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The team titles in the ''County Meet' have been owned solely the Cros-Lex programs for some time. The Lady Pioneers have won 10 straight team titles while the boys have taken five in a row.

The C-L girls may be more vulnerable this time around than in recent seasons, and both Marlette and Deckerville are aware of that. The Lady Pioneers have talent, but simply are not as deep as recent squads.

Lisa Shaw, who has switched from coaching the C-L boys to directing the Lady Pioneers this season, said her team is not ready to give up the reign in the County.

"We're just going to try to keep up that tradition," said Shaw. "We saw Marlette (this year) at Bad Axe (Hatchet Inv.), and they didn't have their full team. And, we saw Deckerville, I think, at Harbor Beach, and they didn't have everybody. So, I don't know."

The Lady Pioneers have a very talented mid-distance runner in sophomore Leah O'Connor, who will be favored to win the 800,1600, and 3200 runs, and also anchors a good 1600 relay team.

Marlette coach Cathy Storm and Deckerville coach Randee McGregor both know they have to find a way to overcome O'Connor's talents

"O'Connor's only one girl," said McGregor, whose team has shown well against Division 4 powers like Harbor Beach and Ubly this spring. "If we can do well in the other events she's not in, we may a chance."

McGregor also knows Marlette is a factor. "They are, and I've thought about that, too."

Storm, meanwhile, is strong in the field events but needs some help in a few others to make a bid at the title.

"It's going to be a good meet," Storm said. "Obviously, we need our throwers to do like they are capable of doing and then, hopefully, we can squeeze out some places unexpectedly in other events."

At looking at the entries right now for the meet, Storm added, "We're about 30 points behind Cros--Lex. So, we need a lot of things to happen."

Some of the more well--contested events should be in the 1600 and 3200 relays between Cros--Lex and Deckerville, the 100 and 200 meter dashes, the 800 with Deckerville's Dana Stolicker chasing O'Connor, the 400 meter dash, and probably every field event.

The Female Athlete of the Meet will be awarded the Purl Wark Award. Right now, O'Connor is a favorite with her potential to break meet records in any or all of her individual events. Deckerville's Shelby McVittie is the top seed in both hurdle events and runs on strong 1600 and 3200 relay teams. Anyone sweeping firsts in the short dashes also comes into the picture.

On the boys side, Cros-Lex has been in contention for the BWAC title all season, but have lacked the great individual talent they've had in the past two years when the Pioneers won back-to-back Div. 2 Regional titles.

Meanwhile, Marlette has shown well at meets all season, too.

"I just think that Cros-Lex's depth could be tough to beat," said Chris Storm, Raider coach. He also is not conceding anything just yet. "Our kids always compete well at the County Meet. I don't know if it's because it's on our own track or what. But, I'm excited for the kids to compete one last time on our track, especially for the seniors."

The Raiders and the Pioneers will have a very interesting head-to-head match-up in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. The Pioneers' Brad Farley has a slight edge in times in both, but Comment qualified for State in Div. 3 in each event.

Rookie coach Ken Nelson has plenty of depth in several events, including the 3200 and 1600 runs and the sprints.

The Pioneers, in the sprint events, have Mike Hartson, Josh Kowal, and Travis Ellul that have a chance at going one-two-three in the short sprints. But, field events could aid the Raiders, who have the top seeds in the pole vault, long jump, shot put and discus.

The Robert Sullivan Award will go to the top Male Athlete of the Meet. If Farley and Comment neutralize each other in the hurdles, the Sullivan Award could belong to any number of athletes.

The best part of the County Meet has always been that the competitive juices are flowing among fierce, but respectful rivals. Often, season--bests highlight the score sheet at the end of the night, which also means there can be some surprises.

Six places will be scored in 34 events in the meet. However, the top three in each will go to the awards stand to receive the gold, silver and bronze medals.