We are now fully in the midst of the Minnesota cross country championship season with the start of the conference championships last week. The end is now in sight with sections on the way, State in less than a month, and the national meets on the horizon.
Here we look at the Minnesota Boy's Runner of the Week Nominees for Week 6 of the cross country season.
Polling starts on Monday at 7 am and ends on Saturday at 7 pm.
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Boys Runner of the Week Nominees
Sam Scott (Minneapolis Southwest)
For the third time, Sam Scott won the Minneapolis City Conference Championships, this time breaking his old course record from 2021 with a new record of 15:08.4. This was Scott's fourth victory of the season with all four wins coming with a 5K time under 15:25.
Fanuel Wolday (Worthington)
Wolday just keeps on winning! Wolday won his sixth straight race in a row and his 7th race overall at the Mankato East Invitational where he finished with a time of 15:43.8. Wolday was able to beat out Isaiah Anderson by 3 seconds at the meet. This was Wolday's 2nd 5K under 16 minutes this season.
Zach Tapajna (Bloomington Jefferson)
The top runner for Bloomington Jefferson all season, Tapajna led the Bloomington Jefferson boys to a massive meet victory at the Mankato East Invitational where they put five runners in the top 11 to score 36 points to Marshall's 70, with a split of just 19 seconds. Tapajna himself has consistently been running in the low 16-minute 5K range all season long.
River Santiago (Blaine)
Santiago continued his unbeaten 2023 season at the Northwest Suburban Conference Championships where he finished with a time of 15:49.5, beating out the runner-up by 13 seconds. Santiago has now won six races on the season, finishing every meet with a time of 16:00 or faster.
Will Weber (Wayzata)
Weber made it back-to-back years at the Lake Conference Championships where a Wayzata runner won the individual boys title. Weber finished with a time of 15:25 to beat Sean Fries by less than a second. Weber led the Wayzata boys to a dominant victory, scoring 35 points to Minnetonka's 55.
Bjorn Anderson (Perham)
Anderson continued his winning ways this fall at the Perham Yellow Hacket Harrier Classic where he won his sixth race of the season with a time of 15:29.4. Anderson has now run under 15:30 five times this season. Anderson ranks as the #1 runner in Class AA this season by time and in the coaches rankings.
Lev Dougherty (Heritage Christian Academy)
Dougherty led the Heritage Christian Academy boys to their 7th straight Minnesota Classic Athletic Championship. Dougherty finished 1st overall with a time of 15:42.50 to lead the Heritage boys to a perfect team score of 15 points. His time of 15:42.50 was a 16 second PR and ranks #3 for his class in MN.
Vote Below!!
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Winners:
Week 1: Bjorn Anderson
Week 2: River Santiago
Week 3: Austin Liebl
Week 4: Owen Stuwe
Week 5: Sully Anez
Week 6: Ryder Mold
Week 7: Will Weber
