Meet: AAA Boys State Meet Predictions Location: Mineral Wells, WV Date: To be held November 1, 2003 Predicted AAA Boys Team Results Preston has been dominant all season long. A pair of teams has closed the gap, though. East Fairmont hasn't been far off for most of the year, and Cabell Midland has really started to come on late in the season. Preston sports three of the top 5 ranked individuals and four of the top 10. East Fairmont also shows four inside the top 15. Cabell Midland had four runners go under 17:00 at their regional meet. All three teams think they have a legitimate shot at taking the title, which should make the meet much more intense and interesting. Parkersburg and Parkersburg South should battle for fourth place. 1. Preston 46 2. East Fairmont 65 3. Cabell Midland 66 4. Parkersburg 123 5. Parkersburg South 134 6. North Marion 181 7. Jefferson 182 8. University 197 9. Woodrow Wilson 206 10. Ripley 222 11. George Washington 279 Predicted Boys AAA Top 25 Scott Gemberling has been the top dog all season long. He won the Chick-fil-A Invitational by 20 seconds and could be looking at a time in the 15:30's as he gears up for a shot at Footlocker. Eric Cooper ran sub-16 at his regional meet, setting a course record. He could go under 16:00 at the State Meet as well. Chad Hooton has been a solid number three for most of the season, but he may be battling an injury as the season winds down. Ryan Skotnicki has a history of strong finishes, including his surprising All-State run from a year ago. He has looked very smooth this season and could easily find his way into the top 3. Bryan Hooton looks to give Preston three of the top 5 in the meet. The first five appear fairly solidly placed. Things get very muddled after that as many of the next 20 have very legitimate shots at moving into an All-State Position. Mathias Hickman leads the way for East Fairmont as they hope to knock off Preston for the team title. Adam Hensley has gained ranking points in every meet this season and has been strong throughout. Brian Wright has been a little inconsistent but came up with a very strong effort at the regional meet. Brandon Scarberry has come back from an injury and is running very well as the season winds up. He hasn't been back long enough to elevate his ranking to where he's running, and he could move even further up into the top 10 with another strong effort. Eric Ryan will attempt to give Preston four of the top 10 but will have to have a good run to accomplish that. In a meet where every place is going to count, the positions from 5 to 25 could make or break the meet and determine the team champions. The predicted top 25 are as follows: Place Score Name Year Team 1 1 Gemberling, Scott 12 Preston 2 2 Cooper, Eric 11 Cabell Midland 3 3 Hooton, Chad 12 Preston 4 4 Skotnicki, Ryan 11 University 5 5 Hooton, Bryan 11 Preston 6 6 Hickman, Mathias 12 East Fairmont 7 7 Hensley, Adam 12 Woodrow Wilson 8 8 Wright, Brian 12 East Fairmont 9 9 Scarberry, Brandon 11 Cabell Midland 10 10 Ryan, Eric 11 Preston 11 11 Ruble, Curt 12 Park. South 12 12 Nuzum, David 12 East Fairmont 13 13 Smith, Joe 12 Park. South 14 14 Finkenbinder, Matt 12 East Fairmont 15 15 Beckett, Sean 11 Cabell Midland 16 16 Bridgewater, Brian 11 Cabell Midland 17 17 Morris, Joseph 11 North Marion 18 18 Falck, Brian 12 Parkersburg 19 19 Turley, Joel 12 Jefferson 20 20 Johnson, Ryan 10 Parkersburg 21 21 Schaeffer, Joseph 11 University 22 22 Franklin, Andy 12 Jefferson 23 23 Waybright, Corey 9 Ripley 24 24 Lambert, Matt 12 Cabell Midland 25 Windle, John 10 Hedgesville