#6 Willmar vs. #7 Edina at Minnesota State Championships
Willmar and Edina return nearly everyone from last year's very closely matched nationally ranked squads. Edina is the defending state champion, while Willmar took top honors at NXN Heartland and placed well ahead of Edina at NXN -- ninth to 16th.
The fiercest team competition that will occur next Saturday will probably be between the girls from Edina and Willmar. Both teams are currently ranked in the nation's top ten after representing the Heartland Region at Nike Cross Nationals last year. And it is difficult to say which team has been more dominant this year. At sections, US#7 Edina scored 27 points with a 39-second spread against four other ranked teams in 6AA, while US#6 Willmar scored 21 points with a 34-second spread in 8AA. Willmar returns all seven athletes from last year's third-place finish, led by the trio of seniors Jessa Hanson, Sophie Schmitz, and Kayla Rudie. They have not scored more than 56 points in any meet this season. Edina not only didn't graduate anyone from last year's state championship team, but in fact added former Breck standout Morgan Richter, who was the Class A girls runner-up in last year's state meet as an eighth grader. All seven scoring runners have run under 19 minutes this season, and the only race they scored more than 38 points was at Griak when they won with 97 points over 48 other teams.
Edina wins the MSHSL Section 6AA Championships with 27 points: