Class A Girls Pre-Season Team Watch List

STEWARTVILLE (11)

Stewartville presents an interesting study in what the departure of the Ping sisters will mean in section 1A. The Tigers were third at the section meet last year and senior Kailee Malone was the only state meet qualifier. This season they return six from that team and figure in the class A top ten fastest team averages in our team score projections. It's clear that their 3-5 runners will need to see some improvement but Cotter will be relying on two runners with current PRs in the 22 minute range as potential scorers. In that situation Stewartville has six runners under that time including Isabel Field (19:55), Gracie Waltman (20:21) and Olivia FIeld (20:54). Those times would still likely place Stewartville behind Lake City but if projected fifth runner Brenna Nelson (21:10) can go lower its possible that the Tigers would get into the top two places at the sectional. Of course we're talking about good programs that develop runners well so while it's all a paper debate, the coaches association agree that Stewartville is worth watching, naming them in their Class A preseason poll.