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 female 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 Male Cross Country Runner of the Week

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

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Abbey Nechanicky stayed undefeated on the season with a dominant win at the Lake Conference Championships where she ran a time of 16:51.95 to run under 17 minutes for the second week in a row. She is now one of two girls in state history to run under 17 minutes for the 5K twice with Emily Covert.

Evie Malec has burst onto the scene this year and shown that she's not just one of the best in her class in Minnesota, but one of the best nationally. Malec finished 3rd at the Lake Conference Championships with a new PR of 18:17.09 for a 23-second PR. Malec now ranks first for all 8th-graders in Minnesota this season with her time of 18:17.09, 17th all-time for Minnesota 8th-graders, and 3rd nationally for her class this season.

Greta Hansen won her third straight Eastern Minnesota Athletic Conference Championship dating back to 2019 with a time of 19:45.49. Hansen ran alone the whole race to win by over two minutes in a dominant performance. She also led the Math and Science girls to their third straight conference title.

Caitlyn Osanai won her second meet of the season with a big win at the Northwest Suburban Conference Championships with a time of 19:07.60. Osanai won narrowly over Anoka's Kaelyn Nelson who she beat out in a sprint to the finish line by just one second.

Gracie Morris helped lead the Perham girls to their 19th straight conference title at the Heart of Lakes Conference Championship. Morris finished 1st overall for her first victory of the season with a time of 19:33.90. Morris led the Perham girls to a perfect score of 15 points at the meet.