Not to sound braggish, but nobody saw Bedford getting second. Not even usEastStroudsburg13 wrote:Well, I think it’s high time for the 5th annual EastStroudsburg13 Makes Predictions for Regionals That Maybe Other People Read Or Maybe They Don’t But He Does It Anyway, right???
As an aside, 5 years? I’ve done this for 5 years??? Man, I’m old.
Anyways, here we go. I'm splitting this in half, B first.
Southeast: 1. Strath Haven, 2. Bala Cynwyd, 3. Welsh Valley, 4. Devon Prep, 5. Valley Forge. I am very unsure about this. On the one hand I don’t envision Strath Haven giving up first a year after such a thorough domination, but then Rustin happened and now I’m confused. For now I’m sticking with the same typical top three, with places given to Devon Prep and Valley Forge for great showings at Rustin. But I would not be surprised to see a massive shakeup this year.
Central: 1. Allen, 2. Hershey, 3. Eagle View. Allen is not going to give up first unless something shocking happens. Hershey seems to be a safe bet for second. After that it’s anyone’s game. I’m going with Eagle View, who have been steadily improving recently and have missed states by one spot for two straight years. I think this is the year they break through.
Also good for Central for getting 19 teams to sign up this year! That’s a good 5 or so teams that didn’t compete last year, which should make for a fun tournament.
Northwest: 1. Wilmington, 2. Clarion, 3. North Clarion. I will admit that I don’t know much about NW, since they’re in Erie and don’t normally compete at invitationals. Wilmington has been the top team that still competes in NW for three straight years, so they’re probably a safe first. For second and third, I’m just going to go with last year’s teams, giving Clarion the edge because they placed better at states than North Clarion. However, I would not be surprised to see North East have a bounce-back year.
Southwest: 1. Shady Side, 2. Franklin Regional, 3. Huston. Wrap it, pack it, lock it up, and mail it to Australia, Shady Side is getting first. If they lose at regionals I will officially just give up. Also I won’t pick you in FantaSO, so don’t lose Shady Side, because you care if I pick you in FantaSO, right????? (I lead an exciting life)
Northeast: 1. Wyoming Area, 2. Abington Heights, 3. Stroudsburg. This is going to be interesting. There are several teams who have a very real shot of placing in the top three, and there are five in particular that I debated between for the top 3. So with apologies to Park Forest and Wayne Highlands, these are the three I came up with. Stroudsburg placed 3rd at states last year, so even if they tend not to fulfill their full potential at regionals, and didn’t go to Rustin, I could not realistically leave them out. Abington Heights is the defending champion, and they should perform solidly again. My pick for first, though, is Wyoming Area. They were the highest-placed team from NE at Rustin, so they probably have a target on their backs, but I think they really want this (Or they should). Despite a good run of success, their only regional championship was back in 2008. Since then it’s been 3rd-2nd-2nd-N/A-3rd. It’s been some time coming since they got that first-place trophy, and I think that drought ends this year.
Central East: 1. Kutztown, 2. Whitehall Coplay, 3. Springhouse. Despite only having 10 teams this year (which is really unfortunate, they seem to be declining fairly significantly), there are some real good teams here. Whitehall Coplay is the safe pick, but Kutztown did very well at Rustin, and showed enough to tell me that the potential is there. But watch out for Springhouse, which is a fairly new team and finished 9th at states last year.
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