Saturday’s state cross-country meet will feature four St. Paul Public School teams in competition across two classes, with Highland Park’s boys and girls teams racing in Class 2A, along with the Como Park boys. And, in Class 3A, Central is making a surprise appearance.

It is possible St. Paul distance running — which for a few years now has largely just featured the Scots — is rounding into a dominant, city-wide showcase of talent.

That will have to be cemented in seasons to come. But, for now, Saturday’s state meet at Les Bolstad Golf Course on the University of Minnesota campus will serve as a highlight.

Here’s a look at the individual St. Paul schools, and how they got here:

Central girls

This is Alex Fendig’s first year at the helm for Central cross country. His goals were more centered on the cultivation of an environment than anything else.

“My philosophy is that if people feel safe and welcomed in the team environment, all the stuff like (personal records) and going to state will come later,” he said. “So, I was kind of more focused on those intangibles, focused on race strategy and pack running, and maybe thinking in the future it would be the year.”

Then it turned out the Minutemen’s year was this one. Central’s girls team entered the Class 3A, Section 4 meet seeded fourth, but edged Two Rivers via a tiebreaker for the second spot and the first trip to state for Central’s girls since 1999.

Leading the way for the Minutemen were seniors Halina Tompkins and Laura McClary, who finished third and fourth, respectively.

Fendig said those seniors at the top of the lineup have been “incredible,” while adding the program buy-in from Day 1 has created the instant success, and laid a foundation for the future.

“Going into the weekend with confidence, and then coming out of it with confidence, however we do,” he said, “will bode well for future seasons.”

Como Park boys

Mahtomedi’s Matthew Johnson just had to run fast in the Class 2A, Section 4 boys meet.

Only Johnson — who finished fifth in the meet — stood in the way of the Cougars tallying a perfect score atop the standings.

Charlie Loth led the way for the Cougars with the individual section title. And not only did Como Park’s five scoring runners finish in the top six, its sixth runner finished in seventh. All seven Cougars’ racers were in the top 15. Domination.

“Maybe the scoring did surprise me a little bit, but certainly we felt that our group was going to be at the front,” Como Park coach Tim Kersey said. “What we practiced all year was running together. And since we were running together, it just so happened that we were at the front.”

Saturday marks Como Park’s fourth straight state meet appearance immediately on the heels of a 40-year drought.

This one does have a different feel. The Cougars steadily progressed at each of their three previous state meetings, finishing 14th in 2021, then 12th and 11th the past two years. But they enter Saturday as the third-ranked team in the state, for good reason. The Cougars have big-meet experience. They even ran in the championship 5K this year at the Roy Griak Invitational for the first time.

“They’re just a confident group right now,” Kersey said. “They feel like if they can stick together, they can do really well (Saturday).”

Highland Park boys

Brad Moening felt at the season’s outset that there was a chance the Scots boys could get to state this season, but it was far from a guarantee.

Yet when push came to shove, they got there in convincing fashion. Highland Park finished second to Blake in the Class 2A, Section 3 meet — but finished 40 points clear of third-place Minnehaha Academy.

All five of the Scots’ scorers finished in the top 20 overall, and all seven runners were in the top 25. It was a brilliant performance that suggested the Scots have indeed saved their best for last.

“I think that particular race just really rolled out well for them, in terms of we had two different groups, they packed up and that built some confidence,” Moening said. “They kind of ran intelligently. … They ran appropriate paces, and they just put together a very confidence-inspiring race.”

Highland Park is led by senior Mason Deegan, a top-10 individual in the state who won the section. Moening noted having a guy like that around helps the cause, but added “there’s no magic” in earning your spot at state.

“It’s just getting in consistent workouts week after week after week, and it just kind of consistently builds,” he said.

Highland Park girls

The Scots’ girls did what Como Park’s boys almost achieved — the perfect score in sections, achieved by claiming each of the top-five finishing spots. All seven of Highland Park’s runners finished in the top eight.

Claire Vukovics and Grace Lewis-Mosher went one-two, and the seniors are favored to land top-five finishes on Saturday. But that Highland Park enters the state meet atop the Class 2A rankings is a product of its impressive depth.

Not only are the Scots’ top seven strong, but there are seven more runners behind them who would likely also be state entrants in any other program.

“Yeah,” Moening said, “they’re just a machine right now.”

Highland Effect?

Highland Park is, seemingly, always a machine. The girls’ team has finished in the top two at state in each of the last three years, with two titles in that time.

The boys’ team is back at state after a rare miss a year ago, which snapped a string of three straight appearances.

The Scots have produced individual state champions in boys and girls in the last five years. They’ve been the standard. And it’s not difficult to connect the dots between their success and the rise of the conference’s other programs.

Moening always tells his runners to “go to the front and stay there.”

“So, what do they all think? They think they belong at the front. So, it’s a virus, I’m telling you,” Moening said. “One kid sees it’s possible, somebody else can visualize that, and all of a sudden, they’re in the same spot.”

Perhaps that effect is taking place across St. Paul.

“I think it really is that confidence thing. Being in a conference, and then also a section, like ours is, you can see teams run fast,” said Fendig, who has an assistant on staff who ran for Highland Park. “It can be a little intimidating, but I think most of the time, it has the resulted in these student-athletes seeing that, ‘Yeah, I can run fast.’ And I can work hard, because all of these other athletes are.”

Regardless of what’s caused the evolution, all are fans of it. Moening noted how much respect he has for what Kersey has built at Como Park, and cited how great it is for Central’s program to reach this stage and be able to build upon this season.

The coaches noted they’ll be rooting for their athletes on Saturday, but they’ll also be cheering on the rest of St. Paul.

“It’s weird, because parents will go to a cross country meet for the first time, and they’re always kind of blown away. The word genial comes to mind — everybody is cheering for everybody,” Moening said. “We’re cheering for the St. Paul schools. Yeah, we’re racing them, but it’s hard not to admire what they’ve got going on over there.”