The state meet predictions are based on results have gathered throughout the season, head-to-head competitions, regional results, perceived potential, trends and (of course) gut feeling.
AAA Boys Team Predictions 1. Hurricane 51 2. Huntington 50 3. Spring Mills 37 4. Parkersburg South 36 4. Woodrow Wilson 36 6. Capital 35 7. Parkersburg 29 8. Martinsburg 27 9. Cabell Midland 24 10. Hedgesville 21 11. George Washington 20 11. Washington 20 13. Greenbrier East 18 14. Brooke 16 14. Hampshire 16 14. St. Albans 16 17. Spring Valley 15 18. Morgantown 14 18. Preston 14 20. Riverside 13 21. Ripley 12 22. Jefferson 11 22. Wheeling Park 11 24. South Charleston 10 25. Musselman 6 This is a far cry from last year when I had the top to at 99 and 73 points. The points are very widespread this year. If someone can pull off 60, they'll almost assuredly win, and there is a distinct possibility that no one hits 50 points. With the low projected point totals, it's really wide open, and there are plenty of opportunities for teams to move into championship position. AAA Girls Team Predictions 1. Ripley 73 2. Morgantown 47 3. Wheeling Park 41 4. Jefferson 40 5. Hurricane 37 5. Parkersburg 37 7. Spring Mills 36 7. Woodrow Wilson 36 9. University 23 10. St. Albans 22 11. Hampshire 20 12. Hedgesville 19 13. Musselman 18 14. George Washington 17 15. Martinsburg 15 16. Capital 14 16. John Marshall 14 18. Huntington 11 19. Washington 10 20. Cabell Midland 9 21. Brooke 8 22. Spring Valley 4 23. Parkersburg South 3 24. Buckhannon-Upshur 2 24. Preston 2 I'm surprised by the margin. This makes Ripley a pretty prohibitive favorite, but as with last year, they're pretty much topped out with 5 first place picks and 2 second place picks. Morgantown has upward mobility as they only have 1 first place pick. But it will probably need to be a combination of them outperforming and Ripley slipping up somewhere for Morgantown to take it. Some other have point potential as well, but you're starting to get into 30-plus point gaps at that point. That's asking a lot. AA Boys Team Predictions 1. Bridgeport 98 2. Winfield 95 3. Weir 64 4. Roane 53 5. Fairmont Senior 37 6. Robert C. Byrd 32 7. Oak Glen 25 8. Shady Spring 22 9. Lewis 17 9. Oak Hill 17 11. Wyoming East 16 12. Keyser 15 13. East Fairmont 13 14. Nitro 12 15. Philip Barbour 9 16. Point Pleasant 8 17. North Marion 6 17. PikeView 6 19. Independence 4 20. Nicholas 3 21. Frankfort 2 21. Lincoln 2 23. Berkeley Springs 1 23. Bluefield 1 Well this turned out a lot closer than I thought. It's going to be quite a battle as there will be a number of head-to-head matchups that can swing this either way. Particular attention should be paid to the 4x100 and 4x200. I have these two going 2-3 in both with Bridgeport taking both. Those go the other way, and it's suddenly a 5 point Winfield advantage. Even one of them go the other way, and Winfield moves to the top. Personnel maneuvers will play a role as well. Weir and Roane will likely be battling for the 3rd spot. AA Girls Team Predictions 1. Bridgeport 151 2. Winfield 82 3. North Marion 35 3. Oak Glen 35 5. Shady Spring 32 6. East Fairmont 30 7. Fairmont Senior 24 8. Philip Barbour 22 9. Liberty Harrison 18 10. Frankfort 17 11. Elkns 16 11. Scott 16 13. Point Pleasant 14 14. Roane 12 14. Lewis 9 16. Berkeley Springs 8 16. Weir 8 18. Mingo Central 6 18. Oak Hill 6 20. Keyser 4 20. Petersburg 4 22. Lincoln 3 23. Independence 2 23. Robert C. Byrd 2 25. James Monroe 1 25. Nicholas 1 Bridgeport comes in as an extremely heavy favorite. They have power players, and they have depth. The dominance of the top two isn't quite as heavy as last year, but I still have Winfield more than doubling the 3rd place team. Winfield has some upward mobility, but they'd have to have a blowout meet and have Bridgeport slip up in a few places to make it interesting. I have four teams within 5 points in the battle for 3rd. A Boys Team Predictions 1. St. Marys 74 2. Doddridge 68 3. Magnolia 67 4. South Harrison 52 5. Ravenswood 51 6. Tucker 31 7. Webster 30 8. Ritchie 23 8. Sherman 23 8. Tyler Consolidated 23 11. Wheeling Central 18 12. Madonna 17 12. Williamstown 17 14. Clay-Battelle 15 15. Summers 12 16. Gilmer 8 16. Pendleton 8 18. East Hardy 6 19. Moorefield 4 20. Cameron 3 21. Calhoun 2 21. Richwood 2 21. Tygarts Valley 2 24. Tolsia 1 24. Wirt 1 This is most definitely a three team race. I have St. Marys coming out on top, but it's a tenuous spot. It could be somewhat dependent on the health of Zac Long. He re-tweaked a hamstring injury at the Regional and his status is unknown for this weekend. I did the picks as though he was running, but maybe not 100%. There will be a number of races where head-to-head duels could make important swings in the standings. This should be a fun team race regardless. I don't think anyone outside these three really has a shot to win it. They could climb into the top 3 on a bad meet from one of these teams, but all 3 aren't going to blow up. South Harrison and Ravenswood should fight it out for 3rd. A Girls Team Predictions 1. Williamstown 90 2. Doddridge 87 3. Wheeling Central 65 4. Charleston Catholic 64 5. Buffalo 46 6. Clay-Battelle 27 7. Tucker 26 8. Gilmer 20 9. Ritchie 17 10. St. Joseph 16 11. South Harrison 14 12. Magnolia 12 12. Trinity 12 14. Parkersburg Catholic 8 14. Summers 8 16. Hundred 7 16. St. Marys 7 18. Notre Dame 6 18. Paden City 6 20. East Hardy 5 21. Tyler Consolidated 4 22. Pocahontas 2 22. Union 2 22. Valley Wetzel 2 25. Cameron 1 25. Midland Trail 1 25. Moorefield 1 25. Richwood 1 25. Wirt 1 This should be another great team race. The points don't necessarily show it, but any of these top 4 could take the title. I have Williamstown taking the top spot after making some assumed moves. There are a lot of close events in this meet that can go any number of ways. Buffalo could sneak into the top 4 with a strong meet or a little dip from one of the others.