Edward Little High School coach Dan Campbell is going to be following every minute of the Class A state championship cross country meet this weekend — from California.

Campbell, whose commitments outside of the cross country running world have taken him from coast to coast for much of the fall, scheduled his trips around the anticipated ending dates for the season. Due to inclement weather, the state championship is now this weekend. It was supposed to be last weekend.

But Campbell, via assistant Ralph Fletcher, will be in constant contact with the Eddies’ squad.

“I’ll be getting minute-by-minute updates,” Campbell said Thursday. “The phone probably won’t leave my ear.”

In the Class A boys’ race, Campbell will have plenty of reason to listen. The Eddies surprised the KVAC with a win in the regional meet, and with a few sick runners, came within six points of Eastern regional champ Brunswick last weekend.

“We only have five guys, and, no excuses. It is what it is. We had two kids who had a flu bug during the week,” Campbell said. “We were really happy to do what we did. I do know now that everybody is back to being healthy, and our goal now is to beat the team (Brunswick) that beat us last week. As far as overall, if we can make the top five, we’ve done our job.”

Western Class A champion Cheverus will be the team to beat Saturday. The Stags placed four runners among the top eight at the Western regional race last week on the same track runners will run on this weekend at Twin Brook in Cumberland.

But the Eddies can take comfort in the fact that, at the Festival of Champions earlier this season, with a runner ruled ineligible, they still placed ahead of the Stags.

“They’re still the team,” Campbell said.

Cheverus, Massabesic and Scarborough were the top three teams in Western A at regionals, while Brunswick, EL and Cony topped the Eastern A race. Lewiston will look to improve upon its fifth-place regional finish, as well.

Individually, Mt. Blue, which placed fourth in Eastern A, will send Kelton Cullenberg to the line with a chance to win the overall title. He’ll have to track down Brunswick’s top gun, Will Geoghegan, and Jason Kaake of Morse, as well as the Cheverus triumverate of Jack Terwilliger, Taylor Dundas, and Andrew Snyder, who placed 1-2-3 at the Western race.

“We’ve talked this week, and I think we’ve resolved some of the stress he was carrying around from other aspects of his life,” Mt. Blue coach (and Kelton’s mother) Kelley Cullenberg said. “I think he’s in a more comfortable frame of mind.”

In the girls’ Class A race, Melody Lam will be Eastern A’s top hope to upend previously unbeaten Kennebunk’s Abby Leonardi, who suffered the first defeat of her career last week in the Western A race. She placed second, six seconds back of Cheverus’ Emily Durgin. Lam’s time, posted at a different location, would have placed her third.

“It’s hard to compare times because the courses are so different,” Mt. Blue coach Kelley Cullenberg said. “I think for Melody, she needs to not worry about the other runners in the race. She’s proven this year she can take it out fast and still race well, so we’ll see what happens.”

Mt. Blue, as a team, is coming off a runner-up finish at the Eastern A meet, and could be a factor to run in the top four at the state meet. So much of the Cougars’ chances at Twin Brook on Saturday will depend on the team’s depth. Last week, Mt. Ararat edged Mt. Blue by four points, the exact differential between the Eagles’ fifth runner and the Cougars’ fifth.

“I think Cheverus is definitely the team to beat,” Cullenberg said. “After that, two through nine you could almost pick out of hat. It’s going to be exciting.”

Edward Little’s girls also qualified for this week’s race.

Class C

Everyone’s seen this movie before: Monmouth runs well during the regular season, has a lull at regionals and then shocks the state with a Class C state title win.

The Mustangs have again followed that script this season, stumbling to a fifth-place finish at Twin Brook last week, 62 points back of Western C champion Freeport.

“I’m hoping we run a little bit better than last week,” Monmouth coach Rick Amero said. “Honestly, we had to have all of our runners have their best day of the season last year for that to happen, and that’s what it’s going to take and then some this year. Everyone is definitely chasing Boothbay and Freeport this time around.”

“They’re never out of it,” Lisbon coach Hank Fuller said. “They’re well-coached and they’re always well-prepared. Don’t ever count Monmouth out.”

Lisbon also qualified for the Class C state race, but depth issues will likely hamper the Greyhounds’ quest for a top-five finish. Freeport, Boothbay, Orono and Merriconeag-Waldorf of Freeport and New Gloucester should be the teams to beat.

On the girls’ side, Lisbon is pinning its hopes for a medal on Meagan Thomas. The sophomore runner has been steadily improving all season, and may be ready to peak this week.

“She has a very strong, economical running form,” Fuller said. “We’re looking for her to be in the top ten. We know she can do that.”

No area teams qualified for the race. Individually, St. Dom’s and Telstar will send three athletes each and Monmouth will send a pair to join Thomas of Lisbon. Ben Lewis of Telstar harbors the area’s best chance for an individual medal on the boys’ side.

Class B

Cape Elizabeth from Western B and John Bapst from Eastern B will be the teams to beat at the state meet this weekend, with the Capers holding a clear advantage. All five of Cape’s scoring runners finished in the top 10 at the Western Class B regional meet last week at Twin Brook.

Poland, led by standout runner Kendra Lobley, finished a respectable fifth in a deep girls’ field, and will represent the area at the meet. Lobley, a junior who placed third last week at the regional meet, has one of the top six times at regionals regardless of venue, and has been one of the top runners all season in the Western Maine Conference. Abby Mace of Maranacook is considered the individual favorite in the race, while Cape Elizabeth’s Emily Attwood is also a top threat.

Allison Fereshetian of Leavitt is the Hornets’ lone representative at the meet this weekend after a 14th-place finish at last week’s regional race.

Caribou and Ellsworth are the top teams from Eastern B this weekend, and they will be trying to chase down homestanding Greely, which blistered the field at the Western Class B regionals last weekend. York is also in contention for a top-five finish, and Fryeburg’s boys’ squad eked into the state meet with a sixth-place finish last weekend.