Location: Valleywood Golf Course, Apple Valley
Weather: Low 40's, light wind, some clouds
BOYS VIRTUAL MEET
TEAMS TO WATCH: Rosemount (81), Eagan (86), Prior Lake (88.5), Eastview (97)
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH: Colden Longley (Bloomington Jefferson, 15:44), John Faller (East Ridge, 16:00), Gabe Smit (Prior Lake, 16:09), AJ Green (Eastview, 16:13), Paul Schmitter (Eagan, 16:21)
THE SKINNY: There are two ranked teams in this field, with Prior Lake ranked eighth and Eastview ranked ninth. On paper, Eastview looks like they should be counted out as they are in fourth but they are a team that could be tops in the state. Behind those two, Eagan is the next best team, previously ranked tenth but falling out of the rankings this season. Eagan has the opportunity to qualify for the state meet but it will be hard to go up against Eastview and Prior Lake. Rosemount cannot be completely counted, either. It will be an exciting team race to watch as whoever qualifies out of this section has the chance to be a top ten team in the state.
The individual race will be a fun one between AJ Green, Colden Longley, and Gabe Smit. They are ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth in the state, respectively. Longley and Smit have not raced each other since their season opener, the St. Olaf Showcase, where Longley finished 30 seconds ahead of Green. However, Green has gone on to improve immensely as the season has gone on, whereas Longley has struggled. He finished only 24th at the Swain Invite and did not race at his conference meet. Longley has the opportunity to prove himself at this race but it looks like Green has the edge going into the race. Smit and Green raced each other at the South Suburban Conference Championships last week where Green was victorious and Smit finished runner up. It was a close race as they were only separated by one second. Smit's Prior Lake teammate was not far off in third at that race. Other individuals to watch include John Faller of East Ridge and Paul Schmitter of Eagan.
GIRLS VIRTUAL MEET
TEAMS TO WATCH: Rosemount (43), East Ridge (48), Eastview (86), Bloomington Jefferson (99)
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH: Halle Mestery (East Ridge, 18:25), Miranda Kerndt (Eastview, 18:57), Mary Kenney (East Ridge, 19:01), Daisy Islas, (Rosemount, 19:12)
THE SKINNY: Rosemount is the team to beat in this race, and they will be hard to challenge as they are ranked ninth in the state rankings. No other team in the field is ranked, but East Ridge is not far off on paper. East Ridge has two front runners that will help close the gap and land them a state qualifying position. It will be interesting to see if East Ridge can close the gap behind Rosemount to try to work their way into being a team to talk about going into the state meet. Eastview cannot be completely counted out but they will need their fourth and fifth runners to close the gap to make a big enough impact to grab a qualifying spot.
Halle Mestery seems to be the standout runner in the field, recently coming off of a runner-up finish at the Suburban East Conference where she ran her season best of 18:25 which is the top in this field. Her impressive performances this season have led her to be ranked sixth in the state. Her teammate, Mary Kenney, has placed near behind her at the races this season which will help improve their score at this section meet. The top runner from Eastview, Miranda Kerndt, has the second best season best in the field but has not finished higher than seventh in a race this year and was 22nd in this race last year. Daisy Islas of Rosemount is kind of an unknown as she has only raced four times this season. Islas is the defending champion of this race but will have to put up an impressive performance to repeat as champion.
(written by Emma Benner)