CLASS AA BOYS
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
Where: St. Olaf College, Northfield
Course: 5,000 meters
Last year: Wayzata had two runners finish in the top 20 and breezed to the state team title with 61 points. Moorhead was the runner-up with 131. Owatonna finished eighth and Lakeville North 10th. ... Adam Zutz of St. Francis edged Burnsville's Cole O'Brien for the individual championship by less than two seconds. Red Wing's Bryant Blahnik was the top area finisher, placing 19th.
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This year's favorites: Stillwater and Rosemount are the top two ranked teams in the state. Owatonna is the only ranked team from Section 1, at 12th. ... Wayzata's Josh Thorson and O'Brien of Burnsville are ranked first and second. Rochester Mayo's Riley Macon is ranked sixth.
Section 1 team qualifiers: Owatonna; Rochester Mayo.
Area individual qualifiers: Riley Macon (sr., Mayo); Christian Leitner (sr., Red Wing); Steven Schimmel (sr., Mayo); Hunter Bailey (fr., Winona); Josh Frei (sr., John Marshall); Paul Hale (sr., Century).
Lane assignments: Owatonna runners will start in lane 5; Mayo runners will start in lane 22; all other individual qualifiers from Section 1 will start in lane 24.
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CLASS AA GIRLS
When: Saturday, 10 a.m.
Where: St. Olaf College, Northfield
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Course: 4,000 meters
Last year: Eden Prairie edged Monticello by 10 points, 69-79, for the state team title. Section 1 champ Lakeville South finished third with 141 points. ... Maria Hauger of Shakopee won the individual championship in 14:18.9, beating runner-up Jamie Piepenburg of Alexandria by nearly 15 seconds.
This year's favorites: Monticello is the top-ranked team in the state, while Section 1 champ Lakeville South is ranked No. 2. ... Hauger, the defending champion, is again the top-ranked runner in the state. She is just a junior. Piepenburg, a senior, is ranked second. Lakeville South's Katlyn Larson is ranked sixth, while Madison Overby of Austin is ranked ninth.
Section 1 team qualifiers: Lakeville South; Lakeville North.
Area individual qualifiers: Madison Overby (8th, Austin); Ahna Buntrock (jr., Dover-Eyota/St. Charles); Chrissy Monson (jr., Albert Lea); Emmy Buntrock (8th, D-E/SC).
Lane assignments: Lakeville South's runners will start in lane 10; Lakeville North's runners will start in lane 7; all other individual qualifiers from Section 1 will start in lane 24.
