MN Cross Country Predictions 2022

Yes Crown College is a tough course, not only is it hilly, but the footing is really bad for much of the course really making it a hard course mentally. I see Orono's Owen Chapman was there 3rd runner back at 17:49, hopefully he will be able to get back to form soon.

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Week 4: Minnesota XC Coaches Association Class AA XC Ranking

Ryan Kotajarvi

Minnesota Cross Country Coaches Association releases Week 4 Class AA XC rankings.

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Worthington then Rock Ridge, then Big lake. To be quite honest, I really don’t think there is a particular favorite for AA this year on the boys side for teams.
It’s all about which team puts it together at the end of the season.
But on the girls side, Highland park is an easy pick.

I’m a little surprised that highland park boys are ranked so low. Not that they should be #1 right now

mn.milesplit.com

Week 4: Minnesota XC Coaches Association Class AA XC Ranking

Ryan Kotajarvi

Minnesota Cross Country Coaches Association releases Week 4 Class AA XC rankings.

Open link

Heritage Christian at #1 in A. They crushed perham last meet. Looking to go from not making state to winning it. They returned their whole team from last year.

Was talking to my buddy who is involved with Jefferson program - he mentioned that their top guy had twisted their ankle pretty solidly about halfway through. Pretty sure he still won? Not very familiar with any of those teams as my son is in AA.

I believe it, really hard to get comfortable on that course and "settle in", it is always a grind. Need to get out hard to otherwise get bottle necked after 100 meters.

mn.milesplit.com

Week 4: MN XC Coaches Association Class AAA XC Ranking

Ryan Kotajarvi

Minnesota Cross Country Coaches Association releases Week 4 Class AAA XC rankings.

Open link

? How is Rosemount #3 after what looked like a “tempo” race for them at Mayo and a lack of a low stick? And not even having a 6th or a 7th to back them up?
I know podium or a state championship isn’t out of the question for Rosemount but rankings should be done based on performances not what-ifs.

This may just be my thought but based on the Metro invite, I think Roseville is a little better than Hopkins now. They have nice depth through 6th. They didn’t finish so far behind Eden Prairie.

Casey should be in front of Scott. The head to head matchup between them says why.

Minnetonka girls over Wayzata? This is a joke, right?

Maybe they just butchered these rankings and decided to wait until Griak.

There's really no excuse for poor rankings. Now I'm tempted to get into and sure my own rankings each week. Can't rank people based on opinion, if runner A loses in a head to head to runner B, never should runner A continue to be ranked ahead of runner B. Idk, be better poll voters, that's all.

So two Big Lake kids beat the Mankato East kid at Hutch, coaches rank Mankato East kid ahead of Big Lake kids. These rankings are trash, be better. Tempted to email the coaches who construct these polls.

17:02

Undefeated Sal Wirth loses another spot in boys AA rankings. Undefeated and last years state champion Isabelle Schmitz loses two spots in rankings, I could see her being 2nd behind Luna off of track times. Until she's beat in xc, she really should stay number one, no reason for her to be 3. These rankings are so disappointing, it's like picking favorites and coach playing the prediction game..

Rankings have been like this for a LONG time. Coaches don't have enough time to thoroughly go through the results and take into account differences in the courses, etc.

No need to get to bent out of shape about it. It doesn't matter much in the long run.

Any predictions for Griak this weekend?

Boys Teams:
1. Lakeville North
2. Dowling Catholic

Individuals:
1. Noah Breker
2. Jackson Heidesch
Hartington / Rapid city stevens are not listed in the entries list so I don’t know if Birnbaum from SD or Noecker from Nebraska will be racing

What's the point of doing the rankings then if they're done so poorly?

The different courses? Sam Scott lost to Andrew yet he is ranked ahead of him. Big Lake both beat Mankato East kid yet they are unranked and east kid is 7th. If the coaches can't see those simple errors, then they need to hand off the reigns to someone who cares a little more.

What's the point of doing them if they're done well?

Ultimately the rankings are fodder for local papers and nothing more really. If they motivate you to do better, that's great, but they don't hold any importance at all.

Girl’s Teams:

1. Cherry Creek

2. Wayzata

Individuals:

1. Abbey Nechanicky

2. Undecided- Paityn Noe, Ali Bainbridge, Anjali Hocker Singh, or the #1 from Cherry Creek….but I think Nechanicky will win.

The weirdest thing about the rankings is that they had Minnetonka girls over Wayzata even though one Minnetonka girl transferred to Edina, and Mor has yet to race

Griak boys race should be thrilling! So many individuals could take it. My personal favorite is Breker. He has a sub 15 on by far the hardest course out of anyone else in the race with a sub 15:10 PR. Biggest challengers will be Heidesch from Dowling with the same PR as Breker, Clay Shivley from Kansas with a whopping 14:47 PR, but ran on an extremely flat course, Natnael Kifle from Souix City North, 15:00 PR on relatively flat course, but should be a threat. Daniel Hruska from Cherry Creek, CO with a 15:05 PR, Andrew Casey who’s coming off a massive win at the Applejack, Sam Scott the reigning champ, and Nick Gilles the reigning state champ. It’s really anyones race though…