Wayzata stays on a roll as both Girls and Boys teams qualify for Nike Nationals!

Password:  Together

Coming of of their third straight Minnesota state title, the Wayzata girls ran a near flawless race to win the Nike Heartland region title.  It was the third year in a row that the Lady Trojans have ran at the national meet finishing seventh two years ago and capturing the national title last year.  It's been a somewhat rebuilding year for the girls as four new young ladies will gain the Nike experience.  

The Trojans were led by Anna French as she lowered her all-time best in the 5k to 17:38, taking 5th place.  The race was especially gratifying for Anna as she convincingly turned the tables on Tess Misgen, Emma Benner, and Emily Covert from the state meet.  Anna was followed by the one-two punch of Michaela Keller-Miller and Annika Lerdall, finishing 16th and 18th respectively.  Putting three in the top 18 was too much for Willmar and Edina as they battled for 2nd place and a national meet birth.

Following the three battle-hardened veterans was Jaycie Thomsen, quite possibly running her best race ever.  She covered the Sioux Falls course in an outstanding 5k time of 18:49 and kept her steady improvement this year on a roll.  Filling out the top 5 was the amazing Sam Lettenberger, a rookie that seems to never put limits on herself.  To almost break 19 minutes as a rookie on a very pressurized stage was phenomenal!  

Rounding out the top 7 was the ever-improving Melissa Drenckhahn smashing her time from the previous year by 1:28 and two years a go by a whopping 3 minutes!  Ninth-grader Ellie Emerick gained much needed experience running in the 7th slot.  She has come a long way this year and leads a great young contingent of runners ready to take on the mantle of what Wayzata girls cross country has become.  

In the Black race, the event for up-and-coming young runners, the competition was again dominated by Wayzata, not only winning, but placing three teams in the top 9!  Gina Kalkar was the top Wayzata runner of the day.   A complete list of athletes can be found in the results here:

http://www.runnerspace.com/nxnhl