Girls Top 7 Returnees Times : 5K XC - 4K XC - 3200m - 1600m
The reigning high school girls national champions. Only one team in the nation can claim that title, and it is the Wayzata girls. Last December Wayzata showed Fayetteville-Manlius that there are other teams worthy of NXN Champ as they robbed Manlius from its eighth consecutive NXN team title. Led by the veteran Anna French who has been leading this squad since she was in 7th grade, the Wayzata girls might have a shot to repeat, but a lot has changed since last fall. The national champions lost four members from the team that won in Portland Meadows. Will the wonder women of Wayzata be able to fill those spots and prove they have depth to be just as competitive as they were last year. Tall order? Perhaps. But let us remind you, this is Wayzata.
Coach Addy Hallen after the Wayzata girls NXN victory
Top 7 Girls Returnees from 2013 XC Season (5K Times)
| 1) Anna French | 17:43.40 | |
| 2) Annika Lerdall | 18:29.00 | |
| 3) Michaela Keller-miller | 18:40.40 | |
| 4) Jaycie Thompson | 19:52.50 | |
| 5) Kristine Keller-miller | 19:59.00 | |
| Average Time: 18:56.86 Total Time: 1:34:44.30 1-5 Split: 2:15.60 | ||
| 6) Katie Farquhar | 20:21.80 | |
| 7) Melissa Drenkhahn | 20:40.60 | |
Top 7 Girls Returnees from 2013 XC Season (4K Times)
| 1) Anna French | 13:38.00 | |
| 2) Annika Lerdall | 14:33.80 | |
| 3) Michaela Keller-miller | 14:40.50 | |
| 4) Jaycie Thompson | 15:16.92 | |
| 5) Kristine Keller-miller | 15:51.10 | |
| Average Time: 14:48.06 Total Time: 1:14:00.32 1-5 Split: 2:13.10 | ||
| 6) Eva Pettersen | 15:52.20 | |
| 7) Evelyn Frenz | 16:04.00 | |
Top 7 Girls Returning 3200m Times from 2014 Outdoor Season
| 1) Anna French | 10:44.32 | |
| 2) Annika Lerdall | 11:19.19 | |
| 3) Michaela Keller-miller | 11:38.71 | |
| 4) Jaycie Thomsen | 11:44.60 | |
| 5) Kristine Keller-miller | 11:53.66 | |
| Average Time: 11:28.10 Total Time: 57:20.48 1-5 Split: 1:09.34 | ||
| 6) Melissa Drenkhahn | 12:11.00 | |
| 7) Evelyn Frenz | 12:54.11 | |
Top 7 Girls Returning 1600m Times from 2014 Outdoor Season
| 1) Anna French | 4:56.33 | |
| 2) Michaela Keller-miller | 5:09.60 | |
| 3) Annika Lerdall | 5:12.60 | |
| 4) Maeve Andrews | 5:51.75 | |
| Average Time: 5:17.57 Total Time: 21:10.28 1-4 Split: 55.42 | ||
Last year's NXN race where Wayzata broke Fayetteville-Manlius' streak of 7 titles in a row
Q&A with Wayzata (MN) XC girls head coach Dave Emmans
How many years have you been coaching high school cross country (and at your current school)?
30 yrs – 22 at Wayzata
What do you attribute as the main reasons for the success of your program?
Letting kids find their own path and not pushing too hard. It is amazing how the competitive kids surface. They push themselves, we don’t.
What would be the best way to describe your style and philosophy of coaching and working with high school runners?
Try to understand that they usually give what they can give. We try to be patient with them and understand that it does no good to train someone at a level that they cannot sustain.
What are your core beliefs in your training plan and workouts for your cross country squads?
Strength based program, lots of running at comfortably fast paces.
What kind of mileage and summer training have your varsity level runners put in over the last 2-3 months?
Varies by training age, 30 to 50 miles
How does you and your team view and approach the post-season national meet opportunity that is the Nike Cross Nationals?
Now that we have been there two years in a row, we look at that as something we would like to continue, but we have to understand that it isn’t the end-all.
The elated champions after their showing in Portland Meadows last December
Check out raw footage of their initial reaction here
**Clearly, the Wayzata girls like to have fun and . . . like to dance! Check out their reminition of Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe'
How many runners do you return from your top 7 from a year ago?
3
Who is your projected top 7 heading into the cross country season?
Anna French, Annika Lerdall, Michaela Keller-Miller from the national championship team. Honestly we have about 10 girls that can fill in behind them, all very inexperienced.
Who are your team captains or leaders and what stands out about them as examples for the rest of their teammates?
Most seniors are our captains with Anna French leading the way. She is a very diligent trainer and that has filtered down to our young runners.
NXN Champions
Who have you been most impressed or surprised with their improvement and/or fitness from their summer training?
We have too many to name here, but we have many seniors that have continued a nice pattern of increasing their training volume. Always very gratifying to see these kids stay with it.
Any impactful freshmen or transfers to join the team this season?
No transfers but we have two freshman that can make the team.
What are the top ivitational meets that your team will be attending this season?
Griak invite we look forward too. It is a 5k and we get to run against Cherry Creek, and Naperville North. Plus many top Minnesota teams.
What will be the biggest obstacle or challenge facing your team this season?
We have talent but are very young. Our top three needs to be healthy when it counts.
What will be the biggest reason why your team is successful this season?
Team depth, we have 112 runners on the team (grades 9 -12).
What is an annual or common pre-season workout or run for your team?
5 x 1600m
What is an annual or common mid-season workout for your team?
2400m, 1600m, 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 400m
What is an annual or common championship season or end-of-season workout for your team?
6 x 800m
What are your top 3 goals for this year's squad?
Stay Healthy
Have steady individual improvement
Care for each other because most of them will be back
