Chris Rushing of East is one of the favorites for the Boys Region 6 Title- Photo by Kyle Perry
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The 2013 Region 6 XC Championships are being held at the Cottonwood Complex on Friday, the 11th, just one day after Region 3 will host their Championship on the same course. The next 7 days will be a very important week of racing, with everyone trying to secure their place at the State Championships. The top 4 teams from the Region, as well as the top 3 individuals advance on to the state championship, which is only 2 weeks away.
The preview is written based on best times in the meet simulator. This doesn’t take in to account difficulty of courses, or discrepancy in course length, so if you feel like a team is over or under-rated, please post it in the comments.
Boys Preview- Jacob Stone of Woods Cross looks to lead the Wildcats to the region title, as well as a state championship berth. Stone has the fastest posted time in region 6 so far this year, but that time is followed closely by Chris Rushing of East. It's not all about who ran the fastest on the season though. Rushing ran well at the BYU invite showing he would run bold and tough with the lead pack. That aggressive nature can be a curse, unless you have the fitness to back it up. We will see if Rushing's fitness can earn him the Region title. Both Rushing and Stone will have a teammate with them in the front pack. Taylor Dillon of Woods Cross has the 3rd fastest time this season with Garek Bielaczyc of East sitting 4th. Clearfield’s top guy is sitting 5th in the region, though his best time is going to need to come down a lot to compete with the leaders.
As a team, Woods Cross looks very strong. With an average time of 16:07 so far this season for their top 5, they could really clean house at the region meet. Clearfield has a tight pack and will look to pick up points wherever they can. East can challenge Clearfield, for 2nd, but it is to be seen if East can challenge Woods Cross. That will be the result to watch for, is how East can do with their 3-5 boys. That will make all the difference.
Girls Preview- Well one thing is for sure, Millika Holbrook will be the one to beat in Region 6. Over 3 miles this season she holds the best time in the region by a long shot. 17:56 is her best for 3 miles this season, and closest to her is 18:40 from Megan Spehar of Bountiful. Spehar will be looking for a way to keep pace with Holbrook, as their teams will vie for a place at the state championship.
In the team title, it should be a pretty interesting 3-way battle between East, Woods Cross, and Clearfield. East has the edge in the simulator, but not by much. It will come down to who can minimize damage in the 3-5 runners. A 5th runner having an off day can hurt a team score considerably more than a #1 runner having an off day. The fourth and final spot would still be up for grabs, and Bountiful and Judge could challenge for it. Judge hasn’t missed a state championship for a while, but their new 4A classification may end the streak.