Class AA
1) Girls Region 3 vs. Girls Region 4
If we look back to last year’s state meet, the top 6 teams came from one of these two regions. Region 3 had Christian Academy (2nd), North Oldham (3rd) and Collins (5th) compared to Region 4’s Highlands (1st), Scott (4th) and Lexington Catholic (6th). Projecting forward to this year, each of these teams will be looking to earn a podium spot and a trophy and all have the fire-power to do it. Each region also sports some of the top individuals in Class AA with Gabby Karas, Erin Edmunson, and Hannah Herd from Region 3 and Michaela Reinhart, Alexis Flynn, Molly Mearns and Chloe Gastright coming from Region 4. Right now, I would say that Region 4’s overall depth would give them a slight edge over their counterparts from Region 3. These teams from their respective regions probably won’t mingle very often during the season, but look for races like the Franklin County Invitational and Lexington Catholic Invitational to give us a sneak peak of how these teams will stack up.
2) Boys Region 4
The top region coming from the Boy’s side of AA is Region 4. Highlands, last year’s 3rd place team, loses only John Michael Griffith from their State team and Lexington Catholic lose only 2 runners from their state team as well. Both will be looking for a spot on the podium along with last year’s runner’s up, Covington Catholic, who lost a bit more to graduation, but will still be in the hunt with some quality young talent in Matt Rose and Grant Guenther. Based on previous results from last XC and track season, no other region in AA looks to have 3 teams that have a good chance of being on stage come November 8th. Along with the solid teams in the region, Ethan Shuley, last Spring’s 3200m champion will look to gain his first individual title in XC.