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PARKERSBURG-For veteran Parkersburg South head cross country coach Steve Fox the number one concern for his Patriots as they enter regional action later today isn't the other teams competing in their region nor is it the course.

"Our biggest concern right now is the flu," Fox explained. "If we are healthy and we are mentally prepared then I think we will do well."

The Patriot boys have been all of those over the past month, putting together a six-meet winning streak which began at the Ripley Covered Bridge Invitational and included victories in the Battle of Parkersburg dual with crosstown rival Parkersburg and finally at Winfield this past weekend.

They will look to extend that streak at Hurricane High School when they participate in the Class AAA, Region IV championships.

"The boys have been running with a lot of confidence and they feel like they have as good of a chance of winning as any other team in our region," added the coach.

That's good because the Patriots will face their fiercest test when they face No. 2 ranked Cabell Midland, No. 4 Winfield, No. 10 Hurricane as well as arch-rival Parkersburg and a surprising Ripley squad.

"The way it looks right now, we are going to get three teams out," explained the coach. "That means we are in a group with Hurricane, PHS, Huntington and Ripley for one spot."

The task will be just as difficult for the Patriot girls as they must get past No. 1 Hurricane, No. 5 Cabell Midland, No. 9 Parkersburg or unranked Ripley to capture one of the three qualifying spots.

"The girls only lost to PHS by five points at the dual so they know what they have to do," added the coach.

In addition to the top three teams, the top 10 individuals earn automatic berths to next weekend's state meet at Cabell Midland High School.

Locally, Ripley's Preston Whitney enters regional action ranked among the Mountain State's Top 10 by RunWV.com.

- In Class AA/A action the area's teams are involved in two regionals-Region I at Doddridge County Park and Region IV at Camp Virgil Tate.

The number of teams that will qualify for the state meet next weekend will depend on the number of complete teams which begin the race. One team goes if there is only 1-3 complete teams while two earn spots if there are 4-6. Should the number of complete teams grow to between 7 and 9 then three teams will get out.

Should there be 10 or more complete teams then the top four teams will make it to Cabell Midland next Saturday.

At West Union-After pulling off a pair of victories at the Little Kanawha Conference championships last Thursday at Doddridge County Park the Blue Devils from St. Marys would have to be considered the favorites to walk away with the Region I titles.

Just like the LKC meet, the boys race looks to be the closest with No. 4 Magnolia, No. 5 Doddridge County, No. 6 St. Marys, No. 9 Ritchie County and unranked Williamstown looking to garner one of the qualifying spots.

The most interesting girls race will be for second place as top-ranked St. Marys appears to have the regional plaque all but wrapped up. No. 7 Wheeling Central, No. 8 Williamstown and unranked Doddridge County and Ritchie County will battle for the final slots.

At Camp Virgil Tate-No. 3 Ravenswood and No. 9 Charleston Catholic will battle it out for the girls title while No. 8 Scott and nine-time state champion Ravenswood, which comes into regional action unranked, will go head-to-head one more time for the boys championship plaque.