PARKERSBURG — The Class AAA, Region IV track meet begins at 4 p.m. at the Erickson All-Sports Facility. Coaches and teams within this regional division are going into the meet with a similar mindset: get as many members of the team qualified for the state meet as they can. According to the runwv.com Class AAA power rankings for Region IV, Ripley is projected to take first place amongst the girls teams. At last year’s regional meet, Ripley was a fierce competitor in the relay event. Clocking in a time of 1:47.69, the girls team took home first place in the 4×200. They also managed to take first in the 4×400 meter event with a time of 4:06.21. Two of the members from last year’s first place meter relay squads will be returning to regionals this year as sophomores — Sydni Cunningham and Allison Fields. The boys Class AAA power rankings has Capital with a slight lead over the other teams. Region IV is a very competitive region for boys high school track. In fact, it’s very difficult to predict who will come out on top. Huntington, Hurricane, host Parkersburg South and Parkersburg are all very close in terms of the talent they have. Erwin DeGraef, coach for the boys track team at PSHS, anticipates a very competitive meet. “Our region has five, if not six, of the top 10 teams in the area.” said DeGraef, “I expect a good group of qualifers to come from our school.” The South boys team is expecting to be competitive in the field events at regionals. Returning to the boys high jump from last years regional meet are Dominic Collins, Mason Cheuvront and Kyle Carpenter. Nate Santiago, now a junior, is expected to compete in the pole vault. Returning to compete in the long jump and hurdles is Chris Elschlager and Seth Seebaugh is expected to compete in the shot put. “We try to get as many kids to the state meet as possible.” said Degraef. The girls track coach at PSHS, Tara Swiger, also anticipates a very competitive meet. The girls side has many returning to the track including Kathryn Bowers and Alana Brigner, who last year competed in the 200 meter dash. Bowers getting 28.21 and Bringer getting 30.40 respectively. Abby Herring is returning to regionals as a junior and is projected to compete in the 800 and 1600. Other runners returning to regionals for PSHS include Amber Flinn, Allie Perkins, and Emily Yanok. The PHS boys team are coming into this regional meet with returning athletes as well. Last year, DeShawn Akers took second place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.67. Ian Domenick took first place in the 800 with a time of 2:00.58. Benjamin Lake is projected to come out and compete in the 3200. Last year, Lake ran a time of 10:08.24. The girls at PHS are expected to have a few qualifiers this year as well. An athlete projected to perform well is Megan Kupfner. Kupfner is returning to the regional meet as a senior this year. Last season she placed third place in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 17.05. Kupfner was also a member of the 4×100 meter relay where Samantha Williams, Abby Tanner and Emily Kupfner took second place with a time of 52.97. Only time will tell as to who will advance to the state track competition. The only thing that’s for certain is it’s going to get very competitive at the EASF.