4A Midwest Preview
Boys Teams to Watch
Three of the top 6 teams in the state right now. THREE OF THE TOP SIX! That's what this region brings to the table on the boys' side, earning it the designation of strongest region in North Carolina right now (although it might be a tad harder to advance out of one other boys' region). When they're at full strength, Mt. Tabor looks to have a slight advantage over the closest competitors, but the Spartans haven't truly run at full strength yet this season, and that leaves little margin for error. Like Tabor, Cardinal Gibbons continues to crank out strong boys' teams from year to year, even after losing a ton of talent to graduation. And graduation is exactly what the East Chapel Hill runners have in the back of their minds over the next two weeks - their current top 4 are all seniors, and that makes them dangerous this year. Behind those three behemoths are three more solid teams battling for one spot in the state meet: Page has the best times so far this season, but in any given race it could be Jordan or Reagan getting the berth.
Boys Individuals to Watch
Connor Lane sets the tone for Cardinal Gibbons, and the guy has been darn near unbeatable this year. He's the only North Carolina boy under 15 this season, and his time of 15:22 is the best on the new Ivey Redmon course by 12 seconds. The chase pack should be fun, though: Connor MacDonald (East Chapel Hill) leads 5 runners between 15:33 and 15:48 - and when you add in the PR of Kenny Kneisel (Mt. Tabor) that number rises to 6. The top 7 in this region are all from the 3 top teams, by the way, so the battle for the 7 advancing individual slots will take place almost entirely out of the top 10.
Girls Teams to Watch
While the boys' team championship could go to any of the three contenders, on the girls' side it's about as close to locked up as it can ever be before the race actually starts. Cardinal Gibbons has an outside chance to put 6 in the top 10 of this race, and the next-best team will do well just to avoid scoring double the Crusaders' points. Mt. Tabor and Reagan will add yet another chapter to their ongoing rivalry here, battling for the second-place trophy; give the nod to the healthier Reagan team, who won the CPC title. The REALLY interesting part of the team scores will be the 4th-place battle, as Grimsley, Northwest Guilford, and West Forsyth are separated by only 13 points in the virtual meet. West hasn't been able to put it together so far in what has to have been a frustrating season, but don't forget that the Titans have enough returning talent from 2014 to rank 12th in the preseason.
Girls Individuals to Watch
The balance of power has been shifting to the East in this region for a while, and the presence of a new team only accelerates that. Blair Ramsey (Grimsley) hasn't quite approached last season's sub-18 times (yet), but she still leads all contenders coming into the meet. Rebecca Kefer has been an absolute revelation for Northwest Guilford this season, harkening back to their long history of top-flight girls, and right now I wouldn't be surprised if she made another big leap forward. Sophie Ebihara (Cardinal Gibbons) has not shown her full ability this season, and may not in this race - she might prefer to pace with her teammates and save her legs for a huge state meet battle.