1A Preview

1A Preview

West

On the guys side this region was extremely close.  The point spread from the top team, Murphy, to the fifth place team, Polk County, was only 38.  That’s why we see this region being close again.  Murphy returns their entire top 7 from the state meet, but for some reason we like Hayesville to pull out the region win.  Rising sophomore Tyler Breedlove has to lead Hayesville if they want a spot of being regional champions.  Hendersonville is the next team in.  And now for the final spot-it was close between Robbinsville and Polk, a mere 6 points separated them.  Robbinsville was the fourth team in the region last year, but ended up being the highest finisher in the region at the state meet.  We like the fact that Polk has a solid 1-2-3, but they need more help.  That’s why we pick Robbinsville.

Looking at where the four teams finished in the state meet they were all closely bunched together.  They look spots 3 through 6.  We like Hayesville to get the region win again, but we think that Hendersonville will close the gap and make things interesting.  Hayesville returns runners 1 through 6 from last year’s state meet and that’s what gives them the edge.  Robbinsville returns everyone and could make some noise in the region and the state meet if things work out right.  Finally Avery County, which only had five runners competing at the state meet and still finished sixth, will be the fourth team from the region.

East

On the Men’s side this was the weakest region at the state meet, but it appears that there will be some improvements.  The top team at states was Lejeune, who finished 11^th.  They only had five runners at that meet and lost two to graduation, because of this we have them penciled in at third.  The top team for another year is Topsail, they return their top 5 and we think they will be a better overall team.  Pinetown-Northside looks to take the second spot, while Gates County has Corey Davis to lead the entire squad back and to be fourth in the region.

Ladies

At the regional meet last year, Topsail, achieved a perfect score-one week later they were state champions.  Look for them to win the region.  A state championship?  Good question.  They have the top returning runner from the state meet in Zatha Loewen, they have a solid 1-2 but need the remaining runners to improve if they want to repeat.

Rounding out the region are Pinetown-Northside, Manteo, and Dixon.

Mideast

The North Carolina School of Science and Math had the top team time at the state meet, 18:05, nearly six seconds faster than any other team.  But they finished in third place.  Gone are their top two runners who gave them a combined score of three.  They have to replace those runners, but they were the fastest team last year when it counted but not the lowest scoring team.  But we look for them to win the region again.  Raleigh Charter returns all their runners from the state meet and should be a team on the rise, pencil them in for second.  The rest of region is the same as last year, Pender in third and South Robeson in fourth.

For the women only five schools competed in the region last year, by our math that meant all but one school didn’t make it to the state meet.  That being said we like the North Carolina School of Science and Math to win the region again.  Following them are Pender, Princeton, and North Johnston.

Midwest

Men

This is the region where it was extremely close and then it got even closer at the state meet.  East Wilkes nudged out a 3 point win over Gray Stone at states.  In the region meet Bishop McGuinness won by a point over Gray Stone and four points over East Wilkes.  Look for another exciting and close meet once again.  That being said we like Gray Stone to get the win, East Wilkes to be in second.  South Stokes has the top returning runner from the state meet in Ricky Rivas, and because of that we are picking them third. Bishop lost a lot and they need to replace it if they want to finish in the top 5 again.

Ladies

Bishop McGuinness and East Wilkes should battle it out for the top spot.  Each team returns most of their top 7 from last year.  We like Bishop, then East Wilkes.  Jordan Matthews gets the third spot, and then North Moore in fourth.