want Team Wins Today

PREVIEW

Weather: 46 degrees, rain

BOYS

Virtual Meet Projection: Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd (21), Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (50)

Top Individuals: Noah Stewart (MACA, 16:25), Mikey Kvaal (LQPVDB, 16:36), Ezekiel Sather (LQPVDB, 16:39), Mason Brehmer (LQPVDB, 17:22)

The Skinny: Noah Stewart's breakout season had a mild hiccup last week when he had a third place finish in Sauk Centre, the first time this season he has lost to runners who have never been ranked (though to be fair, EGF's Cole Nowacki and Tyson Mahar may be ranked in the near future). This week, he'll be facing a couple more unranked athletes in Mikey Kvaal and Ezekiel Sather of LQPVDB who are going to make their cases to the coaches of Class A. Kvaal has won three of his last four races and gone sub-17 in all but one of his last six, so he'll likely be the biggest completion for Stewart. But the bigger goal for those two athlete may be to just make sure their fourth-ranked team stays healthy and dominant. They own nine of the 15 fastest runners in the field, so they should have no problem taking the win here.

GIRLS

Virtual Meet Projection: Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd (28), Sauk Centre (55), Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (73)

Top Individuals: Isabel Schirm (LQVPDB, 19:29), Sophia Kluber (Sauk Centre, 20:09), Maddie Carrington (MACA, 20:13), Grace Hegland (LQPVDB, 20:13)

The Skinny: Isabel Schirm is easily having her best season as a senior, breaking 20 minutes three times so far without ever having previously done so. She'll be the favorite in this race, and a win would be her fifth win of the season (and of her career). She'll face a challenge from Sophia Kluber and Maddie Carrington, both of whom are also having very solid season seasons (and in fact, Carrington has a better PR than Schirm at 19:19). But like the boys, Schirm will be the frontrunner for a ranked Class A team that are strong favorites today. That said, the LQPVDB girls has less margin for error than the boys, as their sixth runner only sits 21st in the field, so an off day by a runner or two could making things interesting if Sauk Centre has a good day.