SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- On a clear and slightly windy day in South Dakota, three Minnesota powerhouses booked their tickets to Portland, while two more have an agonizing two-week wait for at-large bids.
Flo50 No. 21 Willmar won the girls race for its second straight trip to NXN, beating out No. 20 Edina 147-149 for the two automatic qualifying spots. In a minor upset, St. Thomas Aquinas of Kansas was third with 199 points, beating out Wayzata and Marshall, which tied with 210 points each. Wayzata beat Marshall on the sixth-girl tiebreaker.
Girls results
This was a major shakeup from last week's Minnesota state meet, where Edina won with 68, Marshall was second with 76, Willmar was third with 118, and Wayzata was fourth with 151. (Note: Edina's Liesl Schreiner, their third girl at states, sat out today due to religious reasons and should be back for NXN)
In the boys race, eighth-ranked Hopkins trounced the field with 71 points, thanks to an eighteen-second spread between their first and last scorers. Behind the Royals, Edina squeaked into the second auto-qualifying spot with 135 points--just four ahead of Wayzata. Neither Edina or Wayzata qualified for last week's Minnesota state meet, but they both defeated nineteenth-ranked Minneapolis Washburn after losing to the Millers two weeks ago. Washburn was fourth with 169 points today, ahead of fifth-place Dowling Catholic of Iowa.
On the girls side, the five individual qualifiers are nearly certain: Stephanie Jenks of Iowa (in her season debut), Cailie Logue of Kansas, and No. 14 Grace Ping, No. 9 Bethany Hasz, and Emma Benner of Minnesota. Logue is a junior; Benner, Jenks, and Hasz are seniors; and Ping is literally twelve years old.
The boys individual qualifying picture is a little murkier. No. 21 Jaret Carpenter, Micah Mather (both of Minnesota), No. 25 Seth Hirsch of Nebraska, Finn Gessner of Wisconsin, and No. 15 Sam Clausnitzer of North Dakota are all definitely qualified for the national championship. But if Wayzata makes it as an at-large team--a distinct possibility--then seventh-place Kevin Koski of Wisconsin makes it as an individual.