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 (or five) places behind the last ranked runner, their second unranked runner would finish six (or 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. If you have 7, get them to the line. If you only have 3...get them to the line. Your region may be depending on you.
Region I: This Region should advance three teams. And that's good because 3 of the top 4 ranked teams in the State are in this Region. Frankfort is at the top of the heap with 5 of the top 6 ranked guys. Fairmont Senior appears to have a slight edge over East Fairmont for the 2nd spot. I show just 5 points between the two, so it could easily go either way. Fairmont Senior won that battle solidly at the Big 10 Championships last week. It looks like we'll have 11 individuals advance. The current top 11 are Garrett Ferguson, Steven Kent Niland, Nathaniel Stuck, Ryan Hughes, Luke Duncan, Landyn Sell, Nick Gallo, Drew Moore, Trenton Denne, Griffin Paugh, and Josiah Brannen. Runners within 60 points of the top 11 who are not on an expected advancing team are Berekely Springs' Jackson Mundey (#13), Weir's Joshua Duffy (#14), and Grafton's J.T. Veltri (#15). Veltri would be ranked 2nd, 4th, and 8th in the other Regions. There are 33 ranked runners in Region I.
Region II: This Region should advance three teams. Every team that can line up 5 must do so in order for this to happen. Elkins appears to have the edge for the top spot with Lewis County in 2nd. Liberty Harrison appears to have the edge for the 3rd spot. That being said, Lewis did beat Elkins handily at the Big 10 Championships, and Lincoln beat Liberty, so there is a lot riding on how the unranked runners perform. Individually, 10 will advance. The current top 10 are Slate Swiger, David Hughes, Maddox Prince, Tyler Burda, Gavin Brown, Preston Nixon, Austin Shuman, Caleb Jenkins, Joshua Bodkins, and Isaac Coffman. There is only one other ranked runner who is not on an expected advancing team. That is Lincoln's Adrian Bott (#13). There are 14 ranked runners in Region II.
Region III: This Region should advance three teams. Everyone who has ran as a complete team at any time this season must do so on Thursday for this to happen. There is a wildcard in Jacoby Dowdy. Last year's State Meet runner-up has only competed once this season, and did not compete at the Coalfield Conference Championships. I do not know his status for this meet. I'm going to assume that he's going to run, though it doesn't impact the expected advancing teams either way. PikeView appears to have the edge for the top spot with Shady Spring in 2nd and Nicholas in 3rd. The only question is whether Shady will be fighting with PikeView for the top spot with Dowdy or fighting with Nicholas for the 2nd spot without him. Individually, it looks like we'll only have 10 advance. The current top 10 are John Duvall, Jaeden Holstein, Braden Ward, Matt Murphy, Luke Barr, Johnny Walkup, Jacob Dowdy, Tommy Wikel, Hank Marson, and Sawyer Dobbins. If Dowdy doesn't run, that would move Eli Northrup into the top 10. There is just one runner within 60 points of the top 10 that isn't on an expected advancing team. That is Liberty Raleigh's Jadon Acord (#15). There are 19 ranked runners in Region III.
Region IV: This Region will advance two teams. Winfield is easily the class of the field with five of the top 10 ranked runners. Wayne appears to have the advantage for the 2nd spot over Nitro. 10 Individuals will advance. The current top 10 are Brayden Marshall, Justin Lipscomb, Landon Brumfield, Jordon Reesman, Chace Thompson, Chance Thompson, Adam Criser, Logan Prater, Shadan Schoolcraft, and Eian McGough. Runners within 60 points of the top 10 and not on an expected advancing team are Nitro's Lance Busse (11th) and Poca's Thomas Taylor (14th). There are 22 ranked runners in Region IV.