MN XC 2025 thread

Drury went from JV last year to #1 on Mounds View.
They have depth but #3 in the state is definitely a stretch. They are a young team, so top 3 will be more realistic next year.

Just does soccer in the fall. No idea if he switched to XC

Park (Cottage Grove) time trial

Just heard he isn't running XC. Even without Just, they still have a good team and are definitely in the running for state berth- they will have to beat out Hopkins/Edina for the 2nd spot behind Wayzata.

Love it! Small but good meet too.

No suprise but STMA girls are good. Duluth East's #1 and #3 didn't run- assuming they are good and healthy, DE girls is underrated.

Farmington boys ran well- surprised they beat full Duluth East and STMA teams.

I know I am analyzing the first meet of the season too much, but excited to have results!

AA & AAA preseason rankings have been out awhile. What's up with A?

Yeah, its disappointing. But I think the A preseason ranks for the past few years have been pretty poor anyways so I'm not holding my breath.

oms Sam Craig has more in him

Plenty of parking at Mortenson too. There were more fans at Wirth for the world cup xc ski event than there would be for the state meet, so this seems doable logistically.

In boys 1AAA, it will be a fight for the state meet spots between Lakeville North, Lakeville South, Farmington, and Owatonna

Irondale early bird 3200

Race was supposed to be a 5k but got changed last minute to only 2 laps because of the storms. The race was actually around 2.1 miles

I think fitting a course at Wirth would require quite a bit more than just setting up some ropes. A lot of the trails used for nordic skiing are singletrack mountainbike trails outside of ski season. They mow down brush in the late fall to make the trail wide enough, and having a rutted out singletrack trail in the middle doesn't matter for skiing since it's filled with snow. Also, the northern end of the park is the most open, but it would be a really hard XC course. I don't have anything against that, but I do think the state course should be somewhat similar to the other courses runners compete on throughout the season, and anything that goes up the sledding hill, down the other side, and back up would be way harder than any other course in the Twin Cities Area, at least. There might be a way to make it work, but I'd be surprised.

Perham looks solid and deep on the boys side. Wouldn’t be surprised if they win AA this year.

Ron Kretsch Invitational

St. Olaf Showcase this Thursday:

Albert Lea (B/G)
Apple Valley (B/G)
Brandon Valley (SD)(B/G)

Buffalo (B/G)
Centennial (B/G)
Chaska (B/G)
Cotter (B/G)
DeLaSalle (B/G)
Faith Lutheran (NV)(B/G)

Forest Lake (B/G)
Horace (ND)(B/G)
Kasson-Mantorville (B/G)

Mankato East (B/G)
Mankato West (B/G)
Minneapolis Southwest (B/G)
Minneapolis Washburn (B/G)

Minnetonka (B/G)
Northfield (B/G)
Park Center (B/G)
Red Wing (B/G)
Robbinsdale Armstrong (G)

Rochester Century (B/G)

Rochester John Marshall (B/G)

Roseville (G)
Shakopee (B/G)
St. Thomas Academy (B)

St. Michael-Albertville (B/G)

Wayzata (G)
Winona (B/G)
Zumbrota-Mazeppa (B/G

The Cross Country season starts in earnest this week with most teams competing and the St. Olaf Showcase is shaping up to be a great event on the boys side! Last year Fries won by over 40 seconds, but this year both Stuwe and Semling will be competing, along with Mikah Peters from Brandon Valley, South Dakota. That's the top 3 runners from MN and the top runner from SD all in the same race! I still expect Fries to win handily, but it should be a great race between those 4, and interesting to see if any others can run with them!

Faith Lutheran from Nevada also has a 4:07 miler. Should be a tremendous race up front.