3. Sarah Schmitt, Naperville North (Illinois)
Grade: Senior
Breakdown: Schmitt is a sixth-place finisher at last year's Illinois 3A championships, a three-time NXN qualifier, and the second highest returning athlete from last year's Griak, where she finished fifth behind Wolfgram. Schmitt is off to the best start of her career.
At the First to the Finish Invitational two weeks ago, Schmitt's second-place time of 16:50 not only was her fastest time at the meet by 57 seconds, but her 3-mile PR. Likewise at the Spartan Invitational 5K the week before, which she won in 17:49, she had another career best.
Not only did she perform well, but her Naperville North team, ranked No. 10 in the Flo50 poll, were the victors in both of them, beating U.S. No. 13 Edina at the Spartan Invitational. Her teammate Alex Morris will also be in the individual battle, as she has been close behind Schmitt at each race. But it is Schmitt who has the best chance of anyone in the field to take down any of the Minnesota runners.