"We can probably score ten points in the four-by-eight."


That was a snatch of conversation I overheard while walking around Apalachee Regional Park during Pre State. In October, the middle of cross-country season, athletes were already talking about track. Which isn't unreasonable. The river of time continues to flow, the current carrying us to the end of cross country season, eddies through winter conditioning, and cascades on into track.


However much fall racing seemed to lie ahead in October, here we are in the middle of November and the end. The State Final is this Saturday, 15 November 2014. This is it. Every long hot training run, every track session, every race from August onward was pointing toward this morning at Apalachee Regional Park.


For the fan, the State Final can be overwhelming--eight five-kilometer championship races, one after another. Every 25 minutes the starting gun goes off for the next race, even if athletes from the previous run are still on the course. There's no other way to do it and get through all the competition in a single morning.


To keep from drowning in this cross-country cataract, here's a navigational guide of sorts--something to look for in each race. There are no spoilers here; I don't know what is going to happen and if you do then please don't tell me. These are some of the interesting issues at stake in each event. Here are a few of them.


Less than half an hour after the 7:03 AM Tallahassee sunrise, the program opens at 7:30 AM with the 4A girls race. St. Thomas Aquinas won in 2012 and 2013, and the girls from Fort Lauderdale will be going for their third team title in a row. Winter Park, last year's runner-up, may have something to say about that, though. Winter Park finished ahead of St. Thomas Aquinas at Pre State, and the Wildcats would like to bring a fourth girls crown home to Winter Park. Similarly, St. Thomas Aquinas has the defending individual champ in junior Alexa Cruz. Winter Park's answer to Cruz is frosh Rafaela Gibbons. Gibbons hasn't won all her races this fall, but she's had to travel to Georgia or North Carolina to get beaten. She's undefeated inside Florida, including a 17:52.12 Pre State win over a field that included Cruz. Gibbons won't be the only athlete in the race who has gone under 18:00 at Apalachee Regional Park, though. Fletcher sophomore Kayley Delay went 17:58.30 at Pre State, and she'll be back at ARPXC on Saturday.


The last of the 4A girls may still be on the course when the 1A girls start racing at 7:55 AM. Doug Butler's girls from Melbourne will be defending Holy Trinity's 2013 team title. If they're successful it will be the eighth state championship for the Tigers--another step closer to the ten owned by Coach Roy Harrison's Plant High program, the most held by any school in Florida. There is no returning individual champion to watch because Julie Wollrath--the winner in 2011, 2012, and 2013--has moved to class 3A. But you might keep your eye on Sarah Candiano of Fort Myers Evangelical Christian, who ran 18:11.19 at Pre State.


The 4A boys start at 8:20 AM. St. Thomas Aquinas won for the first time last year, and the Raiders would certainly like a second championship. If hunger is a factor, though, you'd have to go with Lyman. The Greyhounds have finished runner-up three times, but never quite made it to the top step on the podium. Lyman's boys also finished ahead of St. Thomas Aquinas at Pre State. The top two individuals from 2013 are back, seniors Nick Diaz of Miami Sunset and James Zentmeyer of Sickles. Diaz only placed third at Pre State, but at 15:20.22 he was the top 4A runner in the field, nearly seven seconds ahead of Zentmeyer's 15:27.18. Plant senior Jack Guyton was right on Zentmeyer's heels that morning, running 15:27.95. This is the last State Final for these three runners. "Wait till next year!" is no longer an option.


Assuming the National Weather Service got the science right this time, the conditions should still be great for distance runners when the 1A boys start at 8:45 AM. This is another race where Holy Trinity will be trying to add to their totals. A Tiger win would give Holy Trinity four straight state championships and an all-time total of eight, just two shy of the ten owned by the legendary Largo program. Like the 4A race, the top two runners from last year are back--seniors Franco Martins of Windermere and Andrew Cacciatore of Holy Trinity. They were only three seconds apart last year, and at Pre State each improved on their junior year performances at ARPXC. However, Martins improved more than Cacciatore, widening the gap between them to ten seconds. Saturday is another race, though; look forward to an exciting clash of seniors.


9:10 AM is the starting time for the 2A girls. Coach Tony Ryan's Bolles squad will be trying to bring a ninth state title home to Jacksonville, putting the Bulldogs second on the list for most team championships. 1A, 2A, 3A, or 4A, the Bolles girls could probably win any of those classifications on Saturday. A win would also be their third straight at the State Final, so grab a spot on the rail and see if the Bulldogs can make some history. Bolles junior Mackenzie Wilson would like to make some history by bringing home the Bulldogs' first individual crown. Tsion Yared may have something to say about that, though. The Pine Crest seventh-grader finished almost fifteen seconds ahead of Wilson at Pre State, then went on to win the middle school state championship on 1 November 2014. Has anyone ever won two state cross-country titles in the same season? Will Yared be the first?


The last girls race is the class 3A 5K at 9:35 AM. There are a lot of storied programs represented in this race, and many of them would like to have another state championship trophy to add to their collection. Defending champs Estero, for example, wouldn't mind extending their championship streak to four. But this may be the year that Creekside wins their first State Final. It hardly seems fair; the school just opened in 2008. But you don't win championships by waiting for your turn; and the Creekside girls went out and made it their turn. Melbourne senior Julie Wollrath has three wins as an individual in 1A and is looking to pick up a fourth in class 3A. In FHSAA history, only four other girls have graduated with four cross-country titles--Betty Jo Springs of Bayshore, Caroline Annis of Plant, Kayla Hale of Holy Trinity, and Ashley Brasovan of Wellington. However, more than a few speedy 3A runners are both willing and capable of foiling Wollrath's ambition.


The penultimate race on the program is the 2A boys at 10:00 AM. 2013 champs Trinity Prep would like to repeat, giving the Winter Park school a sixth championship trophy. However, last year's runner-up, Bishop Kenny, might have an opinion on that. BK is chasing Largo, and the 2014 title would give them nine all-time, just behind the Packers' ten. Trinity has the edge on paper, but while cross country has been run on mud and sand and grass and clay and a myriad of other surfaces, it has never been run on paper. Joel Lacy, Urias Velasquez and Gabe Correa ran 15:45.12, 15:47.86, and 15:50.61 at Pre State. Last week Correa beat Lacy for the 2A Region 4 title, 15:58.20 to 16:04.90. You can only conclude that these guys are close, and it should be an exciting race.


The last race of the morning starts at 10:25 AM, the 3A boys. Belen Jesuit goes into this race with the last four state titles already in the school's trophy cases. The Wolverines have won a total of eight cross country championships, putting them second on the all time list to Largo. But Belen Jesuit may have to wait to get another win closer to the top of the list, because Chiles and Leon are determined to bring the 3A title to Tallahassee. Belen Jesuit was well behind both Tallahassee schools at Pre State, where Chiles won. Chiles also finished ahead of Leon at the 3A District 3 meet. But at the 3A Region 1 meet, just seven days before the State Final, Leon edged Chiles 35 to 53. State could be a repeat of the Leon-Chiles one-two of 2007. It could also be an unprecedented Chiles-Leon one-two. Or like seven of the last eight year, Belen Jesuit will find a way to win. Keep your adding machine handy! The individual title, though, may be a bit more cut and dried. Sukhi Khosla is the returning champion in class 3A, and no one this season has yet found a way to beat him or even stay close to him. He remains the only runner to ever go under 15:00 at ARPXC, and now he has done it twice. Saturday could be his chance to run a course record that would remain his signature on ARPXC for some time to come. Also, in the FHSAA record books Leon and Bishop Kenny are currently tied for most individual championships all-time at eight. A win by Khosla would give Leon nine titles, pushing the Lions to the top of that list.


In every race on Saturday, there's something interesting at stake. That's good to remember when you start to feel a little dazed after the first four or five great races. You are staying for all eight, right?