The eyes of the Minnesota running community will turn to Northfield and the campus of St. Olaf College on Saturday for the 2019 Minnesota State High School League Cross Country Championships. Over 12,500 athletes and 600 teams raced in Minnesota this year. The ultimate goal of reaching the state meet is realized by just 64 teams and an additional 256 individuals who will compete in four championship races. For those who toe the line on Saturday it is an incredible accomplishment to have reached the pinnacle of the sport for high school harriers in Minnesota. History is always a part of each state meet but for the participants who lace up the spikes on Saturday they put their names along side legendary names like Bjorklund, Kempainen, Tollefson, Wheeler, Heath, Yetzer, Mead or Hasz, something truly special they and every fan in attendance will treasure for a life time.
This year history could be in the form of small town cross country powerhouse Perham cementing themselves in MSHSL folklore with a concurrent boys and girls, back to back to back state title run. Or can a team from the 651 area code not named Stillwater win a boys AA title? Can the reigning class A distance triple crown winner Geno Uhrbom find his way back to the top of the podium? Can former class AA state champ Anna Fenske find her way back to the top four years after her first state title? Will the Stillwater girls hold off a pair of hard charging traditional powers and defending state champ St. Michael Albertville to breakthrough for their own state title? These and so many more storylines await. Let's take a look with our previews and virtual meets* of all four of Saturday's state championship finals!
*Virtual meets include athletes from qualifying teams.