MN State Weekend!!

Until the best teams run the state meet it's not a great meet.

The Dark Moose will win 2A

I predict that Emily Covert will win, but Anna Fenske will be close behind; I think they will run together for the first two miles and then Covert will pull away to take the title.

I also agree that Tierney Wolfgram is going to beat Grace Ping. She has been running hella fast times.

Also true that Wayzata will win both boys and girls, but part of me is holding out hope that Edina girls will have a strong race and defend their title... They'll probably be runners-up, but I think it would be super cool if they win. Rooting for them!

I want there to be a big upset in one of the races... now that would be exciting!!

-I’ve seen Acer race twice this season... beginning of season and end of season. He’s looking great. Hard not to root for him as he has looked focused and strong.

-I’ve seen Colvert race twice, too (different races than above). Nice to see her running so strong and with confidence.

-I’ve raced indoors when Tierney Wolfgram has been racing. Amazing drop in times and she was already running good times for her age. She must be ready to mix it up based on her sectional time.

With MIAC thread and other posts, I feel like LetsRun is about 20% to 25% current or former Minnesotans.

I agree, it's always nice when there are some upsets. Since Grant Price has been out about a month, I think it's possible that White Bear Lake sneaks in and wins. I'll be rooting for them on Saturday. Their 1-5 were 16:00, 16:00, 16:09, 16:09, 16:14.

NorthStarState wrote:

With MIAC thread and other posts, I feel like LetsRun is about 20% to 25% current or former Minnesotans.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that the MIAC thread is 3 or 4 people posting over and over again...

Rooting for Grace Ping to eke out the win, hoping her sister Lauren can finish top 15 as well.

mar828 wrote:

Rooting for Grace Ping to eke out the win, hoping her sister Lauren can finish top 15 as well.

Seeing as the Pings run in 1A (small school division), Lauren is pretty much guaranteed 3rd place

The runners are good, but the weather won't be.

It's run at St. Olaf in Northfield.

Saturday will be about 40 degrees, wind 10 gusting to 15,

20 percent chance of rain. Class A goes off at 1pm, so maybe 45.

Grace didn't run well on the sloppy wet turf at Griak (gee, only 2nd).

More of the same as rain is likely Friday.

Ping ran under 16:30 twice over the summer on the track,

but has struggled to get under 18 on turf.

Mostly there has been nobody to push her (except for Griak), she has

been jogging home a minute ahead of second place.

In good conditions Ping is the favorite.

She is still the favorite in crappy conditions,

but Wolfgram, who has the 3 fastest times this year, could be close.

Lauren ran 18:21 on the course earlier this year.

That would have won state last year.

So yeah, Lauren probably gets 3rd.

Griak was definitely not sloppy wet turf... was hot and dry and very sunny

Thanks for the timely info.

Crazy how there were barely any senior girls near the front, especially in the class A race.

In the Class AA girls race, the only seniors that got in the top 25 got 4th, 8th, 12th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, and 25th. So only two seniors in the top 10.

In the Class A girls race, the only seniors that got top 25 were 12th, 23rd, and 24th. So no seniors in the top 10. 15 of the top 25 were freshmen or below.

The girls senior class wasn’t the strongest at NXN either.

Seniors in the top 21 were 3rd, 7th, 8th, 17th, and 20th.

Looking back on it, it's honestly incredible that The Dark Moose didn't unleash his world-renowned kick earlier. He could have easily won. Truly a shock to the running world.

Enough of these high fades, when will there be an XC version?

Another cool thing is that Winona Cotter girls went from 18th in the 1A section meet in 2016 to second (1 point away from first) in the class A state meet in 2017.

Adding the Pings was what helped a lot, but another thing that helped was how much their 5th runner improved from 2016. Their top 4 girls in 2017 were freshmen and under so the team has a bright future. Their 5th runner is graduating so their future success will depend on how well their new 5th runner closes the gap behind their #4 runner.