Griak is one of the biggest meets of the season, with a longstanding tradition in Minnesota of drawing runners from all over the country. It’s a great preview for teams and individuals to see their competition for upcoming meets like Nike Regionals. This year was the first time in the 40 years of the meet, that the venue changed to Fort Snelling Golf Course. Unlike Les Bolstad, it’s previous location known for being tough and hilly, the new course handed out a ton of PR’s. In fact, all 9 finishing runners from Wayzata ran their personal best times, virtually unheard of in mid-September.
Wayzata girls locked in, and finished 3rd overall, 2nd of the Minnesota teams, just behind Edina. The 2 teams have been battling for the top seed in the State all season. They’ll face each other come Lake Conference Championship and Sections in October. Both teams are young and looking to finish as the best in Minnesota.
Faith Sundet and Sienna Blomberg both came in at 18:04 and 18:05, finishing 21st and 23rd in the Championship race. Naoko Neitz bettered her time from last week by over 2 minutes at 18:48. Adele Stark had a huge race with an 18:52 and Brianna Ledman had over a minute and a half drop with at 19:02, finishing 67th overall. And the Trojans didn’t let up. Cody Riddering, Eve Lofgren, Laney Granberg, and Olivia Cahill rounded out the team, all going sub 20. The depth that Wayzata continues to have is unreal, and they continue to get better and better.
Last week, according to Dyestat.com early season outlooks have Wayzata ranked 23rd in the country, and expected to only move up from here after this week’s showing at Griak.
Across the Twin Cities, JV competed in the Mustang Invitational and also placed top 5 in all of the heats, including the up and coming Wayzata Middle School team. In the Green race, Kingsley Loso, Grace Marley, and Ava Doherty placed in the top 10 and led the team to a win with 37 points. In the Silver race, Zeilyn Rico, and Maxine Truelson placed in the top 20. In the Gold race, Haidyn Lambert finished 8th with a time of 23:53. Middle School raced 3,200 Meters and took the top 4 spots with Catherine Williams, Emily Nelson, Paige Larson, and Edyn Holland sweeping the podium.
The Trojans have 2 more races including The Metro Invitational and then head to Iowa before launching into post season competition.
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