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Conference Championships season is over in Minnesota and now we look forward to Sections next week. Before we look forward, we have to look at what has a historic and memorable conference cross country season. Here we look at some of the notables runners, teams and accomplishments for the 40+ conference meets in Minnesota.
Related:
2022 Minnesota Cross Country Conference Championship Hub
Minnesota Cross Country Meet Results
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Emmett Gerres Stakes His Claim as Best in Minnesota
Gerres has won every race this year thus far after finishing 6th at St. Olaf in his season-opening race. During that stretch of 7 races, Gerres averaged 15:41.86 for each 5K and won 7 straight races. That is a historically great run for Gerres and at the Minnesota River Conference Championships, he smashed through his PR and put himself on the map as a senior to watch.
At the Minnesota River Conference Championships, Gerres ran a time of 15:07.30 to win his 8th straight race of the season and won by over a minute. His time of 15:07 is the 2nd fastest 5K in Minnesota this fall, the #1 time in Class AA by over 30 seconds, the 7th fastest 5K on Minnesota soil all-time, and the 15th fastest 5K by a Minnesota boy all-time.
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Wayzata Boys and Girls Show Why Their the Best in Minnesota
Both the Wayzata boys and girls won the Lake Conference titles in decisive fashion with the girls winning by 20 points and the boys by 29 points over Minnetonka. Both the boys and girls also showed that they're in championship season form, setting new Minnesota best scoring averages for 2022.
The Wayzata boys ran a season-best 15:40 average for their top five, which is a new best by 8 seconds over the Lakeville North boys with their 15:48 average. This is a huge improvement over their 15:59 average heading into the meet. They now rank #23 nationally for scoring average as of this writing. The Wayzata boys have now won 3 straight Lake Conference titles.
The Wayzata girls dominated the competition and their key rivals at the Lake Conference Championships to take back their Lake Conference title in a decisive fashion. The girls ran an 18:17 scorers average to increase their overall season average to 18:15.9 and to increase their overall best by 5 seconds overall. They now rank #13 nationally for their scorers average.
Congrats to the Schools that Won Both the Boy's and Girl's Titles
Every year there are conferences where the same school wins both the boy's and girl's conference championship team titles. Congrats to the Marshall, Canby, Math & Science Academy, Maple River, St. Cloud Cathedral, Perham, Wayzata, Minneapolis Southwest, Belle Plaine, Pine City, Murray County Central, Nova Classical Academy, St. Paul Highland Park, Delano, and Annandale for winning both the boys and girls team titles at their conference championships.
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Mankato East Boys Win 1st Big 9 Conference Title
The Mankato East boys won their first-ever Big 9 Conference Championship title in decisive fashion. The Mankato East boys won the conference title by 59 points over Winona and were the only team in the conference with a 5K average under 17:00 (16:23). They were led by the individual boys champion in Isaiah Anderson who ran a big PR of 15:45.78 to take the title by 16 seconds.
With their 16:23 average at conference, the Mankato East boys shot up to #1 in the Class AA team rankings based on results in our database. They rank just ahead of the Worthington boys.
| 1 | Mankato East High School (MN) | 148 | ||
| 1) Isaiah Anderson | 15:45.78 | 9 | ||
| 2) Luke Scholtes | 16:12.75 | 24 | ||
| 3) Evan Maclean | 16:35.89 | 34 | ||
| 4) Joseph Foley | 16:36.53 | 35 | ||
| 5) Nick Brauer | 16:47.93 | 46 | ||
| Average Time: 16:23.78 Total Time: 1:21:58.88 1-5 Split: 1:02.15 | ||||
| 6) Dayton Clobes | 17:10.88 | 95 | ||
| 7) Tad Wrage | 17:37.34 | 169 | ||
Big 9 Conference Girls Show the Future is in Good Hands
If you look at the Big 9 Conference Championships girl's results, you would have to go down to the #10 spot to find the first upperclassmen and the #20 spot to find the first senior finisher. The top finisher was Red Wings Nora Hanson who is a freshman and was the first of three freshmen in the top ten. The other top ten finishers included 2 8th-graders, one 7th-graders, and three sophomores. All those underclassmen ran under 19:25 for the 5K and showed that the Big 9 Conference and the state of Minnesota is in good hands for future stars.
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Abbey Nechanicky Makes More History
Abbey Nechanicky, who debuted at #1 in the MileSplit50 rankings today ( ), won her third Lake Conference XC title (also won in 2019 and 2020) and made some history in the process. Nechanicky ran a time of 16:51.95 to break the Gale Woods Farm course record, broke the Lake Conference record, and became just the 2nd Minnesota girl ever to run sub 17 minutes twice.
Related: Catching Up with Wayzata's Abbey Nechanicky
Nechanicky broke the previous Gale Woods Farm record held by Emily Covert who ran a time of 16:56.40 back in 2018 and coincidentally became just the 2nd Minnesota girl just to run under 17:00 in the 5K twice, alongside Covert. Next fall, Nechanicky will join Covert at the University of Colorado.
Gale Woods Farm Course Records
| RANK | TIME | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATE PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16:51.95 | Wayzata High School | 2023 | |
| 2 | 16:56.40 | Minneapolis Washburn High School | 2019 | |
| 3 | 17:17.90 | Saint Michael-Albertville High School | 2022 | |
| 4 | 17:32.28 | Hopkins High School | 2025 | |
| 5 | 17:51.40 | Minnetonka High School | 2023 |
Related: Abbey Nechanicky Makes Her Way to #1
Nechanicky has now stayed undefeated on the season, holds the #4 time nationally in the 5K this season (16:47.40), and is one of only two girls nationally to run under 17:00 twice this season (Brooke Wilson, Valor Christian HS).
HOL Conference Champs! Won all 6 races & 6 individual champs. Girls make it 19 in a row & boys 20 out of last 21. Girls with perfect score of 15, & boys with 22! #WeGotTheBread @YellowjacketAD @YellowjacketCRD @CraigOsports @MNMilesplit @Lakes995sports @PerhamHigh @DLtribSports pic.twitter.com/rsPFjuxwl3
-- Perham XC (@perhamcc) October 14, 2022
Perham Continues Conference Domination
The Perham boys and girls continued their domination of the Heart of Lakes Conference with dominant wins by both the boys and girls. The Perham girls won their 19th straight conference title with their fastest scoring average ever of 19:50 for a perfect score of 15 points. They also had the individual champion in Gracie Morris who ran a 5K time of 19:33.90.
The Perham boys won their 20th conference title in the last 21 years with a score of 22 points to win by 50 points over Hawley. They had the individual champion in Bjorn Anderson who ran a time of 16:24.10. Anderson ranks first in Class A this season with a PR of 15:37.10.
In all, Perham had the 6 individual champions at conference and swept all 6 team titles.
Hamza Mohamed Shows he is a Class AAA Threat
Hamza Mohamed has been heating up at the right time of the season now and has secured himself as someone to watch for the Class AAA title this fall after his Lake Conference win. Mohamed won the meet with a time of 15:25.20 to beat out reigning Class AAA champion Nick Gilles of Minnetonka.
Mohamed has now won his last two meets in the STMA Invite and Lake Conference Championships and has improved his season-best time from 16:16 at Roy Griak down to 15:25 now. Mohamed now holds the #6 time in Class AAA this season.
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