1A Midwest Boys
Individual Battle
The 1A Boys race has one of the most exciting head-to-head battles individually. Lucas Brown of Queens Grant and Jake Baugher of Community School of Davis have season bests of 16:02 and 16:05. Both of these times came at Great American, where Brown bested Baugher for the second time this season. However, in their conference race, Baugher flipped the script, beating Brown by nearly 30 seconds. These two will make it an exciting race to watch up front.
Behind them, the race strings out a whole lot. With two more runners having sub 17 times, and four more after them having sub 18 times, the pack really starts rolling between 18 and 19 minutes, and there is always the potential for a breakout race for someone to join the upper echelon on a fairly quick Ivey Redmond course.
Team Battle
Baugher's status up front helps make his team a contender for the overall win. The Community School of Davidson has six runners in the top 20, and Ryan Hamilton joins Baugher in the top 5.
However, Bishop McGuiness has a pack led by Jack Herndon that could put the race away quickly. With four in the top ten and all seven in the top 16, Bishop has the right combination of speed and depth to be the favorite in the team battle.
Queens Grant, Pine Lake Prep, East Surry and South Davidson round out the primary contenders for an advancing spot. South Davidson's Brent Surratt gives them a low stick, as he is projected to finish third. However they will need to see a massive improvement from their fifth to have a chance to move up in the field. They should get that from Korbin Reeder, whose 23:20 season best hides the fact that he has gone 21:30 over three miles this season, and has a PR of 19:58. Should he be able to find that form, South Davidson could give Queens Grant a run for their money for the third place spot.