From left to right: Sydney Drevlow, Sam Scott, Ali Weimer, and Emmett Gerres
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With the first week and a half of the cross country season done, it's time to start our weekly boys and girls runner of the week polls! Each week the poll will come out on Monday at 8:00 am and go until Wednesday at 8:00 pm.
See: Pre-Season MN Coaches Association Class A XC Rankings | Pre-Season MN Coaches Association Class AA XC Rankings | Pre-Season MN Coaches Association Class AAA Boys XC Rankings | Pre-Season MN Coaches Association Class AAA Girls XC Ranking
Each will there will be four boys and four girls for each poll. Participants are based on the MileSplit Minnesota staff's opinions. The rest is up to you!
So without further ado...
Ali Weimer was this year's St. Olaf High School Showcase champion with a time of 17:46.80 which is the state's best time so far, and just 6 seconds off of her PR from 2019 of 17:40.20. She is a 3X Section 5AA cross country champion.
Sydney Drevlow was right behind Weimer at the St. Olaf High School showcase as she finished as the runner-up with a time of 17:54.30. Like Weimer, she was also only 6 seconds off of her PR. Of the girls that have also run a 2-mile race this fall, she is the state leader with a time of 11:27.17.
Daphne Grobstein is Drevlows teammate and Class of 2025 classmate. Her previous best PR was 19:39.46 for a 63rd place finish at the TCRC XC Showcase last fall. That was a 5 second PR at the time. Well, she just so happened to carry over all that momentum from last season. At the St. Olaf High School Showcase, she finished 6th overall with a new PR of 18:48.80 for a huge PR of about 51 seconds.
McKenna Hendrickson so far has the biggest PR of any girl in Minnesota this season. Her previous best was 21:36.70 from last season's Cotter Tri. Well one race into the season, and she has already CRUSHED her previous PR. At the Bill Glomski Invitational, she ran a 19:54.20 to set a new PR by 1:42.50.
Sam Scott was this year's St. Olaf High School Showcase champion with a time of 15:35.60 which is the best in the state so far. It is also a new PR for Scott surpassing his previous PR of 16:18.20 from back in 2019 when he was an eighth-grader.
Emmett Gerres can say one thing no other runner from Belle Plaines can say, and that is that he can say he is the school record holder for the 5K. Gerres was the 4th place finisher at Srt. Olaf with a time of 15:39.40, which is a new PR by almost a minute. His previous PR was 16:32.40. It is also a big improvement over his first race from this season, where he ran a 16:36.30.
Owen Chapman could be a rising freshman that we will see impress for years to come. Last year, his first of XC, his best time was 17:03.40. This season he came in like a speed demon and ran a MASSIVE PR of 15:51.06. That isn't even a Top 50 PR this season (by time difference), but definitely the most impressive just skipping over that sub 17 barrier and going straight for the sub 16 barrier.
Shef West is the states leading senior boys runner at the moment. At the Orono Twilight meet, he ran a 15:42.49 to take first place by 9 seconds over Owen Chapman. This is only his second time running sub 16 minutes after last season's IMAC West Tri.