Central Minnesota River Run
Location: Vintage Golf Gourse, Staples
Weather: Low 60's, rain
BOYS
Virtual Meet Projections: Staples-Motley (36), Detroit Lakes (50.5), Crosby-Ironton (102), Ottertail Central (119)
Individuals to Watch: Emmet Anderson (SM, 15:45), Hunter Klimek (SM, 16:21), Peyton Norby (DL, 16:58), Taran Howard (Deer River/Northland, 17:00), Tucker Ringhand (Crosby-Ironton, 17:12)
The Skinny: Running on their home course, but also just three days before running at St. Olaf, the Cardinals of Staples-Motley will open their season with a solid, though perhaps not all-out, run. It's a long season, and they have a good chance to improve on their 7th-place finish as a team at State from 2018. Even so, they should take the win as they have five of the top 15 fastest returning runners, followed (possibly closely) by the Class AA Detroit Lakes squad with 5 of the top 19 runners. Individually, last year, Class A's third-ranked Emmet Anderson won this race (though on a different course) in 16:49, and his teammate Hunter Klimek took 2nd in 17:20. However, it wouldn't be surprising to see those two challenged by Crosby-Ironton's Tucker Ringland, a senior who is coming off an outstanding track season where he ran 4:37/9:54.
GIRLS
Virtual Meet Projections: Staples-Motley (41), Fergus Falls (51), Detroit Lakes (72)
Individuals to Watch: Kyanna Burton (SM, 19:27), Emily Nuss (Fergus Falls, 19:33), Ashley Robben (SM, 19:50)
The Skinny: Like the boys squad, the Cardinals girls should come away with the team victory here as long as they don't hold back too much for St. Olaf. With former top runner Kira Sweeney now running for Wadena-Deer Creek, SM will have a hole to fill on their squad, and this meet will be the first opportunity for a young runner to step up just like Addisyn Cichos did last year to help propel the team to a fifth-place finish at State. Interestingly, projected runner-up finishers Fergus Falls also have an early hole to fill with the departure of State-qualifier Aspen Rohde to Perham, but if a couple runners can really step it up, they could manage to steal a win away from SM. Individually, Kyanna Burton should do very well as she is coming off a State-qualifying track season, but Emily Nuss is a state-qualifier as well and could make things interesting towards the end of the race.