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PARKERSBURG - After winning nine (Class AA/A) state cross country championships in a row, the run appears to be over for the Red Devils from Ravenswood High School as they prepare to take on the best long distance runners in the Mountain State at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"Our kids understand that they won't be picked to win it this year," veteran head coach Bryan Canterbury explained. "We knew before the season began that we were going to be a very young team and then when we lost two of our best freshmen early in the season, our chances were made even more difficult."

But, knowing that their string of championships were about to end did not stop the red and black from working hard and earning a trip back to the state meet at Cabell Midland High School.

"That (making it back) became our main goal," continued the coach. "Getting our young kids down here and letting them see what it is all about will definitely pay dividends for us in the long run."

The battle for the title appears to be a two-team race between last year's runner-up Berkeley Springs and top-ranked Grafton.

"They (Berkeley Springs) have been chasing us for a long time so it would be nice for them to finally get that championship trophy," said Canterbury. "But, Grafton is very, very good and they have run well all season."

The battle for third place appears to be even greater with four teams separated by a mere 10 points in runWV.com's latest power rankings. Richwood has a slight edge over Region I champion Doddridge County with Magnolia and Scott lurking right behind them.

Rounding out the 10-team field is No. 7 Williamstown, No. 8 Oak Hill, No. 9 Ravenswood and No. 10 Shady Spring.

Since returning to the two-class system, the Little Kanawha Conference has proven to be dominant, winning 13 of the 14 championships since 1995-Ravenswood has nine while Doddridge County has four.

The race for the individual Top 10-which earns all state recognition-also appears tight as Berkeley Springs' John Mundey is the favorite, but should receive a solid challenge from Grafton's Drew Woodford, Richwood's Derrick Chaffin and Ravenswood junior Matt Knowlton.

Also look for Ritchie County's John Perry, Doddridge County's Tanner Mattie and Daniel Clevenger, St. Marys' Eric Hamilton, Tyler Consolidated's Aaron Estep, Magnolia's Nathan Harshberger and Joe Feeney and Williamstown's Mitch Waggoner and Mikey Cornell to battle for one of those top 10 spots.

On the girls' side No. 1 St. Marys is a slight favorite to capture its first-ever state championship in cross country. The Blue Devils of acting head coach Cliff Taylor have been the class of the division all season behind the running of freshman phenom Maggie Drazba and sophomores Ali Johnson and Beverly Knight.

A win by the purple and gold would return the state title back to the LKC after a two-year absence and would be the conference's eighth championship since the event was split into two classifications in 1994.

Standing in their way will be No. 2 Grafton, which won the title in 2007, and No. 3 Berkeley Springs. The remainder of the 10-team field includes No. 4 Ravenswood, No. 5 Shady Spring, No. 6 Wheeling Central, No. 7 Williamstown, No. 8 Scott, No. 9 Philip Barbour and No. 10 PikeView.

The battle for the individual championship could come down to Herbert Hoover's Erica Hayes, Drazba, Philip Barbour's Sarah McCauley and Charleston Catholic's Sami Harris.

Locals looking to garner one of the top 10 places-and thus earning all state-are Ravenswood's Emily Rector, Doddridge's Bethany Carroll and Adalia Trudgeon, the Blue Devils' Johnson and Knight and Williamstown's Emily Kittle.

Action gets under way at 12:45 p.m. with the girls' race followed at 1:30 by the boys.