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.
Class A Girls Team Predictions 1. St. Marys 110 2. Wheeling Central 105 3. Charleston Catholic 76 4. Clay-Battelle 55 5. Gilmer 44 6. Paw Paw 41 7. Magnolia 37 7. Wahama 37 9. Valley Wetzel 35 10. Ritchie 30 11. Trinity Christian 28 12. Wood County Christian 24 13. Tucker 21 14. East Hardy 15 15. Pocahontas 11 16. Madonna 10 17. Notre Dame 8 18. Wirt 5 19. Sherman 4 20. Harman 2 20. Richwood 2 22. Parkersburg Catholic 1 22. Pendleton 1 This should be a good team race. It is likely between the top 2 teams, and injury status could play a significant role. Both teams have quite a few top 3 finishers, so a slip-up could be costly. Wheeling Central is picked for six 1st place finishes and eight total Top 3 finishes. St. Marys is pegged for three 1st place finishes and twelve Top 3 finishes. Charleston Catholic isn't completely out of it, but it's a pretty big bridge.
Class AA Girls Team Predictions 1. Williamstown 115 2. Doddridge 74 3. Tyler Consolidated 70 4. Weir 58 5. Buffalo 51 6. Lincoln 50 7. Roane 48 8. Frankfort 45 8. Sissonville 45 10. Petersburg 25 11. Braxton 24 12. Berkeley Springs 20 13. Ravenswood 18 14. Moorefield 17 15. James Monroe 16 16. Oak Glen 10 17. Philip Barbour 8 17. South Harrison 8 Williamstown has pulled away over the 2nd half of the season. They have a lot of depth, illustrated by the fact that I have them winning by 41 points but only have 1 of the top 5 individual point earners. The battle for the 2nd podium spot should be very close with Doddridge and Tyler Consolidated battling it out, and Weir hoping to jump up and play spoiler.
Class AAA Girls Team Predictions 1. Greenbrier East 122 2. Winfield 67 3. Bridgeport 54 3. Herbert Hoover 54 5. St. Albans 53 6. John Marshall 52 7. East Fairmont 49 8. Fairmont Senior 45 9. Elkins 44 10. Robert C. Byrd 29 11. Ripley 23 12. Point Pleasant 20 13. Spring Valley 18 14. Nitro 15 15. Hampshire 11 16. Lewis 10 16. Shady Spring 10 18. Grafton 7 19. North Marion 6 20. Keyser 5 21. South Charleston 4 22. Brooke 3 23. Lincoln County 2 Greenbrier East is clearly the bully on the block. I have them exceeding the point totals of 2nd and 3rd place teams combined. Winfield looks pretty strong in 2nd place, but certainly not by an insurmountable amount. They're being chased for the 2nd podium spot by a gaggle of teams with 3rd through 9th separated by just 10 points.
Class AAAA Girls Team Predictions 1. Musselman 92 2. Morgantown 76 3. Huntington 69 4. Jefferson 66 5. Wheeling Park 54 6. Spring Mills 42 7. Washington 41 8. University 40 9. Riverside 39 10. Hurricane 38 10. Parkersburg 38 12. Cabell Midland 34 13. Woodrow Wilson 22 14. Oak Hill 18 15. Martinsburg 9 16. George Washington 6 16. Parkersburg South 6 18. Buckhannon-Upshur 5 19. Hedgesville 4 20. Preston 3 Musselman looks to be the team to beat, but there is a lot of mobility from both Morgantown and Huntington that could make this a lot more interesting than the 16 point margin indicates.
Class A Boys Team Predictions 1. Wahama 118 2. Ritchie 95 3. Charleston Catholic 80 4. St. Marys 73 5. East Hardy 66 6. Wheeling Central 47 7. Greenbrier West 39 8. Tucker 37 9. Wirt 30 10. Wood County Christian 29 11. Magnolia 25 11. Richwood 25 13. Trinity Christian 13 14. Union 11 15. Clay-Battelle 4 16. Calhoun 3 17. Pocahontas 2 17. Tolsia 2 19. Cameron 1 19. Tygarts Valley 1 19. Webster 1 Wahama is a little banged up, but it shouldn't matter. They have enough depth for most of the relays to remain strong and should score well in the field to supplement their strong sprint and hurdle crew. The battle for 2nd should be fairly interesting with 3 teams having eyes on the spot.
Class AA Boys Team Predictions 1. Doddridge 131 2. Frankfort 103 3. Independence 78 4. Williamstown 75 5. Tyler Consolidated 54 6. Sissonville 51 7. Oak Glen 48 8. Lincoln 32 9. Weir 27 10. Philip Barbour 19 11. Buffalo 18 12. Bluefield 13 13. James Monroe 11 14. Roane 9 15. South Harrison 7 16. Berkeley Springs 5 16. Clay 5 16. Moorefield 5 19. Braxton 4 19. Wyoming East 4 21. Summers 2 22. Petersburg 1 Doddridge holds a solid, but not insurmountable lead. Both teams have high placers that could drop and low placers that could rise. If all the swings fall in one direction, it could get very interesting. Independence and Williamstown hope for someone to falter to rise into a podium position.
Class AAA Boys Team Predictions 1. Point Pleasant 81 2. Keyser 62 3. Capital 59 4. Winfield 56 5. Bridgeport 53 6. Elkins 47 7. Princeton 43 8. Greenbrier East 34 9. Shady Spring 32 10. John Marshall 31 11. Hampshire 28 12. PikeView 23 13. Brooke 20 13. Fairmont Senior 20 13. Nicholas 20 16. Ripley 18 17. Herbert Hoover 13 18. St. Albans 11 19. Nitro 9 20. Robert C. Byrd 8 20. South Charleston 8 22. Chapmanville 7 22. Grafton 7 24. East Fairmont 4 24. Lewis 4 24. Lincoln County 4 Point Pleasant holds nearly a 20 point advantage, but they have limited upward mobility. I have them with five 1st place finishes, including a 1-2-3 in the pole vault. That basically means that 64 of their 81 points have no upward potential. That leaves the door open for the teams behind them to come up and steal the win. I have fewer than 10 points between 2nd and 5th, and only 15 between 2nd and 6th. Snagging the #2 spot should be in play for all of them.
Class AAAA Boys Team Predictions 1. Morgantown 113 2. University 92 3. Huntington 63 4. Parkersburg 61 4. Spring Mills 61 6. Martinsburg 52 7. Cabell Midland 46 7. Musselman 46 9. Jefferson 36 10. Hurricane 29 11. Woodrow Wilson 28 12. Hedgesville 24 13. Washington 16 14. George Washington 11 14. Wheeling Park 11 16. Parkersburg South 7 17. Riverside 4 18. Oak Hill 2 It looks like it will be a battle between Morgantown and University with Morgantown having the edge. But there are a lot of really close races in which the difference between 1st and 8th is minimal. Field events can be quite fickle, so things could end up much more interesting than they appear.