REGION 7 AAA
Boys Varsity
Region 7 AAA will feature a trio of runners who look poised to make a run at a region title. Brennan Fields (Madison Central), Sam Smith (Pulaski County), and Jordan Carrington (Southwestern) have established themselves as the three premiere runners in this region and any of them could pull out the win. Fields, the defending champion, has run the fastest time between the three and has won two meets at Mercer County this season. He also has an impressive streak of fifteen races in which he has run in the sixteens. Carrington and Smith have been going back and forth all season long and they should have another heated matchup this Saturday. At the Southern Harrier Classic, Carrington finished first and Smith finished second. This trend continued at the Berea Invitational where Carrington once again finished first and Smith finished third. They were again separated by only one spot at the Greater Louisville Classic where Carrington finished eighth and Smith placed ninth. Smith finally edged out Carrington at the Pulaski County Invitational and he most recently won the high school boys race at the Meet of Champions. These three have had outstanding seasons and whoever wins will have truly earned it. Fields, Smith, and Carrington aren’t the only quality athletes in the region, there are multiple runners who will be in the mix for a spot in the top ten. Griffin Sexton (Madison Central), Seth Richardson (Madison Central), Brennan Perkins (Pulaski), Dalton Walden (Whitley County), Grant Brockman (Madison Central), Joe Bandy (West Jessamine), Spencer Brainard (Southwestern), Steven Engle (Harlan County), Duncan Finch (Pulaski), Mikah Bailey (East Jessamine), Garrett Napier (North Laurel), and Johnathan Liversedge (West Jessamine) will all have a good shot to make the All-Region team. This is a highly competitive region and this race will be extremely interesting to watch. West Jessamine and Madison Central will battle it out for the team championship. Central’s top two runners have the advantage but West Jessamine packs very well so it should be a tight contest between the two. North Laurel, Pulaski County, East Jessamine, Southwestern, Harlan, Whitley and South Laurel will all be in the mix to make it to State.
Girls Varsity
The girl’s race is shaping up to be a fun event. Ivanna Sabino (Madison Central) has the fastest time in the region at 19:34 and finished second at last year’s regional championship but she will have her hands fullon Saturday. Her teammate, Julia Manning, should be right on her heels along with Devin Mayfield (Pulaski County), Sydney McWhorter (South Laurel), Alexa Snyder (Madison Central), Melanie Manning (Madison Central), and Alyssa Hyden (Pulaski County). Julia Manning ran her best time two weeks ago and looks to continue her recent string of success. Mayfield and McWhorter are not only the two top middle school runners in the region but two of the best in the state. They have been going back and forth all season long and both impressed this past weekend at the Meet of Champions. You can never count out Alyssa Hyden, the defending region champion. She has come on strong as of late and she knows what it takes to win a region title. Madison Central has to be the favorite in the team competition, but West Jessamine won’t be far behind. Pulaski County, South Laurel, North Laurel, and Harlan County all have a good chance to advance to the State meet but it will be a tough battle for all of them.
REGION 5 AA
Boys Varsity
This region looks as if it will be highly competitive, there are a couple of slight favorites but a handful of runners could find themselves coming away with the win. Austin Anderson (Boyle County) and Tanner Carson (McCreary Central) may have a slight edge over the rest of the field. Anderson and Carson are the only two runners to post sub-seventeen times this year and have combined for six wins this season. Surprisingly, these two regional rivals have not faced off this season so it is hard to predict who will come out on top. Bell County has a duo that will be looking to challenge Carson and Anderson for that top spot. Donovan Napier and Mitchell Miracle have been running very well as of late and both of them could be in the mix for the title. Both have run in the low seventeens at some point in the season and either one of them could end up as Bell’s top performer. You don’t become the #8 team in Class AA if you don’t have a few contenders on your team and Wayne County has more than just a few. The Cardinals could very well finish with five runners in the top ten which would most likely propel them to the team championship. Cameron Howard, Zachary Tucker, Zachary West, Drew Bell, and Matthew Coomer have established themselves as the top five for Wayne County and they are expected to be within seconds of one another. Wayne, Boyle, and Bell all seem to be locks to make it to the State Championship. Knox Central, McCreary Central, Corbin, and Casey County will all battle it out for the final few spots.
Girls Varsity
The girl’s race will feature a very exciting matchup between the newly crowned Middle School State Champion, Victoria Dotson (Rockcastle) and senior Nikki Coffey (Boyle County). Dotson, a seventh grader, has been dominating this season and definitely has a lot of momentum heading into Saturday. She has won four varsity meets this season and won the Middle School State Championship last weekend in Lexington. Coffey, the two time defending regional champion hopes to overcome Dotson and make it three straight titles. Coffey has established herself as the girl to beat in this region over the past couple of years and she has had yet another great season. Coffey has four quality wins this season and is not only one of the top seniors in Class AA but in the entire state. Dotson edged out Coffey a couple weeks ago at the Mercer County All-Comers meet but this race should be neck and neck until the very end. The rest of the top five will be a battle between Ally Anderson (Boyle), Sierra Mercer (Rockcastle), Haley Blevins (Mercer), Reese Helton (Corbin), Jenna Vaughn (Casey County), Savannah Parmley (Wayne), Taylor Bullock (Rockcastle), and Nicole Hesse (Wayne). Based on the times from this season, Anderson has a narrow advantage over this large group but any one of these girls could emerge to take that third spot. Rockcastle County, Boyle County, and Casey County are the favorites in the team competition but it is not clear who will come out on top.
REGION 6 A
Boys Varsity
Garrett Faulkner (Williamsburg) has had an outstanding season thus far and he looks to cap it off with a second straight region title. Faulkner has won three races this year and he ran a season best time of 16:27at the Bluegrass Cross Country Invitational earlier in the year. He has established himself as one of the top seniors in the state and is a heavy favorite heading into Saturday. Raymond Mckinney (Berea) has also had an impressive season and he could potentially give Faulkner a run for his money. Mckinney ran a17:21 at the most recent Mercer County All-Comers meet which is one of the faster times posted on this challenging course so far this year. A few other runners to keep an eye on are Mason Miller (Harlan), Landon Bond (Jackson County), Scout Bundy (Jackson County), Eric Grant (OBI), William Galloway (Berea), and Branson Tigue (Lynn Camp). Miller ran a blazing 17:33 very early in the season but has been in the mid-eighteens as of late. Jackson County’s Landon Bond and Miller have had very similar seasons. Bond ran his best time of the season at the first meet of the year and consistently ran in the nineteens throughout the rest of the season until he ran 18:11 last weekend. Scout Bundy has come on strong as of late, which is what he seems to do at the end of every season. While at North Laurel last year, Bundy ran a17:24 at region and placed eighth in a tough Region 7 AAA. If Bundy can continue this trend of great late season performances then he should be in the mix this Saturday. Grant, Galloway, and Tigue all look to dip down into the seventeens for the first time and could potentially challenge for a spot in the top five. Assuming that there will be six full teams at the starting line then three schools will ultimately qualify for state. Berea looks to be the favorite in the team competition with five runners projected to finish in the top seventeen. If Jackson County’s third, fourth and fifth runners have breakout performances then they could challenge Berea for the title. Williamsburg, OBI, and Lynn Camp will be battling it out for the third spot. It may very well come down to a tiebreaker between those three, so every point counts.
Girls Varsity
Selina Mattingly, the young star from Williamsburg, looks to capture her second straight region championship this Saturday. Mattingly has won four races in a row and six of her last seven. She has had one of the most impressive seasons for a middle school athlete in recent memory and is in a class of her own in this region. If someone were to challenge Mattingly, it looks as if it will be Berea’s Bailey Rosenbarker. She won a race earlier in the season at Mercer County and improved by seven seconds the second time she ran there. One advantage Rosenbarker does have is experience, she is a senior and she knows what it will take to pull off this upset. Sofia Saderholm (Berea), Mianna Baker (OBI), Abigail Schwarz (Williamsburg), Coco May (Model), Ananya Patel (Model), and Cora Livingston (Berea) will all be in contention for a spot in the top three. Saderholm’s times have been steadily improving; she looks poised to have a standout performance. Baker ran her best time of 22:24 over a month ago and has recently been running in the twenty five minute range but it’s obvious that she has what it takes to challenge for a top spot. Schwarz, May, and Patel have all ran relatively close times throughout the year and there is no clear cut favorite between the three. This looks to be an exciting race and there may very well be a surprise or two when it’s all said and done. If three full teams report to the starting line then there will be two teams eligible to qualify for state. Model and Berea look to have those spots wrapped up; it is just a matter of who finishes first and who finishes second.