Cabell Midland, which has taken seven of the last 12 crowns, enters the meet as the No. 1 team, but could get a run for its money from Wheeling Park.

The Knights are strong in the hurdles with Drake Kinzel, the weight throws with Cole Bowers and the distance events with David Bias. The Patriots counter with Ryan Beabout - a contender in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 - Eric Ripley in the pole vault and solid relay teams.

Girls AA

Meghan Mock of Berkeley Springs could wind up with four firsts in the long jump, high jump and two hurdle events, but Winfield should dominate with its strength across the board in its final state meet run before moving up to AAA next fall.

The Generals rely on sprinter Emily Stewart, distance ace Megan Truelove, hurdler Morganne Bennett and relay teams that lead the state in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400. Winfield has won four of the last five titles.

Boys AA

Winfield, the four-time defending champ, leans heavily on the hurdle events - Christian Powers and Caleb Martin are ranked 1-2 in the state in both the highs and intermediates and the Generals are No. 2 in the shuttles. Seth Kendall and Drew Goodman are also 1-2 in the pole vault and Cody Schuler owns the top mark in the high jump.

Weir's Stewart Jones has the state's best times in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Cameron Brown (200, long jump) and Josh Webb (400) also rank highly. Point could pull a surprise with sprinters Bernardo Caputo and Allen Wasonga and weight throwers John Hipes and Tyler Grant.

Girls A

This should be a race right down to the wire. In the Gazette/Friends of Coal Relays last month, Doddridge wound up with 1071/5 points, nudging Catholic (106) and Williamstown (95).

The Irish need a big effort from junior sprinter Kirsten Mullins, who is just rounding into shape following midseason surgery. She holds the state's No. 2 times in the 100 and 200.

Boys A

The top-rated teams are Doddridge (the 2006 champion) and Wheeling Central (the 2005 titlist). Williamstown has won three of the five crowns since a separate single-A division started in 2003, but the Yellowjackets are only ranked sixth this year.

Levi Grant of Doddridge has run times this season far under the existing state meet records in the 1,600 and 3,200.

To contact assistant sports editor Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175.

It could be a very rewarding weekend for Kanawha Valley track teams.

Three area schools are favored to capture championships heading into today's opening round of events at Laidley Field, and a fourth is also expected to contend.

Winfield's boys and girls are each ranked No. 1 in Class AA by RunWV.com. No surprise there, considering that they've swept both titles at the state meet four times in the previous 10 years. The Generals girls are a prohibitive favorite, but the boys should face a real challenge from Weir, and possibly Point Pleasant.

Relative newcomers in the title hunt, however, are Hurricane (AAA girls) and Charleston Catholic (Class A girls). Neither has ever won a track title, girls or boys. Hurricane, in fact, owns just two state championships in any sport (baseball 2002, golf 2007).

But the Redskins are solid favorites in AAA and the Irish seem to have as good a shot as anyone in a single-A field where a razor's edge separates the top three teams - Williamstown, Charleston Catholic and St. Marys. And that doesn't even include five-time defending champ Doddridge County, which also figures to be in the mix.

Hurricane, though, does have a coach with quite a bit of championship experience in Steve Caldwell, who led Dunbar's boys to seven titles in the school's last eight years of existence (1983-90). Caldwell's best finish in 13 seasons with the Redskins girls was third last year.

"Hurricane doesn't have a history of winning state championships,'' Caldwell said, "[but] I know what to expect and everything. There's so much that can happen.''

The Redskins can get a jump on the opposition today because they're strong in some of the early final events (see schedule, Page 4B).

At 2 p.m., the girls shot put starts, with Christy Austin holding the state's best heave so far this season at 40 feet, 2 inches. The next girls AAA event is the 4x800-meter relay at 2:30, in which Hurricane, anchored by sophomore sensation Josie Crouch, sports the state's fastest time (9:47.01). At 4, it's the discus with Austin owning the third-best mark in her class.

"We can set the tone right at the beginning of the meet,'' Caldwell said. "We're ranked first in the state in both of those events - we have been all year. Those two are very important for us to start with.''

Caldwell said his team could be running at full strength today, especially if sprinter Angel Cunningham can shake off her injury. His message to his team this week is "to do what we've done all year - be solid.''

"It's not really anything different,'' Caldwell said. "We're [qualified] in 14 different events of 18. We want to try and do the best we can in each one. We stress to the girls that it might even be a tie for a place - I've seen the state meet come down to a half-point before. Everything we can do is important. Our relay handoffs are very important.''

Crouch will figure prominently into Hurricane's plans Saturday with the state's top times of 57.84 in the 400 and 2:18.62 in the 800. She's the defending champ in the 400.

Caldwell doesn't feel that the weekend's soggy forecast will put a damper on his team's chances. The forecast high temperature for Friday is 64 degrees with a 50 percent chance of showers, with Saturday's high of 71 and a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms.

"The weather, I don't think, will be a factor whatsoever,'' Caldwell said. "You don't want the girls to run in wet or rain, [but] we practice in everything.''

Boys AAA

Cabell Midland, which has taken seven of the last 12 crowns, enters the meet as the No. 1 team, but could get a run for its money from Wheeling Park.

The Knights are strong in the hurdles with Drake Kinzel, the weight throws with Cole Bowers and the distance events with David Bias. The Patriots counter with Ryan Beabout - a contender in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 - Eric Ripley in the pole vault and solid relay teams.

Girls AA

Meghan Mock of Berkeley Springs could wind up with four firsts in the long jump, high jump and two hurdle events, but Winfield should dominate with its strength across the board in its final state meet run before moving up to AAA next fall.

The Generals rely on sprinter Emily Stewart, distance ace Megan Truelove, hurdler Morganne Bennett and relay teams that lead the state in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400. Winfield has won four of the last five titles.

Boys AA

Winfield, the four-time defending champ, leans heavily on the hurdle events - Christian Powers and Caleb Martin are ranked 1-2 in the state in both the highs and intermediates and the Generals are No. 2 in the shuttles. Seth Kendall and Drew Goodman are also 1-2 in the pole vault and Cody Schuler owns the top mark in the high jump.

Weir's Stewart Jones has the state's best times in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Cameron Brown (200, long jump) and Josh Webb (400) also rank highly. Point could pull a surprise with sprinters Bernardo Caputo and Allen Wasonga and weight throwers John Hipes and Tyler Grant.

Girls A

This should be a race right down to the wire. In the Gazette/Friends of Coal Relays last month, Doddridge wound up with 1071/5 points, nudging Catholic (106) and Williamstown (95).

The Irish need a big effort from junior sprinter Kirsten Mullins, who is just rounding into shape following midseason surgery. She holds the state's No. 2 times in the 100 and 200.

Boys A

The top-rated teams are Doddridge (the 2006 champion) and Wheeling Central (the 2005 titlist). Williamstown has won three of the five crowns since a separate single-A division started in 2003, but the Yellowjackets are only ranked sixth this year.

Levi Grant of Doddridge has run times this season far under the existing state meet records in the 1,600 and 3,200.

To contact assistant sports editor Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175.