Top Nine Girls Teams Heading To NXR Heartland

Other Notables:

Eden Prairie (MN)

The Eagles of Eden Prairie had their strongest season in years this fall, but still were unable to qualify for the State Championships in Minnesota thanks to sharing a Section Championship with both Wayzata and Edina (only two teams can qualify per section). But don't expect that to stop them from being competitive in the team race, as they have a great lowstick in Liesl Paulsen and a 1-5 average of 18:49.

Willmar (MN)

With the graduation of this year's seniors, the last runners from Willmar's string of NXN qualifications will be gone, but they have plenty of potential to get back. This fall was a bit inconsistent for the Cardinals, as they never seemed to have all their runners in peak form at the same time, but if that does happen, with a 18:58 1-5 average, they certainly will be in the hunt.

Andover (MN)

Andover had a banner year to take sixth at the State meet. Senior Alexa Havon has been a strong frontrunner throughout the whole season, while Alyssa Gerth, Julia Nielsen, and Claire Beckman make up the backbone of the team. While they're not likely to take one of the NXN berths, they could shake up things in the team top ten standings and come away with a trophy to take back home.

Slotting right behind Sun Prairie for 3rd at the D1 State Championships and led by likely America's fastest set of triplets, Onalaska is an insanely exciting team whose oldest runner in their top seven is a just a sophomore. While this year might be a stretch for Onalaska to qualify, the next two years could be a coup for the Hilltoppers.

Johnston (IA)

After several key graduations, the Dragoons won't enter the meet as one of the top NXN threats like the past few years, and they took second at theor State Championships by one point, but they have more than enough talent to make a solid dent in the team standings. And if the star triathlete Paige Horner can return to close to the form she was in last year for XC, that dent could be fairly significant.
Slotting right behind Johnson in the 4A Championships in Iowa, Valley High School could make a big impact if they cut down their projected 76-second spread. They have two low sticks in Lauren Schultz and Helen Gould who each raced in the Championship race last year, and if they can pull the rest of their team along with them this year, they could squeeze out a top-five finish.