Weather: Mid-40's, sun, light wind
BOYS VIRTUAL MEET
TEAMS TO WATCH: Lac Qui Parle Valley, Pipestone, Redwood Valley, Luverne
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH: Jayson Peyerl (Redwood Valley, 16:17), Mitchell Buerkle (Springfield, 16:29.8), Mikey Kvaal (LQPV, 16:42), Ezekiel Sather (LQPV, 16:45), Brayden Tofteland (Luverne, 16:49.1), Mason Clark (Redwood Valley, 16:58.9), Bertram Munk (Yellow Medicine East, 17:10), Griffin Johnson (LQPV, 17:10), Nathan Neu (Ortonville, 17:18.1), Seth Lingen (Pipestone, 17:22.4)
THE SKINNY: No. 4 ranked Lac Qui Parle Valley is the clear favorite in section 3A. LQPV has reached state every year since 2015 and won three of the last four section titles. They look to have seven athletes in the top 25 which could put their entire team in front of the fourth runner of their closest team competition based on season bests. The battle for second should be tight between Pipestone and Luverne with the edge in season best results going to Pipestone but Redwood Valley running more consistently in their top five performances. Redwood Valley was runner-up last season and has the fastest individual in the field in 2019. Redwood Valley defeated Pipestone four times this season but the Arrows beat the Cardinals last week by seven points in the BIg South Conference small school race.
Throughout the year Redwood Valley junior Jayson Peyerl has the section's fastest time but finished behind LQPV junor Ezekiel Sather in both head to head meetings. He did knock off defending section champ LQPV senior Mikey Kvaal in both meetings but split with Springfield senior Mitchell Buerkle in four head to head meetings. However the LQPV lead duo finished in front of Buerkle in both their head to head races. The competition for the section title individually may be tighter than the team race as it looks to be anyone's race with little separating the four leading candidates. Luverne senior Brayden Tofteland and Yellow Medince East senior Bertram Munk follow Buerkle as top names looking for individual state meet tickets. Also follow Ortonville junior Nathan Neu and Windom Area senior Patrick Green.
GIRLS VIRTUAL MEET
TEAMS TO WATCH: Luverne, Murray County Central-Fulda, Redwood Valley, Canby-Minneota
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH: Morgan Gehl (Murray Co Central-Fulda, 18:04), Tenley Nelson (Luverne, 18:17.3), Maddie Lesage (Redwood Valley, 19:05.3), Grace Drietz (Canby-Minneota, 19:21.7), Jenna Debates (Luverne, 19:48), Gracie Bucher (Windom Area, 20:05), Chloe Haven (Wabasso, 20:07), Ashley Overgaauw, Murray Co Centra-Fulda, 20:10), Amanda Overgaauw (MCC-F, 20:12), Brooklynn Versteeg (Luverne, 20:12.9)
THE SKINNY: 3A will feature a close three-way race between no. 3 ranked Murray County Central-Fulda, no. 4 ranked Luverne and Redwood Valley. While it appears MCC-F and Luverne are the favorites it's possible for Redwood Valley to snag a second place finish if they can get can improve a few places in spots two through five. Luverne has won the section dating back to 2015 before the switch from a 4k to a 5k race distance. Meanwhile MCC-F has slowly been climbing the ranks looking for a team berth behind their star underclassman junior Morgan Gehl. MCC-F and Luverne will have the top two fastest individuals in the state followed by a cast that could take up eight of the top 25 spots in the race and making them favorites to reach St. Olaf. Luverne is still the team to beat but this could be the year MCC-F breaks through and reaches state as a team.
Just as in the team competition it looks to be Luverne head to head with MCC-F as Cardinal sophomore Tenley Nelson and Rebels junior Morgan Gehl standing as the section's best. Gehl currently no. 2 ranked in the state just a spot above Nelson with the fifth and 14th best times in the state so far. Gehl has lost just once in 14 career matchups with Nelson, the 2017 Adrian Invite, in a rivalry going back to 2016. Gehl has won the last two 3A titles going on to finish third at state and 8th at NXR. Nelson has been the runner-up in the previous two years going on to finish seventh at state and in the top 50 at NXR in 2018. Canby-Minneota sophomore Grace Drietz comes in as the fourth fastest in the section this season after running third in 3A last year and bettering Nelson by one spot at state in sixth overall. With the departure of several of class A's best from 2018, it's foreseeable that the top three from 3A could go on to challenge for an individual state title a week later. Redwood Valley eighth grader Maddie Lesage has run a faster season best than Drietz but lost all five head to head meetings during the year. Windom Area junior Gracie Bucher and Wabasso senior Chloe Haven join Lesage as favorites for earning the section's first few individual state meet berths. MCC-F freshman Ashley Overgaauw and Amanda Overgaauw both have the potential for top ten finishes and maintaining their regular season standard will be the launch pad if the Rebels are able to claim a state meet qualification.