One of the biggest and best storylines to watch at every state meet is how freshmen and sophomores do at the state meet. Though we have some times, they are somewhat of a mystery box for what they will actually do when put into a championship environment.
Below are three freshmen and eight sophomores who could seriously take home the title this weekend.
Of the freshmen who could win there are three girls who will be vying for the title. In Class 4 you have Hanover's River Smith who ranks 7th in the entire state with her 17:35 best. She is fast but also strong and it is that strength that makes her a serious contender at the state meet. She knows how to win too winning last year's middle school state meet and this year's regional meet.
Up one classification in Class 5 we have two freshmen who lead the way on paper. Those two are Glen Allen's Emma Stein and Mills Godwin's Sophia Lindsey. The pair have gone 17:53 and 17:59 on the season and have run their fastest times of the season in the last few weeks. That is always a good signal that they are peaking and ready for championship season. These two also went 1-2 at regionals with Lindsey taking the title.
Running in Class 6 we get three sophomores who have a chance at the title. One in the boys race and that is Gavin Daniels of Gainesville. Most are watching his older brother, Trent, who is in his own right one of if not the biggest distance star in our state but you should not forget about Gavin who is chipping away at the deficit race after race. Gavin's most impressive run of the season came at Albemarle where he finished second to Sam Palmer running 15:23 on the not-so-east Panorama Course.
Over in the girls race you have Molly Hardwick of Yorktown and Petra Gruendel of James W. Robinson. Molly was the champion at Monroe Parker and second at the Northern Regional while Petra has run 17:28 on the season. Both will have tough competition with their own teammates and West Springfield to name a few but if these sophomores run their best they should be in contention.
In the last race up at Oatlands we should get the best races of the weekend in the Class 4 races. In the girls race we get to see Charlottesville's Juliana Pierce who has run 17:42 on the season.
Over in the boys race it could be any of five or six guys taking home the title. Last year it was a sophomore (now Junior) Michael Tafe taking home the title so it is definitely in the cards. Those two sophomore are Jamestown's Jonathan Grimm and Blacksburg's Rivers Matthews who funnily enough went 1-2 at Middle School States two years ago. They have gone 15:11 and 15:13 respectively.
Down in Salem we could see some more underclassmen stars. In the Class 3 girls race we get to see Mariah Reed of Christiansburg who has run 18:06 on the season and enters 4th on paper.
Finally in the Class 1 boys race we will see Eastern Montgomery's Calvin Wilbon who enters the meet ranked 2nd with his 15:22 best. Imagine that, 15:22 ranks second in Class 1! That shows you how much speed will be in that race and we could see something special from this sophomore.
Be sure to watch the races live and catch all the action and coverage following the meets as well!