PREVIEW
MSHSL Section 3AA Championships
Location: Valleywood Golf Course, Apple Valley
Weather: Low 50's, cloudy, rain should hold off
BOYS
Season Best Projection: Rosemount (48), East Ridge (80), Eastview (86), Prior Lake (112)
Season Average Projection: Rosemount (71), Eastview (71), East Ridge (74), Prior Lake (112)
Top Individuals: Luke Labatte (Rosemount, 15:37), Aj Green (Eastview, 16:06), Gabe Smit (Prior Lake, 16:07), Lloyd Young (Bloomington Kennedy, 16:13), Joseph Reimann (East Ridge, 16:14), Danny Cox (Rosemount, 16:23), Colden Longley (Bloomington Jefferson, 16:27), Payne Freske (Rosemount, 16:32), Gabriel Mahlen (Eastview, 16:32), Sam Morgenstern (Eastview, 16:39)
The Skinny: The team's from Eastview and Rosemount seem to be the teams to beat for the state qualifying positions. Eastview is ranked tenth and Rosemount has the honorable mention position. They come in at a tie based on the season average projections but Rosemount has the faster group of season best times. That said, Eastview is coming off of the South Suburban Conference title ahead of Rosemount by nine points and have beaten Rosemount each time they have faced each other this season. East Ridge is the third team that is knocking on the door of that State championship appearance. They have only raced against Eastview this year, which was at the St. Olaf Showcase in August, where Eastview beat East Ridge by over 30 points. After so much time has passed, and in a smaller meet like Sections, it should be a lot closer of a race, but the question will be if they can take down either Rosemount or Eastview.
Individually, Luke Labatte seems like he has the section title as a lock, coming in being ranked fourth in the state. He is very fresh this season, having only raced five times, and all of which have been very consistent and good performances. Behind him will be Aj Green from Eastview, in his first season of high school cross country and already leading his team and vying for a runner up spot at the section meet. He was most recently third at the South Suburban Conference Meet, where Labatte won. However, ahead of Green by one second in that race was Gabe Smit who is also in this field. Smit has run a big personal best and had large jumps in performances this season. He was only ninth last year at the conference meet and finished as runner up this year. Smit and Green will make for a good race for that runner up position today. Behind them looking for individual state qualifying positions should be Lloyd Young, Joseph Reimann, Colden Longley, and a pack of other talented runners.
GIRLS
Season Best Projection: Rosemount (35), Visitation (100), East Ridge (116), Eagan (127)
Season Average Projection: Rosemount (50), East Ridge (99), Eagan (102), Visitation (118)
Top Individuals: Daisy Islas (Rosemount, 18:28), Margaret Dalseth (Visitation, 18:43), Halle Mestery (East Ridge, 18:47), Sadie Grunau (Visitation, 19:12), Nina Reamer (Visitation, 19:15), Nicole Kelly (Prior Lake, 19:19), Taylor Heimerl (Rosemount, 19:23), Avery Leppones (Rosemount, 19:24), Kate Beckwith (Rosemount, 19:28), Lucy Jagoe (Rosemount, 19:28)
The Skinny: Rosemount looks like they will be a lock for the section title and a state championship appearance. They are currently ranked twelfth and are well ahead of the field based on the projections. Based on the season best times, they are projected to finish with all five of their scorers in the top ten. The teams behind them of Visitation, East Ridge, and Eagan look to be pretty evenly matched, and none of them have faced each other in a head-to-head matchup. Last year, the top five teams in this section were all separated by just 5 points (the top six by 12 points), and this year may not be any different for that second qualifying spot. East Ridge has been included in the polls a few times this year, and are led by one of Minnesota's better freshmen in Halle Mestery, but they'll need their higher-scoring runners to drop some time and places if they want to qualify. The same can be said about Visitation as well, perhaps even moreso, as they own a nearly-three minute 1-5 spread, but have arguably the best top trio in the Section. Eagan, meanwhile, does not have a comparable low stick to Mestery or Margaret Dalseth, but their back-half runners are the best of the three.
There is no definite front runner in the pack of individuals but Daisy Islas seems to be the most consistent and top runner. She currently has an honorable mention ranking. As a young talent (only a seventh grader) she will be new to these big races as well as qualifying races. She was 32nd at the Roy Griak Invitational, the biggest meet that she competed at. In that same race, Margaret Dalseth was behind her in 51st but she continued on and just got third at the Tri-Metro Conference Championships. Halle Mestery from East Ridge is another one that will be up there with Dalseth and Islas with her most recent personal best of 18:47 and fourth place finish at the Suburban East Conference Championships. Dalseth's Visitation teammates of Sadie Grunau and Nina Reamer will be near behind her as the three of them are fighting for every position to finish high up for their team's chances. Nicole Kelly from Prior Lake will be looking for an individual state qualifying position and should be able to get that with her consistent marks this season. She most recently was ninth at the South Suburban Conference Championships and ran a personal best of 19:19 the week before that. The four from Rosemount of Taylor Heimerl, Avery Leppones, Kate Beckwith, and Lucy Jagoe will be a big asset to the Rosemount team score if they all finish in the top ten as they are projected to.