Region 2

Site (host): Bardstown (Thomas Nelson)

BOYS

The top challengers:

1. Gabe Russell. Last year's region champ broke through the 16-minute wall for the first time in mid-September (15:47.81) and did it again a couple weekends ago at the FSU Invitational (15:52.40). The North Hardin senior's PR time is the fastest in the region and the eighth best individual time in Class 3A this season.

2. Peyton Nash. The senior out of Grayson County PR'd at the Daviess County Classic earlier this month (15:57.77) after hovering around the sub-16 minute mark throughout most of the season. He's competed just about every week of the season and has an average finish of 16:15.91 to show for his effort.

3. Cates Duncan. Greenwood's senior star clocked PR times in both the 3K and 5K (16:12.96) this season and will seek a third straight top-10 finish in the Region 2 meet.

Fast facts: Grayson County sophomore Houston Brooks is seeded sixth with a time of 16:22.70 but ran 16:09.23 at the Daviess County Classic earlier this month. That's the third fastest mark in the region this fall. ... Jacob Johnston, a Greenwood junior who finished as the runner-up last season, is seeded fifth (16:17.94).

GIRLS

The top challengers:

1. Chesney McPherson. Her average time in five races this season (18:19.24) is darn close to her PR time, 18:12.97, which she ran to win the Owensboro Invitational on Sept. 3. That time is the sixth fastest in all of Class 3A. She last competed at the Louisville XC Classic and will enter three weeks removed from competition. The Barren County junior finished fourth last season (19:25.43).

2. Abby Overbay. The South Warren junior won last season's region title with a time of 19:03.75, but may need to dig deep to repeat. Her best career time (18:46.20) is about 25 seconds off McPherson's average this season, and she's trailed her in the four meets they both entered this season.

3. Morgan Kobylinski. She enters having won three straight meets, and over this fall the Ohio County junior has been consistently faster than last season despite not approaching her PR time set last October (18:47.91). Kobylinski was the runner-up to Overbay last year.

Fast facts: Gracie Reed, a freshman at Barren County, is the only other runner in the region with a seed time under 19 minutes (18:50.99). Her fastest time this fall is the third fastest in the region (19:01.92), just ahead of Kobylinski's best in-season mark (19:01.99).