U of M coach Brad Wick has confirmed that Griak is on for this fall at Bolstad and even if they can't host Griak there in 2026 and beyond, they will find a different course to host so Griak isn't going away.
On a different note as we get closer to the season, here is a list of XC head coaching jobs that were taking interviews at some point this offseason. Some of these may be wrong as it is just from google searches I have done at different points since November.
Park Center
Blake
Breck
Lakeville South Boys
Stewartville
Willmar
Princeton
Tri-City United
Irondale Girls
One of the Anoka-Hennepin Schools (Andover, Anoka, Blaine, Champlin, C Rapids, ?)
Spectrum
Anyone know of other new head coaches starting this fall?
On a different note as we get closer to the season, here is a list of XC head coaching jobs that were taking interviews at some point this offseason. Some of these may be wrong as it is just from google searches I have done at different points since November.
Park Center
Blake
Breck
Lakeville South Boys
Stewartville
Willmar
Princeton
Tri-City United
Irondale Girls
One of the Anoka-Hennepin Schools (Andover, Anoka, Blaine, Champlin, C Rapids, ?)
Spectrum
Anyone know of other new head coaches starting this fall?
Not too many Minnesotans have ran for Stanford. Can't think of others aside from the Heath brothers and Chris Lundstrom. Anyone else?
I can't think of any others. Pretty rare for a MN kid to run there.
Another interesting tidbit is that Stanford is in the ACC, same conference as North Carolina, so Mechura and Fries will be in the same conference in college.
I can't think of any others. Pretty rare for a MN kid to run there.
Another interesting tidbit is that Stanford is in the ACC, same conference as North Carolina, so Mechura and Fries will be in the same conference in college.
Forrest Tahdooahnippah of Mpls Southwest won the 2022 state 3200 and went on to Stanford for a few years before I believe transferring to the U
On the female side, state champs Shannon Bergstedt (Hopkins) and Alex Gits (Edina) also ran at Standford
Stuwe is #2 in AAA but I think Semling is on another level than him. Clear #2 guy in MN right now based on last year's XC and track. We should be seeing them head to head at Griak in 2 months though!
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I've heard there have been mshsl rule changes that will be affecting alumni meets, basically banning them. Has any one else heard this? What are teams doing? Alumni meets were often a highlight of the year and very fun. Also they were a great way to connect runners across generations.
This appears to be a huge bummer in my opinion. Like this is already a sport that doesn't get a ton of support, but now the mshsl wants to cut a huge portion of us out of it. What's to stop a club from getting all alumni to be verifed/background checked volunteers and having them "pace" a time trial? I've always enjoyed seeing other teams results like Jordan Carlson running in Rosemounts meets, all the Wayzata guys, Sandry for Jefferson, and tons of others. Feels like a big step back for cross country and other smaller mshsl sports like swimming.
Here's some language I've found, most of it from a transcript of a mshsl board of directors meeting on June 3.
"Prohibition of MSHSL participants playing with or against alumni:
MSHSL participants are now only allowed to participate with or against other MSHSL participants during their MSHSL season. This means that playing with or against alumni members is a violation of Bylaw 208 andis not covered by MSHSL-provided insurance policies.
Scheduling of contests with non-MSHSL teams/individuals:
Scheduling contests that involve MSHSL teams competing against non-MSHSL teams or individuals, including alumni, is also a violation of Bylaw 411 (Scheduling of Contests)."