Boys Class AA Preseason Team Watch List

2018 was a dream year for the Mounds View Mustangs, as their top four broke 16:00, they finished a close second at State, and they were ultimately crowned Heartland champions, punching their tickets to Portland. Mounds View's top seven will have a new look, with the graduation of their 1-2 punch Austin Streit and Lukas Hessini along with Nehemiah Gaim. But they return three of their scoring five in Finn Sokolowski, Will Sacay, and Alec Nelson. Freshman phenom Elliott McArthur and Matthew Miller showed remarkable improvement during track and will likely round out the top five. McArthur was the consistent sixth man for the Mustangs last fall, but Miller wasn't even a part of their top seven. However, he qualified for the Hamline Elite Meet and ran 9:37 there, signalling a potential breakout this fall. In fact, all five of the aforementioned runners ran between 9:32 and 9:37, a spread that will be extremely tough for another team in Minnesota will be able to match this fall. The lack of a clear number one and lack of depth past five runners could be weak points for Mounds View, but if their roster is healthy, there's just too much talent to bet against. The Mustangs are poised to take home the State title that they barely missed last year, and perhaps take another crack at NXN.

2018 RETURNING TIMES/TEAM AVERAGES