Ok, that was totally a clickbait headline but it does bring up a very good point we've noticed this season... Class 5 looks stronger than ever and it happens after last year's 1-2 moved up to Class 6.
Team wise, Class 5 lost Deep Run and Glen Allen who went 1-2 in the girls and 1-3 (GA winning) in the boys competition last year. Not only did they perform well last year but by some accounts they're even stronger this year.
You know what else looks stronger, Class 5. On the girls side you have our #2 Lily Guinn and #5 Madelyn Gypson leading the way while in the boys competition you have defending champion Brady Brennan, our VA #1 Berkley Nance, VA #3 Quinn Parrish (formerly Class 6), and VA #14 Armaan Chopra who took down Brennan in his season opener.
If the state meet was this weekend, we'd say that the two best individual battles regardless of classification would both be in Class 5. These matchups, basically two months out, look to be some of the best we've ever seen.
Team wise Class 5 also has one of the best teams in the state with Clover Hill in at our #2 best team in the state currently. Just imagine if Glen Allen and Deep Run were still in Class 5 too!
For years (on average), Class 4 has produced the strongest teams and Class 6 has produced the biggest stars. This year, Class 5 is making a name for itself after realignment and going to try and battle with the other classifications for its claim on the top spot.
For our current subjective rankings check them out here: Boys - Girls.