The cross country season is all about peaking at the right time. Some runners and teams have it down to a science. Some are just hoping to catch fire at the right time. Getting enough runners to do that all at once takes more than luck, so perhaps more than any other sport, cross country is dominated by familiar names. Last year, three of the six teams to win state titles, the Greely boys and Cape Elizabeth and Waynflete girls, were repeat winners. Here is a look at how the local teams might be able to knock off them and the other defending champions:

KVAC

Edward Little has a strong one-two punch in Faisal Noor and Hussein Mohamed to help it defend its conference crown, but the Red Eddies will need to find some depth to rank among the favorites. Lewiston brings back a formidable 1-2 of its own in Hussein Ibrahim and Kevin Lavertu, but the loss of Jaron Jones, who returned to Mt. Blue, means the Blue Devils will also need to find some depth. Jones returns to bolster a strong pack at Mt. Blue led by Brody Hines. Oxford Hills hopes to improve from its 10th place finish last year.

Brunswick overtook Edward Little at regionals and should be among the favorites this year despite graduating Will Geoghegan and Liam Cassidy. Mt. Ararat and Cony, the latter led by the top returning KVAC runner, Will Lundquist, will also compete for conference supremacy.

Mt. Ararat edged out Mt. Blue for the KVAC and Eastern A girls’ titles last year before the Cougars led all Eastern Maine teams with a third-place finish at states. With five of their top six back, the Eagles are favorites this year. The Cougars bring back a pair of top 10 finishers, Addie Cullenberg and Gwen Beacham, and have some runners that, if they can make similar strides to what they made last year, could put them over the top. Brewer, Brunswick and Messalonskee should also be in the hunt.

Edward Little finished third last year and has one of the conference’s top runners in Abby Hart back, but don’t have the depth to be a factor in the team standings. Nicole Court-Menedez leads a building Lewiston squad looking to earn a spot at states. Oxford Hills lost Sorrell Dunn, a top-10 runner as a junior, to early graduation and is hoping to build a strong pack.

In Class B, defending champion Hampden, Winslow, Medomak Valley and Maranacook will set the pace for the boys. Maranacook, led by the top runner in the state, Abby Mace, will challenge defending champion Medomak for the girls’ title. Leavitt is targeting getting both its boys and girls teams to states.

MVC

After finishing fourth in Class C last year, Monmouth Academy seeks to challenge defending KVAC champ Boothbay with brother Matt and Patrick McInnis setting the pace. Telstar returns one of the highest-rated runners in Class C in junior Ben Lewis and hopes his supporting cast develops enough to challenge for the conference title. Forrest Cornell and Hayden Stewart lead a fast pack for Lisbon.  Winthrop junior Kameron Souza is the No. 1 runner on a young team that should improve upon its seventh-place finish last year. Patrick LaChance leads an inexperienced but growing St. Dom’s squad. Randy Easter is trying to re-establish the boys’ and girls’ programs at Jay.

The Monmouth Academy girls lost some key contributors to their conference championship. But last year at this time, the Mustangs were wondering whether they would have enough runners to compete as a team, so with No. 1 Kayla Minkowski back after a strong freshman year, they have a shot at repeating provided they stay healthy. Lisbon will challenge led by its own top contender, Meagan Thomas, who finished second in the MVC and third in Class C. Winthrop’s Anna Doyle and Molly Lindsey were among the top individual runners last year. Now the Ramblers have added enough runners to try to reach states. St. Dom’s continues to grow its new program with its top two runners, Alyse Carney and Caroline Joseph, back to move the Saints up in the pecking order.

WMC

Cracking the top of the Western Maine Conference in cross country is a daunting, if not impossible, task. Two-time defending boys’ champion Greely, Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth have dominated the conference for the last decade and should make up the top three in some order this year. Gray-New Gloucesterhas a solid top three in Ben Schaeffer David McCann and Wil Shafer and could be a factor with more depth. Poland hopes to improve with experience.

Cape Elizabeth has won the last seven Western B titles and is expected to dominate the conference once again. York, Falmouth and Greely will give chase. Poland boasts one of the top individual in the conference, Kendra Lobley, who finished seventh in Class B in 2009. A mix of veterans and young runners could help the Knights improve. Gray-New Gloucester hopes to keep the momentum going after returning a larger contingent of runners than previous years.