Oct 17, 2022

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It was another full week for cross country in Minnesota last week with meets going on all around the state, times getting faster and faster, and the official start of championship season. Things will just get better this week with the rest of conference season and a run-up to the section meets.

Here we look at those five chosen runners to see what merited their inclusion in this week's poll for Minnesota male runner of the week.

Each week of the season you will have the chance to vote for a male and female runner of the week, based on the previous week's meet results.

Related: Poll: Minnesota Female Cross Country Runner of the Week

So without further ado, here are this week's nominees for the Minnesota male cross country runner of the week for October 9th through the 15th.

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Aidan Jones took the win in the Minneapolis City Conference Championships title in a thrilling race over the defending champion in Sam Scott. Jones ran a time of 15:16.26 to beat out Scott by just a second. This is a new PR for Jones by 7 seconds and his second meet victory in a row after winning the Chaska Victoria Lions Invitational last week.

Hamza Mohamed led the Wayzata boys to yet another victory at the Lake Conference Championships where Mohamed beat out defending Class AAA state champion Nick Gilles. Mohamed ran a season-best time of 15:25.20. The Wayzata boys, led by Mohamed, ran a state-best scoring average of 15:40 at the meet.

Alden Keller in his second race of the season ran a time of 16:01.59 to win the Independent Metro Athletic Conference Championship for the 4th year in a row. Keller beat out his teammate Harris Gulbransen for the title, and both those boys were the only two under 17 minutes.

Sean Fries helped lead the Minnetonka boys to a second-place finish at the Lake Conference Championships with a 21-second PR for a new PR of 15:51.18. Fries is now the only freshman boy in Minnesota with a 5K time under 16 minutes this season. Fries now ranks #25 nationally in his class of 2026.

Erik Semling ran a time of 17:45.80 at the PEM Jodi Rahman Invitational for a strong 10th-place finish. While the time and place might not stick out, Semling is now the only 7th-grade boy in Minnesota to run under 18 minutes this season, and also ranks #6 nationally for his class in the 5K.