It's the Rocky Mountain show for the boys of 5A, led by senior Tyler Sainsbury and junior Landon Heemeyer. Sainsbury and Heemeyer are the only Gem state athletes to crack the 15-minute barrier this season, doing so at the Inland Empire Challenge, going 14:48 (Sainsbury) and 14:51 (Heemeyer), respectively. Not far behind in that same race was Blackfoot's Matt Thomas, who crossed the line in 15:07. From a team standpoint, the Grizzlies of Rocky Mountain are the class of the field, placing all five scorers in the top 10 spots amongst the best in 5A. While the top five team spots look pretty locked up, it's the bottom five sports in the top 10 that can go anyway. Highland (Pocatello), Centennial, Owyhee, Thunder Ridge, Capital, and Eagle can be interchangeable on race day. With the exception of Centennial (83:47), those other five schools have team times (top 5) separated by just 12-seconds; Highland (84:05), Eagle (84:13), Capital (84:14), Owyhee (84:16) and Thunder Ridge (84:17).

1. Rocky Mountain High School

2. Coeur D'Alene High School

3. Boise High School 

4. Timberline High School

5. Mountain View High School

The girls' 5A state championship race is really a two-horse team race between Boise and Rocky Mountain. Rocky Mountain comes in as the favorite, but in a championships-style race with more teams and points in the mix, the difference of a few places amongst a team's top five becomes magnified. Both teams have a large time spread for scorers, but these two teams will be bunched up together out front. With the potential absence of Boise's Samantha Smith (18:00), the Brave will lean on Lydia Nance (18:26) and Allie Bruce (18:33) to try and stay close to Rocky's Gracie Buhrley (18:28), Brighton Heywood (18:28), Kylene McCune (18:47) and Brooklyn Hom (18:59). If Smith is a scratch (competing in India for the U17 girls' soccer team), the Grizzly should be the clear favorite. Speaking of clear favorites, senior Anna Peters of Post Falls dropped a 17:13 at last week's District I-II 4A/5A Championships, more than 45-seconds faster than the next athlete, Smith of Boise. Peters finished third last year and looks to put a bookend on her high school cross country career with a top podium spot.

1. Rocky Mountain High School