Back last summer when it was announced that the VHSL was moving the "fall" championships to the spring the running community was in uproar over having to run XC in spring weather. The fear of running in nearly 70 degrees was real and honestly a big concern.
Now that weather could be a factor but one thing that was overlooked by many, including ourselves at MileStat, is will this elongated season produce faster times?
What we mean by this is since athletes haven't only have a couple months of training but near a year of training, will that make them run faster?
One of the best indicators for that was the Pole Green Spring Championships where two course records fell that were set back in the fall. This is a storied course and has seen nearly every elite runner in the state compete on it. That means, if they are re-breaking records in the spring that people are running faster than ever.
The math is simple, if you give an athlete four months or 14 months to train, most likely the one with longer training (if done correctly) will perform better.
It should be noted however that not everyone has been training that long so there will certainly be less "depth" in the times but the runners upfront, vying for college scholarship money, have certainly been training the entire time.
So, will this be the fastest state meet yet?