I will be very interested to see what people do, the times are much faster in most events than last year. I'm going to compare/ contrast entries from 2025 to 2026 once they are released
This post was edited 7 minutes after it was posted.
I think Salas was the only one to double last year in two solo events.
Guessing Fries will double instead of just easily taking the 3200 and trying to run 8:57 solo again. Him, Flippen, and Stuwe in the 1600 would be race of the day. Semling will just do 3200 and try to win it against a tired Fries.
Last year's 800 will be tough to beat, but it might be just as good with Goergen, Peterson, and Donaldson.
I think Salas was the only one to double last year in two solo events.
Guessing Fries will double instead of just easily taking the 3200 and trying to run 8:57 solo again. Him, Flippen, and Stuwe in the 1600 would be race of the day. Semling will just do 3200 and try to win it against a tired Fries.
Last year's 800 will be tough to beat, but it might be just as good with Goergen, Peterson, and Donaldson.
Entries are out. Fries, Stuwe, and Flippen all listed in 1600m and 3200m. Hopefully they all stay. Took 1:58.2, 4:27 and 9:37 to make it in for the distance events. Girls race should be amazing also.
I think Salas was the only one to double last year in two solo events.
Guessing Fries will double instead of just easily taking the 3200 and trying to run 8:57 solo again. Him, Flippen, and Stuwe in the 1600 would be race of the day. Semling will just do 3200 and try to win it against a tired Fries.
Last year's 800 will be tough to beat, but it might be just as good with Goergen, Peterson, and Donaldson.
Entries are out. Fries, Stuwe, and Flippen all listed in 1600m and 3200m. Hopefully they all stay. Took 1:58.2, 4:27 and 9:37 to make it in for the distance events. Girls race should be amazing also.
No Donaldson in the 800, running the open 400 and 4X400 relay instead. Takes a little luster off that race but the battle between Peterson and Goergen should still be good to watch. I am with you hoping that Fries, Stuwe, and Flippen all stay. It will make the 1600 a lot of fun and be interesting to see how they all bounce back in the 3200.
Boys - Rasmussen in the 1600. - Goergen and Nelson in the 800. - Semling and Littlefield in the 3200.
Girls - Duffy, Meyer, and Stencel in the 3200. Pass would have made it but must not have entered.
Not sure if it has already been mentioned here or not but Audrey Brownell won't be running this season due to injury. Real shame for her. Definitely makes the state 16/32 races less exciting as Duffy should have no issue winning now.
Speaking of not running this season, anyone know what happened to Wayzata’s Blake Knutson? He hasn’t raced and not on the roster this season. He’s been scoring for Wayzata in many meets the last 2 XC seasons
800m - Tate Gregoren, but in a close finish with Peterson due to Tate running the 400m right before.
1600m - Tyler Flippen, I don't really see how he can lose with a 4:14 indoor mile and 1:54 800m. Stuwe in Second and Fries for Third. I think Sean will take it between 600m-1000m into the race and press knowing he doesn't have the greatest footspeed. Most likely somehwere around 4:11-13 for the winner.
3200m - Fries in 8:55. I think after his XC season he is probably in high 8:40s to low 8:50s but after the mile it will be tough. I think Semling in second right about 9 flat and Stuwe in third around 9:05. It will probably be in Sean's best interest to go from the beginning at 67-68 pace, leaving a little bit for the last lap knowing he has been beaten by Stuwe in a kick just last week.
800m - Tate Gregoren, but in a close finish with Peterson due to Tate running the 400m right before.
1600m - Tyler Flippen, I don't really see how he can lose with a 4:14 indoor mile and 1:54 800m. Stuwe in Second and Fries for Third. I think Sean will take it between 600m-1000m into the race and press knowing he doesn't have the greatest footspeed. Most likely somehwere around 4:11-13 for the winner.
3200m - Fries in 8:55. I think after his XC season he is probably in high 8:40s to low 8:50s but after the mile it will be tough. I think Semling in second right about 9 flat and Stuwe in third around 9:05. It will probably be in Sean's best interest to go from the beginning at 67-68 pace, leaving a little bit for the last lap knowing he has been beaten by Stuwe in a kick just last week.
What do you guys think?
Good stuff. I'll be different and pick other winners.
800m: Peterson in 1:52. At first, I thought there was no way Goergen wins after running the open 4 beforehand, but already this year he went 49.1/1:53 in a meet winning by 5 seconds in both races. He has already gone 1:53 3x this year. What a talent and is the favorite here. That said, I'll stick with Peterson as he will be fresher, he won last year, and is in good shape. Could be a handful of guys in 3rd.
1600m: Fries in 4:11. Don't love it but hard to bet against him in a fresh and important race. All 3 of these guys competed against each other in the 800m on Tuesday with Flippen leading and winning it. Stuwe has beaten Fries in their last 2 races which I believe he has mostly just sat on him and passed him late. So Fries won't let it come down to a kick and will probably push from the gun. Meet record is 4:10 and that is in danger here. I don't love picking Fries to win over Flippen/Stuwe but I'm going for it.
3200m: Semling in 9:03. Fresh and ran 9:11 last year here and has already done a solo 9:13 this outdoor. With a easy state title path, this is the biggest race of his season. Guessing he will try to push early as he doesn't want this to be a kicker race. Just 4 seniors in the race and a lot of young guys around 9:30, so excited to see who can drop some time and show they are ones to watch out for in the future.
Not sure if it has already been mentioned here or not but Audrey Brownell won't be running this season due to injury. Real shame for her. Definitely makes the state 16/32 races less exciting as Duffy should have no issue winning now.
Well that's terrible news about Brownell. Hope it's not too serious and she's back it at for her freshman year. That certainly makes the girls races in Class A far less interesting!
Judah Allen from Litchfield grabs the last spot in the 3200. Happy to see another Class A athlete get a shot!
800m - Tate Gregoren, but in a close finish with Peterson due to Tate running the 400m right before.
1600m - Tyler Flippen, I don't really see how he can lose with a 4:14 indoor mile and 1:54 800m. Stuwe in Second and Fries for Third. I think Sean will take it between 600m-1000m into the race and press knowing he doesn't have the greatest footspeed. Most likely somehwere around 4:11-13 for the winner.
3200m - Fries in 8:55. I think after his XC season he is probably in high 8:40s to low 8:50s but after the mile it will be tough. I think Semling in second right about 9 flat and Stuwe in third around 9:05. It will probably be in Sean's best interest to go from the beginning at 67-68 pace, leaving a little bit for the last lap knowing he has been beaten by Stuwe in a kick just last week.
What do you guys think?
Good stuff. I'll be different and pick other winners.
800m: Peterson in 1:52. At first, I thought there was no way Goergen wins after running the open 4 beforehand, but already this year he went 49.1/1:53 in a meet winning by 5 seconds in both races. He has already gone 1:53 3x this year. What a talent and is the favorite here. That said, I'll stick with Peterson as he will be fresher, he won last year, and is in good shape. Could be a handful of guys in 3rd.
1600m: Fries in 4:11. Don't love it but hard to bet against him in a fresh and important race. All 3 of these guys competed against each other in the 800m on Tuesday with Flippen leading and winning it. Stuwe has beaten Fries in their last 2 races which I believe he has mostly just sat on him and passed him late. So Fries won't let it come down to a kick and will probably push from the gun. Meet record is 4:10 and that is in danger here. I don't love picking Fries to win over Flippen/Stuwe but I'm going for it.
3200m: Semling in 9:03. Fresh and ran 9:11 last year here and has already done a solo 9:13 this outdoor. With a easy state title path, this is the biggest race of his season. Guessing he will try to push early as he doesn't want this to be a kicker race. Just 4 seniors in the race and a lot of young guys around 9:30, so excited to see who can drop some time and show they are ones to watch out for in the future.
Love these predictions! Here is what I think:
800M: I was super impressed with Peterson's 4:18 in the mile on Tuesday. It shows he has talent from 400m up to 1600m, but with that said I think Goergen is super talented over the 800M distance and pick him to win in 1:52 with Peterson a half second back.
1600M: Fries, Stuwe, and Flippen will all be fresh for this race so it is the most intriguing to me. I predict Sean goes out hard trying to pull away early as he knows both Flippen and Stuwe have a better kick if it's close late. With that said I think the early pace will be too much for Flippen and he won't quite be close enough late in the race for his speed to overcome the distance. Stuwe has the endurance to stay within striking distance of Fries and beats him with a late kick like he did last week. I think a time around 4:11 wins it. My dark horse is 10th grader Thomas Berndt, I am interested to see how he performs in this race, he seems to be really talented with good pedigree.
3200: Fries is an endurance beast and I think the double will be easier for him than Stuwe and Flippen. A fresh Semling will trail Fries and stay close until the last couple laps. I got Fries winning it at around 8:55. I think if Stuwe was fresh he could break 9:00 and be 2nd behind Fries, but a fresh Semling should be better and take 2nd with Stuwe 3rd. My dark horse is Littlefield. He gets overshadowed by Semling a bit, but I expect him to have a strong race also.
Awesome run from Semling as a sophomore going 8:54. Lot of respect for Sean trying to double and leading most of the race. Good to see Emery Wirth go for it as well!