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 five places behind the last ranked runner, their second unranked runner would finishe ten 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. As in the girls' side, if things were set up correctly, this Region would have a shot at five advancing teams, but the WVSSAC decided that it would make sense to send 66% of the complete teams from some regions but only 28% from others. Fairmont Senior looks to be the class of this field. After that things get pretty tight, and I could see at least 6 more teams having a shot at moving on. As it stands, Doddridge looks to have a very slight edge over East Fairmont and Williamstown for 2nd. I show only 7 points difference in the 3 teams. The quality of performances from unranked runners will likely determine the outcomes in this Region. Individually, the current top 10 includes Nick Trefz, Johnny Hogue, Caleb Moore, Brettley Harris, Tony Hayes, Jordan Whitehair, Matt Zorn, James Haught, Jacob Van Horn, and Matt Strand. Hayes has been injured, and if he doesn't run, that would move Keith Britton into a top 10 spot. Runners within 90 points of the top 10 who aren't on an expected advancing team who will be trying to snag an individual spot are Ritchie's Daniel Cooper (12th), Tyler Consolidated's Dylan Reynolds (13th), Oak Glen's Ethan Malcomb (14th), St. Marys' Newt cottrill (17th), Oak Glen's Brock Smith (21st), North Marion's Alex Myers (22nd), Clay-Battelle's Brandon Grow (25th), and Oak Glen's Eric Oliver (27th). There are 47 ranked runners in Region I. 40 runners from Region I would be expected to advance from Region III. 24 runners from Region I would be expected to advance from Region IV.
Region II: This Region should advance four teams. For this to happen, everyone who has run a complete team at any time during the season has to do so again at the Regional Meet. For purposes of this preview, I'm going to assume that this will happen as each of the shaky teams has at least 6 on their roster. Philip Barbour appears to have a very slight edge over Bridgeport for the top spot. I show just 4 points between them. Frankfort is just 9 points behind and looks very safe for advancement. Things get very tight for the 4th position. I have Berkeley Springs taking the spot, but just by 6 points over Keyser and with Grafton just another 11 back. Again, the performances of the unranked will go a long way toward determining who moves on. Individually, the current top 10 includes P.J. Louzy, Trae Miller, Abe Merinar, Scott Nesland, Shane Ickes, Matthew Dearth, Corey Shetler, Trey Furby, Lucas Young, and Zac Simmons. Runners within 90 points of the top 10 who aren't on expected advancing teams that will be trying to take a spot are Keyser's Jordan Lawrence (12th), Keyser's Pierce Miller (15th), Trinity's Daniel Dawley (16th), and Keyser's Craig Westfall (17th). There are 35 ranked runners in Region II. 27 runners from Region II would be expected to advance from Region III.
Region III: This region should advance three teams, and it looks like it will be quite a fight to see which of those teams move on. I show only 7 points difference between the first four teams with another just 15 points back. With so few ranked runners, it's very difficult to score this meet. No team has more than 2 ranked runners, so the team scores are pretty much just based on your top 2 since the 3rd place runners for those teams will all be given the same score, and the 4th place runners will all be given the same score. That being said, the numbers say Westside gets the win with Sherman 2 points behind, and Wyoming East 3 points behind. Liberty Raleigh ends up on the outside looking in another 4 points back. Individually, the current top 10 includes Jason Weitzel, John Bard, Joseph Cornett, Cameron Davis, Thomas Bowles, Austin Gibson, Zachary Canaday, Tanner Cantley, Austin Lyons, and Michael Hayworth. Only one runner is within 90 points of the top 10 and not on an expected advancing team. That runner is Pikeview's Garrett Butler (11th). There are 11 ranked runners in Region III.
Region IV: This region should advance four teams. This is another shaky one. For this to happen, every team that has run complete at any time this season has to run complete at the Regional. For purposes of this review, I'm going to assume that this happens, but it's very, very iffy as there are at least 4 teams that could come up short. Buffalo and Charleston Catholic look like they'll battle for the title. I show Buffalo taking it by just 2 points. Ravenswood looks safely in 3rd. I show Roane taking the 4th spot, but they're one of the teams that has been shaky in terms of running complete. Wirt may actually have a better shot at the spot based on LKC performances. Individually, the current top 10 includes Will Shaffer, Marcus Black, Dylan Rich, Glen McMillan, Caden McClanahan, Caleb Pell, Hayden Harrison, Luke Sadecky, Matt Christianson, and Tyler Torman. There is only one runner within 90 points of the top 10 who isn't on an expected advancing team. That runner is Calhoun's Levi Gordon (15th). There are 19 ranked runners in Region IV.