Girls Relays
4x100m
There are five teams that were sub-50 in the event at regionals, and all five have a shot at taking the top spot. Cleveland comes in as the favorite with their East-winning 48.87, and South Iredell leads the pack behind them with their 49.51 at Mideast regionals. Northern Guilford, Clyde A. Erwin and Southern Wayne are the other teams who dipped below 50, and will look to hold off a deep field of competitors behind them.
4x200m
Four teams went under 1:46 at regionals, led by Northern Guilford, whose 1:43.51 to win the Mideast leads the 3A this year. Cleveland is the only other school in the field to have gone under 1:44. Havelock and Nash Central both have sub 1:45 seedtimes, but Nash Central was about two seconds off of that at regionals. Central Cabarrus and Marvin Ridge also have top eight times in the 3A this season and won't be far off.
4x400m
Cuthbertson and Nash Central set the top two times in 3A in their regional wins of 4:04.63 and 4:04.64, and have a solid gap over the rest of the field. Chapel Hill and West Carteret were both under 4:08, and Marvin Ridge was the only other team to slip under 4:10. The pack has a lot of time to shave off to catch up to Cuthbertson and Nash Central, who should be neck and neck in this event.
4x800m
Chapel Hill could be the heavy favorite to grab 10 points in this event, as they have a nearly 14 second buffer over the next fastest time in 3A this year. But if they decide to focus on the individual events and relax in the 4x800 like they did at Mideast, the field opens considerably. Weddington, Marvin Ridge and Cuthbertson all have marks hovering around 9:45, all coming at the Midwest regional, and Northern Guilford and White Oaks also have sub 10:00 times from regionals. If Chapel Hill does race their full 'A' relay, it will likely become a race for second behind the distance powerhouse Chapel Hill.
Boys Relays
4x100
Four relays come in with regional times under 43 seconds. Weddington and West Craven are up top, and while Weddington posted the best time at regionals, West Craven's 42.38 from their conference meet is still the fastest time run in the 3A this season. Kings Mountain and Hibriten won't be far behind, and a good race from them or a slip up from the top two could be the difference in this event.
4x200
Similarly to the 4x100, there are four relays with some slight separation from the pack. Hickory Ridge, West Craven, Hibriten and Jay M. Robinson all broke 1:30 at regionals. Also similarly to the 4x100, it was the second fastest team from regionals, West Craven, who holds the top spot in the 3A on the season with their 1:27.87 at conference. Look for these four to defend the top ranks, but don't be surprised if any of the six teams who were between 1:30 and 1:31 at regionals takes advantage of any weakness among the top tier.
4x400
Weddington and Cuthbertson have the edge in the 4x400, each toting sub 3:24 times from their 1-2 finish at the Midwest regional. Marvin Ridge was over two seconds slower than their season best in their third place finish at regionals, but still had the fifth fastest time in any regional. Southern Durham was sharp in their Mideast win at 3:25.15 but has a ways to go to bridge the gap between them and the top two teams. Northern Guilford was not far behind in the Mideast regional, finishing second in 3:27.75. They could pick up a few extra points with a strong state meet performance.
4x800
With many teams just bringing their 'A' relays into form for the regional meets, the picture cleared up a lot in the past week. It will be Weddington's race to lose, as they come in with the only sub-8:00 mark in the field this season. Marvin Ridge was five seconds behind at Midwest regionals, but there is a large gap between second and third in the rankings. Swansboro, Cuthbertson and Northwest Cabarrus have the next three fastest times, but Asheville will look to move up from their regional time. They held off AC Reynolds at the West regional, but are the only team in the top 16 of the 3A rankings whose top time this season didn't come at the regional meet. If they can get back to the speed they had at the Bojangles Track and Field Classic then they could climb several spots.