Burke, VA - Considering the results of the four district championships last week, the teams advancing to next week's Group AAA state meet should hail from the Concorde and Patriot districts.

That theory will be tested at the Northern Region meet at Burke Lake Park's 2.98-mile course at today. The girls race begins at 3:30 p.m., and the boys start at 4.

During September and October, teams face district opponents on a regular basis. But the perenially strong Patriot and Concorde teams don't compete against each other during the regular season and are left to compare their various district meet times, which are both run at Burke Lake, but on different days.

Today, the top four teams and top 15 individuals, for both boys and girls, advance to the state meet held at the Great Meadow Course in The Plains on Nov. 10.

Off the boys seasonal performances, especially the district meets, Jefferson, West Springfield, Herndon and Oakton appear to have a clear advantage at the region meet. A quartet of Concorde runners are in the hunt for the individual title.

The girls team picture is a bit murkier with Robinson, South Lakes, Jefferson and West Springfield appearing to have a slight edge over Lake Braddock, Hayfield, Herndon and Oakton. The Cougars' Keira Carlstrom is the individual favorite.

Girls

Jefferson is the defending team champion, putting together its best race of last year at the region meet. On paper, the Colonials hold a very slight edge over the rest of the field based on the district meet results. The Liberty and Concorde meets were run the day after the Patriot and National in temperatures about 10 degrees cooler.

Jefferson is led by junior Sara Levine at the No. 1 spot, but the Colonials Nos. 2 through 4 runners all finished within 3 seconds of each other. Also, Jefferson's all-important No. 5 runner was 12 seconds faster (19 minutes, 47 seconds) than the No. 5 runner on any other team qualifying for the region meet.

Robinson looked like the team to beat all year, and although it has not appeared to have put it all together in any one race this year, the Rams have to be considered a favorite until another team can defeat them. Junior Sam Ference has been the Rams'only truly consistent runner this year, but Robinson is very talented at the next three spots and should fare well if its No. 5 runner dips under the 20-minute mark.

South Lakes surprised a few people with its hard-earned Concorde District title - its first since 1979. Looking at the district meet times, the Seahawks are able to match up with any squad through the top three, with freshman Caroline Bellis and seniors Julia Bellis and Pat Murtagh. The Seahawks hope for another solid effort from their Nos. 4 and 5 runners for the second straight week.

West Springfield ran a strong race last week in placing second to Patriot champ Robinson. Senior Mo Hagan posted the fourth-fastest time among all the districts with her 18:38. The Spartans will still be looking for the same 30-second spread from their Nos. 2 through 5 runners, putting them right in the thick of things.

Lake Braddock has one of the state's top runners in junior Kelly Swain, who claimed the Patriot title for the second year in a row. No. 2 runner Sarah Rothe has had an excellent freshman season, but Lake Braddock will need a bigger push from its next three runners if the defending state team champion returns to Great Meadow this year.

Hayfield was a strong fourth in the Patriot District meet, and the Hawks could make waves. Sophomore Morgan Phelan put together perhaps her best race of the season in finishing sixth at districts, and the Hawks had only a 22-second spread between their Nos. 3 and 5 runners, all under 20:00.

Oakton and Herndon could also be lurking in the shadows. Oakton has the potential No. 1individual card with Carlstrom. The Cougars senior, the defending state champion, made it look relatively easy in posting the fastest time of all the district participants at Burke Lake with her 17:45. Oakton also received a huge race last week from freshman Danielle Light, but will need Nos. 3 through 5 to pick up the pace.

Herndon sophomore Kristin Hart was the only other runner besides Carlstrom and Swain to run under 18 minutes at Burke Lake last week, and should be poised for a spot among the top five individuals overall as the Hornets look to move up from last year's seventh place finish. Liberty District champ W.T. Woodson looks to be the best of the rest, led by sophomores Kate Griendling and Jenica Semler. Centreville sophomore Dacia Barr comes in with the fourth-fastest time overall from last week.

Boys

Pre-season favorite Jefferson posted a 15-point victory over Herndon at the Concorde meet last week, with third-place Oakton just a point behind the Hornets. It could be very close among those three squads again at the region meet, with Patriot District champ West Springfield also looking to have a say in the final outcome.

The battle among Jefferson, Herndon and Oakton looks like it could be decided in the middle of the pack because the front and back of each school's five scoring runners are extemely even.

Only two points could separate the top runners since each of those school's No. 1 is among the top three times going into the region meet. It is just as close at the No. 5 spot, with Jefferson's and Herndon's No. 5 runners both running 16:19 at districts, and Oakton's fifth just 5 seconds back at 16:24.

Jefferson has sophomore Christo Landry coming in with the third-fastest time from all of the district meets at 15:24, but the Colonials seem to have the edge over the rest of the field with their next two runners juniors - Keith Bechtol (15:42) and Joey Bylund (15:46) - well under 16 minutes at the district.

Herndon has the second-fastest performer from Burke Lake this season in Rasheed Thompson. The lanky junior smoothed his way to a time of 15:20 and could have his best races of the season still ahead of him. The Hornets look for senior Mike Dominguez and sophomore Shane Young to repeat their solid runs at districts in the next two spots. Only 20 seconds separate Dominguez and Young from the Hornets' Nos. 4 and 5 runners.

Oakton has the top returnee from last year's region meet in senior Phil Gaeta (third; 15:20), who posted a personal best at Burke Lake last week in winning the Concorde title untested at 15:10. Oakton also had junior Ben Bieter step up in the No. 2 spot. The defending region champ is also experienced at the next couple of slots and will control its own destiny in trying to return to the state meet.

West Springfield easily took the Patriot title, and although and its times do not stack up favorably against the top three from the Concorde, the Spartans controlled the pace for most of the race.

West Springfield junior Jeff Day was district champ and stands a good chance of being the first non-Concorde runner to cross the finish line. Senior Bryan Witt has been steadily improving throughout the season in the No. 2 slot, and the Spartans packed their Nos. 3 through 6 runners within 20 seconds of each other. They're trying to get back to the state meet for the first time in two years.

Teams hoping the door is left open by one of those four include Westfield, which has a potential individual state qualifier in junior Bryan Buckland, and a trio of sophomores led by James Scheiner. Liberty District champ Langley hopes to challenge, led by senior Billy Bylund, this year's district runner-up who looks for his second straight trip to states.

Possibly conspicuous by its chance of absence at Great Meadow could be Robinson and Lake Braddock. The Rams are led by senior Kevin McHale, and the Bruins have juniors James McLelland and Steve Hoogland as their top two runners. But these two perennial powers need big improvements over its district times to run for another week.

Top individuals, who will not count in the team scoring but stand a good chance of advancing to Great Meadow, include Richard Smith of South Lakes, just fourth in the Concorde District, but coming in with the fourth-best overall time of 15:34; Lee sophomore Robert Longoria, who won the Liberty District title by one second over Bylund and Falls Church senior Randy Carroll, the National District champ.