Class 2A Boys State Meet Preview

        With the regular season over, it is a good place to look at how the individual classes stand before the post season begins. This article is going to highlight the top individuals in each Class as well as the top teams. Without further adieu, here is the Class 2A Boys preview.

On the team side of things, the 2A boys are much like the 2A girls in that one team looks to dominate the State Championships. Having come down from 3A this season, Covington Catholic looks like the team to beat in 2A with all 7 of there runners seeded to go in the Top 50. They are led by Joe Mayer who is seeded 5th in this meet, however, they also have Class 3A State Champion from last season Will Sheets. Sheets has only run one race this season. Nonetheless, if he is on the starting line, he could be able to give the frontrunners a test. Yet, if he doesn't compete for Covington Catholic, then there team hopes could be in jeopardy and Mason County and Thomas Nelson are right behind them. Mason County lacks the front runners that both Covington Catholic and Thomas Nelson have, however, they have a 48 second 1-5 split and 22 second 2-5 split. That pack is going to be the difference in this race. Should Mason County's pack run into the 20's position wise, they have a real chance to pull an upset. On the other hand, Thomas Nelson has an unbelievable front runner in Junior Riku Sugie. Sugie has run 14:51 this season and hasn't lost a race this season to a Kentucky athlete. Thomas Nelson needs Sugie to continue this trend at the State Meet if they are going to win their second consecutive State trophy. Full table below:

The individual side of things can really be summed up as a 2 man battle between the aforementioned Riku Sugie and John Hardin's Brendan Nagle. They have gone head to head several times throughout the season with Nagle never beating Sugie, however, at their Region Championships, Nagle gave Sugie quite the scare hanging on for almost the entire race until Sugie put him away. Now, if Sugie is on his A game, he cannot lose on Saturday as his personal best is a full 30 seconds faster than Nagle's, however, if he slips up, Nagle will be right there to challenge Sugie. Another athlete who will attempt to stay with those two is Spencer County's Casey Desilvey. Desilvey is known to have extreme confidence in his abilities and will not be scared of the hot, early pace set by Nagle and Sugie. He is definitely  a serious contender and could shock the State on Saturday. Full table below: