Victoria Lions was a treat. Stillwater looked magnificent, that pack is good. Jones looks great, Dickel looks great as well as Lueth. Hage is still getting into form. Long on the girls side was all alone, great time considering no competition. Stillwater boys were the biggest surprise though, didn’t expect that big of a win.
Last year, Wayzata didn’t put anyone under 16:15 at the STMA race. (They were missing Hamza). This year Wayzata had 4 under 16:01. Their 5th guy (Dietrick) ran slower than he did last year in this race so I can see him and/or McMillan closing the gap. If the conditions were the same as last year, they might actually have a better team than they did last year.
STMA is by no means an easy course, surprised by some of the times this year. Wonder if the course has changed at all? Yes it has been dry, but they climb that hill a few times and have some tight turns as well.
Looking forward to seeing Jade Rypkema, Amanda Overgaauw, and Abbey Nechanicky run against each other at NXN. Three of the best seniors MN has ever had. Jade had Covid last year and so it will be fun to see her and Amanda duke it out at state in Class A. They are 1 for 1 right now.
Looking forward to seeing Jade Rypkema, Amanda Overgaauw, and Abbey Nechanicky run against each other at NXN. Three of the best seniors MN has ever had. Jade had Covid last year and so it will be fun to see her and Amanda duke it out at state in Class A. They are 1 for 1 right now.
I’d like to see all three at NXN too. Abbey (who is the big favorite to win at NXR Heartland) will also likely qualify via the Wayzata girls winning the team competition (also expected). That would open up qualifying spots through at least the top 6 finishers. Are Rypkema and Overgaauw capable of finishing “top-6” at NXR? I don’t doubt it at all.
STMA is by no means an easy course, surprised by some of the times this year. Wonder if the course has changed at all? Yes it has been dry, but they climb that hill a few times and have some tight turns as well.
I was wondering this as well. Abbey having a 20s PR and the Wayzata boys dropping times close to RunningLane definitely makes me skeptical, especially for a course with is not supposed to be easy. I don’t know if the changed it, or it’s short or what the deal is.
STMA is by no means an easy course, surprised by some of the times this year. Wonder if the course has changed at all? Yes it has been dry, but they climb that hill a few times and have some tight turns as well.
I was wondering this as well. Abbey having a 20s PR and the Wayzata boys dropping times close to RunningLane definitely makes me skeptical, especially for a course with is not supposed to be easy. I don’t know if the changed it, or it’s short or what the deal is.
Could also be that Wayzata guys are now closing the gap on Hamza. I expect a couple of more people on the team to do the same. Maybe their training is the hardest of all teams, which is why they won more state championships, and has had more depth over the years, than any other MN school did.
Hamza only ran 36 seconds faster than he did at Griak.
Also, notice that 4 Wayzata guys beat Omodt (the guy that got 10th at state last year, but this year it’s unlikely that he will do it again).
Also, don’t forget that they won state last year with 4 nonseniors scoring (the guy that ran a 16:01 wasn’t even at the state meet), and that they won the Heartland region with only 2 seniors in the championship race.
At RunningLane they lost to 2 Heartland teams that they beat at NXN, so they probably underwhelmed there.
Looks like Ryan Fries had a rough day. Same with Laninga who is a 16:55 Sophmore. Everyone sort of underperformed I think, maybe they had a big training block? We will see at the Lake Conference Championships in a week or so.