Edina Girls, Mound View Boys Use Team Depth to Win AA Titles

Edina's Maggie Wagner (199) and Lauren Cossack top the hill with 150m left in their state title run.

One team was a strong favorite who emerged as a clear winner. The other was one of several potential favorites that ran down the field to win by a mere point. Both the Edina girls and Mounds View boys used strong team running tactics to earn Class AA state titles. 

In the individual race the expected names went to the front early and ran hard to the end with a pair of new state Class AA individual champions emerging. Stillwater junior Analee Weaver showcased the right amount of patience and perseverance to pull away from a stacked field of competitors for her first title. On the boys side St Paul Highland Park senior Oliver Paleen ran among a front pack of five that trickled to three before he broke away in the final 600 meters to claim his first state championship.

Checkout our recaps of both the team and individual Minnesota Class AA State Championship Meet.

Class AA Girls Team Recap

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Edina came in on the short list of favorites for the girls Class AA title knowing it would take an team effort to pull off the win without dominant front runner. In a confident display of team running the Hornets instead dominated the team scoring with a group of athletes in the middle of the top 20, about 45 seconds back of the individual winner. If there is ever a team victory in cross country Edina's 1-5 split of just 18 seconds with an average finish of 18:40 created a textbook case of pack running greatness. That performance produced a 54 point win over runner-up Wayzata, another elite team with post-season aspirations of it's own. Edina put their top five in the top 16 scoring runners and top 27 overall to win the program's third state title. Sophomore Maggie Wagner (10), freshman Lauren Cossack (11), senior Morgan Richter (14), freshman Mary Velner (20), sophomore Macy Iyer (27), senior Sadie Schreiner (56), and senior Heidi Engman (85) completed the state title winning roster for the Hornets.

The battle for second went to Wayzata by 16 points over defending Class AA champ St Michael Albertville. The scoring edge for the Trojans may have covered up what was slim margin between the two teams. Both posted a 77 second split with STMA actually edging Wayzata in team average, 18:47-18:49. The Knights posted a pair of top ten racers in front in the form of fourth place sophomore Ali Weimer and ninth place sophomore Katie Sigerud but Wayzata had second place overall finisher freshman Abbey Nechanicky and a distinct edge in the final two scoring spots to over come the difference.

Executing the art of pack running about 20 seconds behind Edina was fourth place Alexandria who recorded an incredible 15 second split with a 19:04 average to better fifth place Stillwater. The Cardinals overcame the Ponies despite a six second deficit in team average and Stillwater junior Analee Weaver winning the individual title. Alexandria sophomore Emma Ecker led the Cardinals pack in the 17th scoring spot. Stillwater was one of four teams with a sub-19 minute team average (Edina, Wayzata, STMA) but their split of nearly two minutes simply proved too much to push higher in the team standings.

Girls Class AA Individual Recap

Most of the race a pack of four ran up front head of another larger chase pack before things broke up. Stillwater junior Analee Weaver went to the front of that group and created distance over the final 800m to take the state title in a career best 17:46.1. Weaver was eighth in last year's state meet. Wayzata freshman phenom Abbey Nechanicky closed her Minnesota racing season with confident second place finish in a career best 17:52.8, running among the top four the entire race until Weaver broke away late.

Farmington junior Anna Fenske was also among the front pack until Weaver and Nechanicky surged away in the last half mile, leaving her with a third place finish overall in her fifth cross country state meet appearance where she has finished no lower than ninth overall. STMA sophomore Ali Weimer ran just two seconds back of Fenske in fourth place, her best state meet finish in three appearances after running seventh and ninth in the previous two trips. Hopkins seventh grader Sydney Drevlow continued her late season emergence as one of the state's best with an impressive 18:10, the second best time of her young career, to finish fifth in her first state meet appearance.

Class AA MNXCCA All-State (top 25 individuals)

BOYS CLASS AA RECAPS