MN Cross Country Predictions 2022

I second the “better arrive early” advice. Parking is always a chore at State. Last year there was something (football I think) in the stadium on the same day. And unlike at the early-season St. Olaf Showcase, spectators are not permitted to drive into any of the campus lots. Only team busses & vans or cars with handicapped plates or placards are allowed through.

I always just park about a mile away and walk/run in (skipping the shuttles).
Just plan on arriving early.

St Olaf parking still sounds better than the Alexandria Meet of Champions.

It could be - I’ve never been to the Alexandria meet.

The St. Olaf coach said they’ve changed parking lots this year and will park at the trucking company south of HW 19. Evidently the school wants to prioritize parking for their current students and the MIAC playoffs for soccer/football which seems understandable.

We ran the course this morning. It’s mostly set up and will run fast!

Well that explains a lot. Hopefully he’s fully healthy for track next year. He ran 4:38 and 2:03 last year as a freshman, that was also in the first half of the season, then he seemingly disappeared. He also ran 9:57 in a 2 mile time trial.

Does anyone know the top 5 boys regardless of class?

Right now it’s

1. Noah Breker-14:57

2. Emmett Gerres-15:07

3. Sam Scott-15:08

4. Aidan Jones-15:12

5. Nick Gilles-15:14

OK thanks.

Not that it matters, but parking is at fairgrounds 3.5 miles away with only a couple of buses running. Nonetheless, this meet is more important.

It's worth noting that Scott, Jones and Gilles ran those times this past week at Sections, whereas Breker ran a 15:34 last week at Sections while battling illness. Same with Hamza Mohammed (15:30 at Sections).

Flat out top 10 was awful compared to how it is now

Anthony Provenzano (former Hopkins runner) runs a 191 speed rating here

Could a HS Garry Bjorklund win the AAA division at the State Meet this year?

Anyone else think Stillwater is better than Minnetonka? There’s a lot of chatter about Wayzata, Rosemount, Lakeville North and Minnetonka but I think Stillwater is flying under the radar.

Interesting. The problem with Stillwater is that their schedule competing against top ranked teams is relatively weak. Why wouldn't they run Griak to run against the top teams. They end up going to Wisconsin to run,. You can't expect to be considered a threat when you haven't raced the top teams. Granted they raced LVN early on and it wasn't even close. Their conference and sections are also weak compared to the top groups. The only way we can compare them is their times on short courses.

I think Minnetonka is a little better than Stillwater. Stillwater lost to Rosemount and North when they faced them.
Stillwater barely beat Mounds View, and Tonka beat Mounds View at Griak by not very much but Gilles underperformed and the older Fries / James Thomas did not race
But Stillwater did not face Tonka so you never know

Stillwater is doing really well for how much they graduated from last year. I never expected them to beat Mounds View this year

Yeah agreed, but that’s why they could be the perfect underdogs too

Courses plural? That conference course is extremely fast but not aware of another course that was dubiously fast

Mayo invite.