MN Cross Country Predictions 2022

I actually do like the 3-class system. It allowed Wayzata to be in a different section than Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Edina.

It gave room for the Minneapolis Southwest and Minnetonka boys teams and the Hopkins girls teams to make state for the first time in a long time.

It also allowed some teams that are currently in AA to make state for the first time in a long time.

OK some good has come out of it. Is it entirely based on enrollment? And then do some schools end up in one class one year and another class another year or is it quite stable?

I think it is based on enrollment. yeah, some schools have moved to different classes

My Boys AAA Rankings for this week:
1. Wayzata
2. Lakeville North
3. Rosemount
4. Minnetonka
5. Stillwater
6. Mounds View
7. Minneapolis Southwest
8. Bloomington Jefferson
9. Minneapolis Washburn
10. Eden Prairie

Individuals:
1. Noah Breker
2. Aidan Jones
3. Sam Scott
4. Andrew Casey
5. Hamza Mohamed
6. Nick Gilles
7. Adam Lueth
8. Nolan Sutter
9. Daniel McCollor
10. Cade Sanvik

Top 2 teams in each section for Boys AAA
1- Lakeville North and Lakeville South
2- Minnetonka and Eden Prairie
3- Rosemount and Bloomington Jefferson
4- Stillwater and Woodbury
5- Mounds View and Roseville
6- Wayzata and Minneapolis Southwest
7- Blaine and Centennial
8- Buffalo and Bemidji

1. Elliott McArthur. Has shown the ability to beat everyone in the conference. Also a top returner from the race. 15:49 at Alexandria
2. Robert Mechura. Was not far behind McArthur at Alexandria or Griak.
3. Bennett Harrison-Michael.
4. Owen Kalmes. Was close to Bennett Harrison at Alexandria
5. Will Degonda. #1 runner on Stillwater the last 2 meets.
6. Ryan Kilibarda. Off race at Alexandria, but should bounce back. Can challenge for the number 1 spot on the team.
7. Luke Williams. Was very close to Degonda at Alexandria
8. Dylan Riniker.
9. Ethan Foote. Was right behind Riniker at Alexandria
10. Victor Lelinga.
11. Nate Shultz. Has not raced any mounds view or Stillwater guys, but ran a 16:45 or somewhere close the last 2 races
12. Mason Foster. Was 6 seconds behind Lelinga at Alexandria
13. Otto Coleman. Beat all juniors on the team in all but one race. Should be able to beat all of his junior teammates again.
14. Cayden Stoner. Scored for Mounds View in all races except Alexandria. Should be able to score again.
15. Levi Hammerback. 16:54 at Alexandria
16. August Arnold. 16:56 at Alexandria
17. Dylan Longworth. Been #1 on Woodbury most of the time.
18. Vishnu Vundamati. Been trading #1 spots on Woodbury with Longworth. I think both will get the last 2 all-conference spot since this is their last year of high school XC
19. Andrew Walsh. 6th man for Stillwater who ran a 17:08 at Alexandria
20. Vaughn Larson. #2 runner for White Bear. Was not far behind Walsh last race.

Watchlist: Gavin Stauffer (Park), Canton Francisco (Mounds View), Sam Geer (Mounds View), Isaac Kolstad (White Bear Lake), Brandon Vo (Roseville), James Worth (Woodbury)

Tonka is running a JV meet on Wednesday and the lineup is here, it is interesting who they chose to be in their top 7, such as not including Downin who has shown he can run consistently well with a 16:45 and 9:57, also leaving out Laninga who has run 16:57 this year. Interesting Minnetonka call.

I think the lineup might look something like this (top 6 Tonka finishers at conference + R Fries) -
Gilles, Westerlund, R Fries, S Fries, Thomas, Vos, Barry.

They probably didn’t choose Laninga / Downin because neither finished in the top 6 on the team and R Fries didn’t run.

If they make Downin and Laninga alternates, and one of them races extremely well at Dundee, it is possible that Tonka might use one of them in the sections/state lineup. But we don’t know.

But at NXR, no one has to be in the top 7 or an alternate to line up in the section race.

The results are also showing how deep Minnetonka is this year.

There is a huge hill that you have to go up twice. Or at least, that’s how it was a few years ago

They may be losing some guys, but they do return 6 guys who ran under 17 at conference. Some of them never broke 17 before until this race. Without Bakken they only lose 2 seniors.
Appears that sophomore Donaldson never ran XC before and still runs in the 16:30s. Crazy
I’m not surprised by this team’s depth though since they only had 2 seniors on varsity last year.
They lost every single varsity guy from 2020 and they still got 3rd in a tough section last year and 3 individuals made state without racing at sections the year before.
It’s also worth noting that Eden Prairie has a new head coach now. They still seem to be doing really well under her.

eplocalnews.org

Courtney Brandon takes over as EP boys' and girls' cross country coach - Eden Prairie Local News

Ryan Williamson

For the first time in 14 years, the Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) cross country program will have a new leader when the season begins in August. On Jan. 22, the EPHS athletics department announced the hiring of Courtney Bra...

Link:www.eplocalnews.org/2022/02/01/courtne...

Edina only put 2 guys under 17 in that race but they were missing Defor, Ohe and all those varsity sophs from the results. Not sure what the deal was there at all. Like 5 guys finished the race.

Bemidji missing Niemi (last year’s #3 guy) and lost to Moorhead. If he doesn’t return, Bemidji might not go to state this year unless they close the 4-5 gap

Highland park edges out Como park on the boys side. Dominates on the girls side

Luna Scorzelli ran a 17:25. She’s really developed as a leader for the team.

Yes this is what HP needs now that Moening graduated
Delia Johnson was #2 on the team behind Moening in 8th grade. Good to see her back to this position.
This sophomore class is insane. They could challenge for an NXN spot next year or in 2 years

Are Jacob/ Andrew Drevlow from Sauk Centre related to Sydney / Logan Drevlow by any chance?