Remember, this is only how it looks from the rankings heading into the regionals. This is not a prediction based on any analysis of races held during the season. If a team has fewer than five ranked runners, it is assumed that their first unranked runner would finish three places behind the last ranked runner, their second unranked runner would finishe six places behind the last ranked runner, etc. Runners run above and below their ranking in every meet, and the Regionals will be no different. The important thing is that if you have five runners, get them to the starting line. Your region may be depending on you.
Region I: This Region should advance four teams. There are actually 13 complete teams in the field if everyone that can field a full team does so on Thursday. St. Marys is far ahead of the field. Williamstown looks like they have a fairly solid grip on 2nd. Oak Glen has a tenuous grip on the 3rd spot. Weir shows as having the fourth spot, but with Trinity just 2 points behind. Individually, the current top 10 includes Maggie Drazba, Kristen Mastrantoni, Kelsey Chambers, Alexis Virtue, Sarah Smith, Bethany Carroll, Abbie Barnett, Jenny Brewer, Heather Gray, and Rena Reid. Runners within 90 points of those top 10 who aren't on an expected advancing team that will be trying to score a spot are Doddridge's Nele Frey (tied for 11th), Magnolia's Christina Harshberger (16th), Wirt's Brittani Gaskins (17th), and Ritchie's Amanda Davis (19th). There are 37 ranked runners in Region I. There are 25 runners that would be expected to advance from Region III.
Region II: This Region can get three teams to advance. For this to happen, Liberty Harrison has to run a full team. They haven't done so in several meets, but for purposes of this preview, I'm going to assume that they come through for their Region. Philip Barbour is the class of the field with Berkeley Springs having a very firm grasp on the 2nd spot. The rankings show the 3rd spot scored as a tie between Keyser and Frankfort and with Tucker just 3 points behind. For this preview, I'm giving the spot to Frankfort since they beat Keyser at the AMAC, which is the most recent head-to-head meeting in which both ran a full team. Individually, the current top 10 includes Katie Jan, Brianna Waybright, Katie Mahoney, Marissa Long, Danielle Haynes, Ashley Cassidy, Ashley Peters, Kayla Mundey, Sara Younker, and we have a 10th place tie between Amber Abott and Sarah Boddy. Runners within 90 points of the top 10 that aren't on an expected advancing team that will be trying to steal a spot are Keyser's Sarah Boddy (tied for 10th), Tucker's Madison Mullenax (13th), and Grafton's Monica Miller (tied for 14th). There are 21 ranked runners in Region II.
Region III: It looks like this Region will advance two teams. I only show 4 teams as being complete, so everyone that has a complete team has to get five to the line to get 2 teams out. Shady Spring is the class of the field, and Webster appears to have a very firm hold on 2nd place. Individually, the current top 10 includes Sarah Phillips, Kali Striker, Allison Clevenger, Taylor Jackson, Nicole Hegele, Morgan Wynne, Brianna Mazzella, Ryleigh McCoy, Lindsey Sanson, and Megan Young. Runners within 90 points of the top 10 who will be trying to grab an advancing spot are PikeView's Katelyn Odle (12th), Independence's Morgan Farrell (13th), and PikeView's Lauren Hatfield (14th). There are 14 ranked runners in Region III.
Region IV: This Region also looks like it will advance two teams. Again, I only show 4 teams as being complete, so everyone that has a complete team has to get five to the starting line to get 2 teams out. Scott and Ravenswood should have a nice battle for the Regional title. The rankings show Scott winning by just 3 points. Those two are way ahead of the rest of the field. Individually, the current top 10 includes Sami Harris, Hailey Miller, Andrea Porter, Brittany Green, Taylor Treadway, Courtney Goodwin, Lexi Griffith, Hannah Murray, Mikalyn Murphy, and Jessy Blankenship. There are actually no runners within 90 points of the top 10 that aren't on an expected advancing team. The closest is Braxton's Kirsten Gateless (16th). There are 23 ranked runners in Region IV.