The first week of racing in the 2026 season is complete in Minnesota. This article will summarize the meet performances from across the state: highlighting top performances, surprises, and some take-aways as the season moves forward into week three.
Duluth East Twin Ports Invitational
As is usually the case, the Duluth East Twin Ports Invitational kicked off the action for the 2026 season in Minnesota. Held at Lester Park in Duluth, this meet has grown in size, hosting an assortment of teams from Northeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities Metro. On the boys side, Farmington outdueled Park Center by a score of 53 to 54. The individual race was equally compelling with the ninth-ranked runner in AAA, Carter Lippold of Farmington, outpacing Nathaniel Bateman of Duluth East, 16:44.60 to 16:47.00.
The girls race featured two of the top ranked teams in the state - St. Michael-Albertville (1st) and Farmington (7th). St. Michael-Albertville came out on top by a score of 22 to 40. The individual race featured the second and third ranked runners in AAA - Mackenzie Myran of St. Michael-Albertville and Lauren Lansing of Farmington. Myran, the freshman, secured a dominant victory in a time of 18:58.60 to Lansing's 19:37.90.
Kevin Moorhead Northwoods Invitational
The Kevin Moorhead Invitational, hosted at Northwoods Park in Brooklyn Park brought an assortment of teams from A, AA, and AAA to the northern metro for this 2-mile race. On the boys side, the only ranked team across all classes was Orono (Edina ran a split squad between this meet and Perham, and the Northwest Nighthawks had an incomplete team). When the dust settled, the seventh ranked team in AA came out with a convincing win and low score of 28 points. Eddie Loberg of Orono came out on top in the individual competition - out running his teammate Davis Kelly - in a time of 9:50.60 for the only sub 10:00 performance on the day.
On the girls side, Roseville was the only ranked girls team heading into the meet and would find themselves on the losing end of a tight battle with Rogers, by a score of 38 to 41. While Roseville managed to have the first three girls across the line in sub 13:00 efforts, Rogers managed to get their top five runners across the line before Roseville's fourth to secure the team victory. In a tight individual battle, three eighth grade girls from Roseville crossed the line within one second of each other! Ultimately, it was Cecilia Fuenffinger who would get the win in a time of 12:56.
Ron Kretsch Invitational
The Ron Kretsch Invitational is annually held at Bassett Creek Park in New Hope. With a rich history, the meet draws some of the top teams from A, AA, and AAA on a consistent basis. While the meet is run by grade level, this summary will be looking at the combined team and individual results.
On the boys side, some of the top ranked individuals in A, AA, and AAA toed the line in their respective races. The top AAA performers came from the fourth ranked Minneapolis Washburn team. Thomas McVay came in as the seventh ranked AAA runner and won his 12th grade race in a time of 9:57.80. In the 11th grade race McVay's teammate, Khalil Omar, ran away from the competition with the fastest time of the day 9:49.1. Overall, Minneapolis Washburn would have five of the thirteen fastest times on the day across all races, coming away with the convincing combined team title and a score of 31 points. Mankato East came in as the fourth ranked AA boys team and would come out second in the combined team competition with a score of 90 points. The Cougars were paced by junior Nathan Essler, the ninth ranked runner in AA, who would come away with a second place finish in the 11th grade race and third place overall on the day. The sixth ranked AA team, Minnehaha Academy would come away with a third place finish and a score of 122 points. They were paced by seniors David Kvasnik and Jack Calvin, who placed fifth and sixth overall on the day. Finally, the A teams proved this season will be one with lots of intrigue: the third ranked Nova Classical Academy would come away as the third A team in the standings on the day. Mounds Park Academy was the top A team with a score of 157 points, with St. Agnes was close behind with 160 points. Nova Classical Academy was a distant way behind with 207 points. While Benaiah Matthews of Nova Classical Academy came in as the highest ranked A runner (fourth), it was Carter Short of Mounds Park Academy who would come away with the fastest time on the day in 10:17.1 to Matthews 10:18.1.
While the girls competition did not have the number of ranked teams and individuals as the boys, the individual and team competitions did not prove any less competitive. Mankato East, eighth ranked in AA, would come out on top in the combined team competition with a score of 96 points. The other ranked competition resided in A, with Trinity/Unity (eighth) and Providence Academy (ninth) being defeated by RAACHE in the team competition. RAACHE would score 115 points to Trinity/Unity's 122. Providence Academy was further back with a score of 182. In the individual races, Isabel Pass of Nova Classical Academy was the only ranked girl across all races. She would outpace the competition and prove her third place ranking in A is no fluke, as she crossed the line in a time of 11:45.9.
Eau Claire North Husky Invitational
Some of the top boys teams in the state traveled to Lowes Creek County Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Wayzata boys entered the season as the top ranked team in AAA and proved that ranking is legitimate with their victory over the weekend. They won over sixth ranked AAA Stillwater by a score of 49 to 74. As usual, Wayzata pack running and small spread proved difficult to beat on the day, as they put six runners in the top fifteen spots, with only a spread of 22 seconds across their scoring members. Stillwater would manage to put six runners in the top thirty, with only a 39 second spread; but while that would be enough to beat all the teams from Wisconsin, it was not enough to pull the upset over their in-state rival. Thomas Berndt of Wayzata was the only ranked boy in the competition - he would go on to place fifth in a time of 16:03. Close behind was Will DeMar, a sophomore from Stillwater, in a time of 16:05. Ultimately, Wayzata's top six runners all ran under 16:31, in less than ideal running conditions (there was standing water on the course).
In the girls race, Stillwater was the only ranked team in attendance (tenth in AAA) and put together a solid team performance, good enough for second place and a score of 83 points to Menominie, WI and their score of 75.
Perham Brave Like Gabe Invitational
The final meet covered from last week will be the Brave Like Gabe Invitational, hosted by Perham High School. This meet brought some of the top competition across A, AA, and AAA to Northwest Minnesota for the premier early season invitational during Minnesota's first week of competition. Races were separated based on school enrollment, with larger schools competing in the Gold races and smaller schools in the Black races. In the boys Gold races, some of the top ranked Minnesota teams were defeated by the team of Fargo Davies. Fargo Davies would secure the victory with a score of 65 points. From Minnesota, the AAA team in the competition was Edina (eighth) and they would be outdueled by Eastview in a tight battle of 80 to 91 points. The second ranked team and host school Perham would find themselves in fifth place overall and a score of 132 points. In the individual race, many top ranked individuals would be vying with each other for the top spot: Lucas Capistrant (tenth in AAA) would come out on top with a winning time of 15:44.2. Behind him was third ranked AA runner Connor Malecka of Detroit Lakes in a time of 15:46.40; Luke Bakken the fourth ranked AAA runner of Eastview would cross the line in fourth place; Brody Freeland the sixth ranked runner in AA would come across in sixth place; and finally, Rocco Hawthorne Arroyo the eleventh ranked runner in AAA of Edina would cross the line in eighth place.
On the girls side, the second ranked team in AAA, Edina, would secure a convincing victory with a score of 46 points to runner-up Hillsboro/Central Valley of North Dakota. The Perham girls, second ranked in AA, were not at full strength and would finish as the next best Minnesota team in fifth place. In the individual competition, the only ranked runner from Minnesota was Lyla Drayna (sixth in AAA), and she would go on to place second in a time of 18:10.
In the boys Black race, the top ranked team was Sibley East (tenth in A), and they would secure a dominant victory over Hawley by a score of 58 to 94. While there were no ranked runners in this boys race, Sibley East would go 1-2 in the scoring with junior Gage Horstman securing the win in 16:38 over his teammate Julio Alejandro who crossed in 17:19. The girls race was a tight team battle, in what is coming to become a consistent theme between central Minnesota's Little Falls and St. Cloud Cathedral. Little Falls, the sixth ranked team in AA, would come out with the victory over the top ranked A team by a score of 53 to 62. Little Falls victory was spearheaded by junior Rose Jarnot, who would claim a commanding victory of 30 seconds in a time of 19:43.
The first week of racing in the 2026 season is complete in Minnesota. This article will summarize the meet performances from across the state: highlighting top performances, surprises, and some take-aways as the season moves forward into week three.
Duluth East Twin Ports Invitational
As is usually the case, the Duluth East Twin Ports Invitational kicked off the action for the 2026 season in Minnesota. Held at Lester Park in Duluth, this meet has grown in size, hosting an assortment of teams from Northeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities Metro. On the boys side, Farmington outdueled Park Center by a score of 53 to 54. The individual race was equally compelling with the ninth-ranked runner in AAA, Carter Lippold of Farmington, outpacing Nathaniel Bateman of Duluth East, 16:44.60 to 16:47.00.