Yes/No: Will Five #1 Rankers Win at State?

Twenty years after the State Meet was moved to Alexandria because of the Halloween Blizzard, the MSHSL State Cross Country Meet will take place this Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield. While the weather forecast doesn't promise anything exciting this year, there will almost certainly be a few surprises when the races go down.

The final cross country rankings before the State Meet were released this week, identifying the individuals and teams to beat. There are top-12 rankings in eight categories: Class A and AA, teams and individuals, boys and girls. We would like to know how many of these eight #1 seeds will actually end up being state champions.

The question is...

Yes/No: Will five or more individuals and teams currently ranked #1 win State in 2011?

Five seems to be the magic number as that was the number of top seeds that triumphed at State in both 2010 and 2009. Last year, the list of favorites that ended up winning included: Eden Prairie and Adrian girls, Wayzata and Perham boys and Marie Hauger of Shakopee.

Here are the current rankings through five places:

Class AA

Boys' Teams:
1 Stillwater
2 Edina
3 Eden Prairie
4 Wayzata
5 Rosemount

Boys' Individuals:
1 Josh Thorson, Wayzata
2 Cole O'Brien, Burnsville
3 Jan Ketterson, Jefferson
4 Glen Ellingson, Moorhead
5 Connor Olson, Wayzata

Girls' Teams:
1. Monticello
2. Lakeville South
3. Eagan
4. Shakopee
5. Wayzata


Girls' Individuals:
1. Maria Hauger, 11, Shakopee
2. Jamie Piepenburg, 12, Alexandria
3. Danielle Anderson, 11, Eagan
4. Jenna Truedson, 9, Bemidji
5. Megan Hasz, 8 Alexandria


Class A

Boys' Teams:
1. St. Cloud Cathedral
2. Perham
3. Blake
4. Minnehaha Academy
5. Mesabi East

Boys' Individuals:
1. Brandon Clark, Blake
2. Charlie Lawrence, Foley
3. Shane Streich, Waseca
4. Romeo Benish, Proctor
5. Matt Welch, Proctor

Girls' Teams:
1. St. Cloud Cathedral
2. Blake
3. Esko
4. LaCrescent
5. Waseca

Girls' Individuals:
1. Clare Flanagan, Blake
2. McKenzie Holt, St. Cloud Christian
3. Marissa Shady, Esko
4. Emi Trost, Cannon Falls
5. Elena Danielson, St. Cloud Cathedral

Find complete rankings HERE.

To play our game, simply type "yes" or "no" into the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us at DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com before 10:00 A.M. CDT, Saturday, November 5th. Please put your answers in the subject line of the e-mail and make sure your full name appears somewhere in the e-mail. We will offer our usual bonus for participants making their 2011 debut in Yes/No - a correct answer will be worth two points for anyone who has not played yet this year.

My answer: Yes

Last week's contest was Pick 10 for the Big Ten and MIAC Cross Country Meets. The winner was Andrew Nussbaum with thirty-two points, followed by Laura Roach with thirty. The overall leader remains Bryan Tolcser with 170. With only one more Pick 10 contest in 2011, Tolcser has an eleven point cushion for the overall title.

Over at the Yes/No contest, the leaders are Mike Henderson and Rachel Karel with twenty-five points. The winners of the monthly award in October are four people who were perfect in the month: Rachel Karel, Kurt Decker, Bryan Tolcser and Mike Mason.

For all the results, please visit DtB Fantasy Corner, HERE.