Location: Northern Hills Golf Course, Rochester
Weather: Low 40's, partly cloudy, light wind
BOYS VIRTUAL MEET
TEAMS TO WATCH: Lake City, La Crescent-Hokah, Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson, Stewartville
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH: Reese Anderson (Lake City, 16:49), Luke O'Hare (LARP, 16:50), Samson Hagen (PEM, 16:55), Kevin Turlington (Rochester Lourdes, 16:58), Joe Kozlowski (Lake City, 17:00), Andrew Muenzhuber (Lake City, 17:07), Andrew O'hara (St. Charles, 17:09), Tyler Rislov (LARP, 17:11)
THE SKINNY: Armed with five runners who have gone 17:20 or better this season and the #8 ranking in Class A, Lake City holds the upper hand in the team competition, which they have proven many times over during the season by defeating every other section rival whenever they faced off with one another (and been running their full varsity squad). Recent performances especially have indicated their team is is great shape to do well at both Sections and State. However, some of those competitions have been rather close, including a 5-point margin over La Crescent-Hokah and 7 points over Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson early in the year, and with the great spread of LaC and a great frontrunning duo for LARP, the possibility of an upset of Lake City is real. But more likely, it will be a battle between those two teams for the second qualifying spot, and while the numbers indicate an advantage for La Crescent, they also have a thin margin of error with a projected gap of nearly 40 seconds between their 5th and 6th runner, meaning that they can't afford an off day for any one of their top five, or they risk LARP squeaking ahead of them.
Individually, one athlete who has been proving himself to be the best racer in this section is Luke O'Hare of LARP. O'Hare, the defending 1A champion, has won six of his eight races this year, and during track placed 8th in the 1600m and 10th in the 3200m. O'Hare's remarkable consistency bodes well for not only his race on Thursday, but also for a potential breakout race at the State championships. However, O'Hare should have a solid pack around him for at least the first portion of the race, and perhaps even up to the finish. Lake City's Reese Anderson, Lourdes' Kevin Turlington, and PEM's Samson Hagen should all be up in that group, along with O'Hare's teammate Tyler Rislov and several other Lake City runners. St. Charles' Andrew O'Hara could find himself in the mix as well.
GIRLS VIRTUAL MEET
TEAMS TO WATCH: Lake City, Stewartville, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Rochester Lourdes
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH: Natasha Sortland (ZM/KW, 17:48), Jacey Majeruss (Lake City, 18:51), Lauryn Renier (Lourdes, 19:06), Meg Degen (Lourdes, 19:28), Kailee Malone (Stewartville, 19:31), Madilyn Simon (PEM, 19:47), MollyKate Hagen (PEM, 19:49), Rory Bickler (Pacelli, 19:54)
THE SKINNY: Class A's 5th-ranked Lake City team took second in this section a year ago with every member returning, and this year have emerged as a solid favorite with both one of the strongest frontrunners in Jacey Majerus and one of the state's deepest squads in Class A. Their 1-5 average of 20:05 is better than any other team in the section by nearly 20 seconds, and they have at least one head-to-head win against every other team in the section. That said, they also have two head-to-head losses against the team that figures to be their main competition on Thursday, which is Class A's 8th-ranked team from Stewartville. Both losses were very close (less than 3 points each), however, and the two other times that Lake City faced their conference rival, they held them off in a more commanding fashion. Still, Stewartville will be a strong competitor, and they won't need too much to break their way in order to take the win. Big races from their pack of 3-5 runners may be enough to get the job done. Plainview-Elgin-Millville and Rochester Lourdes both have the numbers to indicate that they have a chance to achieve an upset in the team battle, but their head-to-head matchups against their two ranked opponents have been fairly one-sided to this point of the season, so they would need a lot to break their way.
Individually, 1A will continue their recent tradition of housing one of Class A's most elite runners, as Natasha Sortland of Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyan-Wanamingo will be lining up for the race. Outside of a season-opening runner-up finish to Wayzata's Abbey Nechanicky, Sortland has been nothing short of dominant, and her two most recent races have seen her break the 18-minute barrier for the first time in her stellar career. In fact, her time of 17:48 from last week's conference championships is the fastest time by any runner in the state so far for either class. With nearly a minute gapping her and the the season best of projected runner-up Jacey Majerus, Sortland should have no trouble taking home a big win to prepare her for what ought to be a much fiercer battle for a state championships next week. Majerus, meanwhile, seems to have a firm hold on the second spot heading into the meet, as the girl who projects to be her tightest competition, Rochester Lourdes' Lauryn Renier, finished behind her by 15 seconds at last week's conference championships. Still, both are All-State talent (Majerus took 12th at state last year, and Renier 21st), so expect it to be a good battle. 2016 and 2017 All-State runner Kailee Malone should give those ladies a solid push as well, especially in the last XC section meet of her career. Lourdes' Meg Degen, Pacelli's Rory Bickler, and PEM's duo of Madelyn Simon and MollyKate Hagen should be in the mix for top-ten spots as well.