PREVIEW
Madelia Invite
Location: Madelia Golf Course, Madelia
Weather: Partly cloudy, high of 41, breezy
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projection: Mankato Loyola/Cleveland (25), Martin County West (30), Minnesota Valley Lutheran (120)
Top Individuals: Mitch Johnstone (Loyola, 16:35), Carson Kahler (Martin County West, 16:53), Kolton Larson (Martin County West, 17:06), Jerrett Peterson ( Loyola, 17:12), Brett Omtvedt (Loyola, 17:15)
The Skinny: Two teams will be competing for the top spot at the Madelia Invite on Thursday, and it could be a close one. Mankato Loyola High School is slated to edge out Martin County West High School by a few points in the projection. Johnstone (Mankato) has been having a great season in the 5K with a recent 1st place finish at the Sleepy Eye Invite with a time of 17:02 on October 4th. He has finished 5th place or better in all 7 of his 5K races this fall. Kahler (Martin County) has also been having a good season with a recent PR of 16:53 at the Fairmont I-90 Invite on October 4th. Both Martin County and Mankato will each likely have 4 or 5 runners cross the finish line in the top 10. The weather looks to finally be drying out for Thursday's races, but it could be a windy day out on the course.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projection: Martin County West (58), Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet (62), Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (88)
Top Individuals: Makenna Thurston (LCWMN, 19:01), Marissa Whitehead (Martin County West, 19:30), Grace Feder (GFW, 19:32), Olivia Flack (LCWMN, 20:25), Abby Nelson (Minnesota Valley Lutheran, 20:38)
The Skinny: Martin County and Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial will battle it out for the top team finish on Thursday, with just a few points separating the two in the projection. The top runner at the Madelia Invite will be Makenna Thurston who has had a phenomenal and consistent XC season so far this fall. She recently had a 1st place finish at the Sleepy Eye Invite a week ago with a time of 19:45 and 2nd at the Saint James Invite with a 19:01. In her 7, 5K races this fall, she has finished in 3rd place or better in all of them, with an impressive 3rd place finish at Milaca back in September. Giving Makenna some competition will be fellow All-Stater Marissa Whitehead. She recently had a 2nd place finish at the Fairmont I-90 Invite with a time of 19:30 and a 2nd place finish at the Murray County Central Invite with a 21:05. Grace Feder will also likely finish in the top three, and she recently had a 5K PR of 19:32 at the Redwood Valley Invite.
(written by Austin Mielke)
TODAY'S MEETS