| 2004 Boys AA State Ratings | |||
| MN Coaches Association | |||
| October 25th | |||
| See original section previews and pre-section ratings below. | |||
| Rank | Team | Section | Oct 18th |
| 1 | Marshall | 2 | 1st |
| 2 | Hopkins | 6 | 2nd |
| 3 | Eden Prairie | 6 | 3rd |
| 4 | Edina | 6 | 4th |
| 5 | Lakeville | 1 | 5th |
| 6 | Willmar | 2 | 6th |
| 7 | Stillwater | 4 | 7th |
| 8 | Rosemount | 6 | 8th |
| 9 | Mankato West | 2 | 9th |
| 10 | Burnsville | 6 | 10th |
| 11 | Mounds View | 4 | 11th |
| 12 | Wayzata | 6 | x |
| Receiving consideration (section) | |||
| Northfield (1), Rochester John Marshall (1), Chaska (2), Roseville (4), | |||
| Andover (4), Benilde-St. Margaret's (5), Moorhead (8) | |||
| 2004 Boys AA State Ratings | |||||
| MN Coaches Association | |||||
| October 25th | |||||
| See original section previews and pre-section ratings below. | |||||
| Rank | Individual | Grade | School | Section | Oct 18th |
| 1 | Mike Krisch | 12 | Hopkins | 6 | 1st |
| 2 | Dahir Jumale | 10 | Marshall | 2 | 2nd |
| 3 | Yahya Iman | 12 | Marshall | 2 | 3rd |
| 4 | Rob Finnerty | 9 | Burnsville | 6 | 4th |
| 5 | Tim Branigan | 11 | Roseville | 4 | 5th |
| 6 | Elliot Heath | 10 | Winona | 1 | 6th |
| 7 | Dan Fadgen | 12 | Buffalo | 2 | 7th |
| 8 | Jon Stoltman | 12 | Little Falls | 8 | 8th |
| 9 | Jimmy Lanik | 12 | Park | 3 | 9th |
| 10 | Joe Moore | 12 | Stillwater | 4 | 11th |
| 11 | Dey Chak Wuol | 12 | Mankato West | 2 | 10th |
| 12 | Nick Bock | 11 | Edina | 6 | 12th |
| Receiving consideration (not in order) | |||||
| Erick Anderson (12)-Roseville, Kyle Eckhoff (12)-Willmar, Tom Allen (12)-Marshall, Ryan Brownell (12)-Hibbing, Zach Cory (12)-Eden Prairie | |||||
| Mike Kramer (12)-Cloquet, Abdi Awale (10)-Willmar, Tim Bruhn (11)-Lakeville, TC Lumbar (10)-Edina, Mike Finnerty (12)-Burnsville | |||||
| Original Preseason Section Previews and Oct 25th Section Ratings | ||
| 1AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
In 2003, there were a number of contenders for the title with various teams involved and a lot of mixed results as the season progressed. Lakeville and Owatonna earned votes in the ratings at the beginning of last season, but in the end it was Northfield and Winona earning trips to the state meet. Section champ Northfield edged runner-up Winona by 3 points, but it was Winona placing better at state as they earned an 8th place finish, aided by the 1 point from Garrett Heath. Heath graduated after sweeping the CC, 1600 and 3200 titles in his last 2 years in addition to many titles in skiing. He'll now bring his committment, dedication and talent to Stanford. Slight team favorite this year appears to be Northfield as they lost only 1 to graduation from their 12th place state team. Lakeville also is a clear contender for the section title, losing none from their 3rd place team and only finishing 7 points behind Northfield last year. Fairbault returns 5 of 7 after placing 4th last year and only scoring 100 points. Northfield is led by the 2nd returner in the section, senior Cullen O'Neill. O'Neill is the 13th returner from the state meet. The top returner from the section meet and the 14th returner from the state meet is Winona sophomore Elliot Heath. Heath comes off a successful track season as he ran 4:26.81 and 9:38.37. Junior Tim Bruhn of Lakeville also had a successful spring and looks to lead his team to state. Bruhn ran times of 4:27.20 and 9:30.66 last spring and placed 5th in the section last fall. Also returning from last year's top 10 in the section are senior Seyfu Hassan of Rochester JM (6th), junior Sam Schmidt of Fairbault (7th) and senior Ben Kampf of Farmington (8th). Schmidt placed best at state of the three, finishing 33rd. | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Northfield 2 Lakeville 3 Fairbault 4 Winona 5 Rochester JM | 3 Elliot Heath (10) Winona, 4 Cullen O'Neill (12) Northfield, 5 Tim Bruhn (11) Lakeville, 6 Seyfu Hassan (12) Rochester JM, 7 Sam Schmidt (11) Fairbault, 8 Ben Kampf (12) Farmington | |
| Oct. 25th 1AA Team Ratings 1. Lakeville, 2. Rochester John Marshall, 3. Northfield, 4. Fairbault, 5. Owatonna, 6. Winona Oct. 25th 1AA Individual Ratings 1. Elliot Heath (10) Winona 2. Tim Bruhn (11) Lakeville 3. Seyfu Hassan (12) Rochester John Marshall, 4. Sam Schmidt (11) Fairbault, 5. Ben Kampf (12) Farmington 6. Cullen O'Neill (12) Northfield |
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| 2AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
The section appears to be even stronger than last season as only 10 total were lost to graduation from the top 7 teams. Individually, the section has 8 of the top 25 returners at state. Defending state champion, Marshall will need to replace an unexpected loss in senior Yahya Iman, last year's section champion and state runner-up. Iman moved to St. Cloud Tech during the last school year. Marshall still returns three from the top 10 returners at state led by sophomore Dahir Jumale, 10th at state, senior Ahmednur Jumale, 17th at state and senior Tom Allen, 20th at state. Marshall appears to be the type of team that gears up more specifically for cross country, with their best runner placing only 25th in the spring's 3200 state honor roll. Their key this fall will be finding quality athletes to back up the best trio in the state. If they don't, Mankato West, Chaska and Willmar will be there to take over. Mankato West has historically been one of the best at replacing those lost to graduation. They return 4 of 7 from their team that was section runner-up and 4th at state last fall. Senior Dey Chuk Wuol is their top returner after his 31st place finish at state. Chaska scored 103 points last year as they placed 3rd, but they lost none to graduation. Freshman Obsa Taddese leads the squad after he placed 9th last year. Willmar also ran well at section last year as they scored 120 points to place 4th. They only lost one to graduation and are led by senior Kyle Eckoff. Eckoff is the 21st returner from state as he placed 45th. Senior Dan Fadgen of Buffalo is the 5th returner from state although he was injured most of the spring after posting a 9:47.2. Update: Yayha Iman is back to Marshall | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Marshall, 2 Mankato West, 3 Chaska, 4 Willmar, 5 Hutchinson | 1 Yayha Iman (12) Marshall, 3 Dahir Jumale (10) Marshall, 4 Dan Fadgen (12) Buffalo, 5 Tom Allen (12) Marshall, 6 Dey Chak Wuol (12) Mankato West, 7 Kyle Eckhoff (12) Willmar, 9 Obsa Taddese (9) Chaska | |
| Oct. 25th 2AA Team Ratings 1. Marshall, 2. Willmar, 3. Mankato West, 4. Chaska Oct. 25th 2AA Individual Ratings 1. Dahir Jumale (10) Marshall, 2. Yahya Iman (12) Marshall, 3. Dan Fadgen (12) Buffalo, 4. Dey Chak Wuol (12) Mankato West, 5. Kyle Eckhoff (12) Willmar 6. Tom Allen (12) Marshall, 7. Abdi Awale (10) Willmar, 8. Obsa Taddese (9) Chaska, 9. Ahmednur Jumale (12) Marshall, 10. Ryan Slack (12) Mankato West |
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| 3AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
Last season, it was a close duel between Tartan and Henry Sibley, Tartan prevailing 57-63. Henry Sibley reversed the order at state with an 11th place finish to Tartan's 13th. Henry Sibley becomes this year's favorite as Tartan lost five to graduation while Henry Sibley lost three. St. Thomas Academy appears poised to make a move after losing only their sixth runner from last years fifth place team. Junior Sufian Kimo looks to defend his section title after a 14th place state finish last fall and two impressive runs in the spring. Kimo placed 4th in the 1600 (4:19.67) and 5th in the 3200 (9:26.51) and was the 2nd underclassman in both races. Tartan is led by senior Matt Boumeester who placed 5th in the section last year. He also showed some speed last spring with a 4:24.43. After placing 6th in the section last season, Jim Lanik of Park posted some impressive times in the spring. His 4:22.83 and 9:27.00 ranked in the top 6 underclassmen in each event on the honor rolls. Also placing in the top ten last year in the section were junior George Williams of St. Thomas Academy, senior Dan Anderson of Harding, and junior Aaron Ehlers of Arlington. Update: Sufian Kimo moved to Nebraska | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Henry Sibley, 2 Tartan, 3 St. Thomas Academy, 4 Eagan, 5 Park | 5 Matthew Boumeester (12) Tartan, 6 Jim Lanik (12) Park, 7 George Williams (11) St. Thomas Academy, 8 Dan Anderson (12) Harding, 9 Aaron Ehlers (11) St. Paul Arlington, 10 Austin Omodt (11) St. Thomas Academy | |
| Oct. 25th 3AA Team Ratings 1. Henry Sibley, 2. Tartan, 3. St. Thomas Academy, 4. Eagan Oct. 25th 3AA Individual Ratings 1. Jimmy Lanik (12) Park, 2. Jonathan Stublaski (10) Henry Sibley, 3. Nick Saucedo (10) Henry Sibley, 4. Matt Boumeester (12) Tartan, 5. George Williams (11) St. Thomas Academy, 6. Dan Anderson (12) Harding |
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| 4AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
Although there is only one place left to improve, Stillwater looks to have a good opportunity to improve their performance at the state meet. The Ponies placed 13th, 6th, 3rd, and 2nd the last four years at state and they return 3 of the top 7 returners from the section meet. They also add a 9:49.30 3200 runner (sophomore Ben Blankenship) to the squad. Leading the team is senior Joe Moore. Moore is the 11th returner from state after placing 4th in the section last year. He finished 8th in the spring 1600 (4:23.81) and 9th in the 3200 (9:31.50). He is one of four underclassman from the squad to run better than 10:04 in the spring. Joining Moore and Blankenship on the list are senior Brian Odegaard and junior Kyle Coghlan. Odegaard was 10th in the section last year. There are four other teams that have separated themselves from the others and will do battle for a state berth. Runner-up Roseville only lost 2 of 7 and are led by a strong duo in junior Tim Branigan and senior Erick Anderson. Branigan is the 3rd returner from the state meet and the top returner in the section. He turned in some solid times in the spring with 4:25.26 and 9:24.2. His 3200 time was 3rd for underclassmen. Anderson also had a successful spring with a 4:26.39 and 9:31.2. Mounds View is looking to get back to the state meet after missing out last year by 12 points. They only lost one from their top six, a squad that scored 99 points in last year's meet. Andover looks to be a contender with a solid pack and some motivated summer running. They only lost 1 to graduation while last year's 4th place finisher, Centennial, only lost 2. | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Stillwater, 2 Roseville, 3 Mounds View, 4 Andover, 5 Centennial | 2 Tim Branigan (11) Roseville, 4 Joe Moore (12) Stillwater, 8 Erick Anderson (12) Roseville, 10 Brian Odegaard (12) Stillwater | |
| Oct. 25th 4AA Team Ratings 1. Stillwater, 2. Mounds View, 3. Roseville, 4. Andover Oct. 25th 4AA Individual Ratings 1. Tim Branigan (10) Roseville, 2. Joe Moore (12) Stillwater, 3. Erick Anderson (12) Roseville, 4. Henry Reich (12) Mahtomedi 5. Kyle Coghlan (11) Stillwater, 6. Collin Plummer (12) Mounds View, 7. Brian Anderson (12) Andover, 8. Phil Richert (12) Andover |
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| 5AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
After losing the top 21 runners in the section to graduation a year ago, this year only ten are gone from the top five teams. Minneapolis Southwest looks to defend their title as they lost only one from the championship team that scored 55 points. Fridley missed a state berth by only 10 points last year and should contend for the title as they lost only their 7th runner. Fridley returns the 2nd (junior Brent Haglund), 3rd (senior Alemo Akway) and 4th (junior Mohammed Omisaye) returning runners from last year's section meet. Omisaye is the top returnering finisher at state from the section as he placed 47th a year ago. Southwest also returns a solid group of front runners with 4 returning from last year's section underclassmen. They are led by senior Eric Carter, 7th a year ago. Junior Mike Mommsen of St. Louis Park hopes to defend his section title and help his team to the state meet again. His section runner-up squad lost 3 to graduation. Also returning from the top ten at last year's section meet is senior John Zbikowski of Maple Grove. | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Minneapolis Southwest, 2 Fridley, 3 St. Louis Park, 4 Benilde St. Margaret's, 5 Maple Grove | 1 Mike Mommsen (11) St. Louis Park, 2 Brent Haglund (11) Fridley, 3 Alemo Akway (12) Fridley, 4 Mohammed Omisaye (11) Fridley, 7 Eric Carter (12) Mpls. SW, 10 John Zbikowski (12) Maple Grove | |
| Oct. 25th 5AA Team Ratings 1. Fridley, 2. Benilde-St. Margaret's, 3. Mpls SW Oct. 25th 5AA Individual Ratings 1. Mike Mommsen St. Louis Park, 2. Mohammed Omisaye (11) Fridley, 3. Brent Haglund (11) Fridley, 4. Pat Brown (10) Benilde-St. Margaret's, 5. Alemo Akway (12) Fridley, 6. Matt Carney (?) Benilde-St. Margaret's |
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| 6AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
A heavy loss to graduation (25 from the top 5 teams) might result in a not-quite-so-deadly section. Then again, probably not.....others just hope. Many teams in this section are among the best at reloading. It is likely again as voting coaches put six 6AA teams on their lists. The early favorite this year appears to be Hopkins as they return four from their runner-up squad that placed 5th at state. Eden Prairie returns only two from last year's team, but they scored only 37 to win the title a year ago. Wayzata, 4th a year ago, also returns two while 3rd place squad Edina returns just one. Minnetonka and Burnsville also recieved votes for top 12 rankings, but Apple Valley and Rosemount appear to have comparable quality. Apple Valley and Burnsville return four while Rosemount returns five. Apple Valley is led by last year's 9th place finisher in the section, senior Greg Dowe. Minnetonka is aided by the addition of Peter Ferlis, 6th in Class A last year. His time on the state course ranks him as the 12th returner at state. Defending champion Mike Krisch of Hopkins (senior) is the 2nd returner from the state meet. He comes off an exceptional spring as he led all underclassmen with a 9:14.16. He also ran a 4:20.71 to place 7th at state in the 1600. He will be joined by sophomores Mike Mueller and Sam Newcomer who are the 6th and 7th returners from the section meet. Eden Prairie is led by brothers Zach (senior) and Devin (junior) Cory. They are the 2nd and 4th returners from the section. Also running well in the spring was ninth grader Rob Finnerty of Burnsville. As an 8th grader, Finnerty ran times of 4:28.1 and 9:23.65! He was the third underclassmen in the 3200 in the state last spring after finishing 13th in the section last fall. | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 7 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Hopkins, 2 Eden Prairie, 3 Wayzata, 4 Edina, 5 Apple Valley, 6 Rosemount, 7 Minnetonka, 8 Burnsville | 1 Mike Krisch (12) Hopkins, 4 Zach Cory (12) Eden Prairie, 9 Greg Dowe (12) Apple Valley | |
| Oct. 25th 6AA Team Ratings 1. Hopkins, 2. Eden Prairie, 3. Edina, 4. Rosemount, 5. Burnsville, 6. Wayzata Oct. 25th 6AA Individual Ratings 1. Mike Krisch (11) Hopkins 2. Rob Finnerty (9) Burnsville, 3. Nick Bock (11) Edina, 4. TC Lumbar (10) Edina, 5. Mike Finnerty (12) Burnsville, 6. Zach Cory (12) Eden Prairie |
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| 7AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
Defending champion and 6th place finisher at state, Elk River, was hit hard by graduation, losing four of their top five. Runner-up Duluth East lost three from their top five while last years's 3rd place squad, Cloquet, lost three of six. Hit least by graduation is 4th place finisher Monticello. They lost only one of their top six from the squad that scored 95 points a year ago. Cloquet returns a tough duo in seniors Mike Kramer (3rd last year) and Jake Cavanaugh (6th). They are the top two returners from the section. Kramer is the 9th returner from the state meet although he isn't found on the sub 4:33 or sub 10:05 lists from the spring. Also returning from last year's top 10 in the section are junior Dan Greeno of St. Michael-Albertville, senior Ryan Brownell of Hibbing, and junior Zach Varty of Elk River. | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Monticello, 2 Cloquet, 3 Duluth East, 4 Elk River, 5 Hibbing | 3 Mike Kramer (12) Cloquet, 6 Jake Cavanaugh (12) Cloquet, 8 Dan Greeno (11) St. Michael Albertville, 9 Ryan Brownell (12) Hibbing, 10 Zach Varty (11) Elk River | |
| Oct. 25th 7AA Team Ratings 1. Monticello, 2. Cloquet, 3. Duluth East, 4. Hibbing Oct. 25th 7AA Individual Ratings 1. Mike Kramer (12) Cloquet, 2. Ryan Brownell (12) Hibbing, 3. Dan Greeno (11) St. Michael-Albertville, 4. Zach Varty (11) Elk River |
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| 8AA Pre-Season Section Preview |
Moorhead and Brainerd appear to be, as last year, locked in a close battle for the section title. They finished four points apart in the section meet and one at state with Moorhead prevailing both times. They both lost two from their top five and three from their top seven. After missing the state meet a year ago, Alexandria (4th last year) will be hoping to return and looks to have a good shot to do so. They return six of seven from the team that scored 95 points last year. They are led by last year's 8th place finisher, senior Mitch Gesell. Moorhead is led by junior Beau Christian (6th last year) and senior Adam Kne (7th). Leading Brainerd is senior Chris Woodard, the top returning finisher from last year. Jon Stoltman of Little Falls is the 2nd returner from last year, but is the top returner from state. He finished 5th at the section a year ago and 15th at state where he is the 7th returner. Woodard is the 12th returner from the state meet. Looking to have a say about the section title will be '03 2AA champion and state runner-up Yahya Iman. Iman transferred from Marshall to St. Cloud Tech during the school year and then placed 3rd in state last spring in the 1600. His 4:19.09 was the best time for an underclassman. Update: Yayha Iman is back to Marshall in Section 2 | |
| J. Schmidt's Preseason Picks for Top 5 Teams | Returning from 2003 Top 10 ('03 Place, '04 Grade) | |
| 1 Moorhead, 2 Brainerd, 3 Alexandria, 4 Grand Rapids, 5 Sartell | 4 Chris Woodard (12) Brainerd, 5 Jon Stoltman (12) Little Falls, 6 Beau Christian (11) Moorhead, 7 Adam Kne (12) Moorhead, 8 Mitch Gesell (12) Alexandria | |
| Oct. 25th 8AA Team Ratings 1. Moorhead, 2. Alexandria, 3. Brainerd, 4. Sauk Rapids, 5. Sartell Oct. 25th 8AA Individual Ratings 1. Jon Stoltman (12) Little Falls, 2. Adam Kne (12) Moorhead, 3. Chris Woodard Brainerd, 4. Mitch Gesell (12) Alexandria, 5. Charles VanderWyst (12) Sartell, 6. Dan Offerdahl (11) Sartell |
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