The big question when the Tri-Eight Conference teams toe the line at Bond Park for Wednesday’s boys cross country championship will be: Can any team knock off Green Hope?

The Falcons enter the Tri-Eight meet having won the team title the previous four years. In a dual meet against Athens Drive on Wednesday, Oct. 11, over Bond Park’s 5,000-meter course, Miragliuolo did not race his top runners, but coaches agree Green Hope is the team to beat in the Tri-Eight. But no one is conceding the title to the Falcons.

Apex coach Roy Cooper said the conference teams are “even,” but admits the Falcons have the edge on paper.

“I think it is Green Hope’s to win or lose, but I think there’s three teams that feel like they’ve got something to say about it, so it’ll be interesting next week,” Cooper said. “I have reason to believe you can put us in the mix.”

Apex senior Srini Iyer, who led the Cougars to a perfect 15-point score in Wednesday’s win over Lee County High, said the Falcons may “have the upper hand on us, but we definitely have a chance because we have a good team. We have to work together next Wednesday at conference,” he said.

Iyer won the race with a time of 17:38.

“We just have to come together as a team, stay close, keep each other in sight,” Iyer said.

Cary junior Greg Barnes, who led the Imps to a sweep against Fuquay-Varina High in another Wednesday dual meet, said the Imps are ready to dethrone Green Hope.

“We’re not going to let ’em win,” said Barnes, who won his race with a time of 17:50. “We’re taking it home. We all have to run our best race of the year.”

Cary coach Jerry Dotson wasn’t as bold in his conference-meet predictions, calling Barnes’ comments “a little premature.”

“You’ve got Athens, Apex, Green Hope and us, but definitely Green Hope’s got to be the clear-cut favorite right now,” said Dotson, who was pleased with how hard his boys ran against overmatched Fuquay.

“This is the first time that we’ve been able to race on this course this year, so I felt like we needed to come out and really run it hard so they can get a feel for running hard on the conference course,” Dotson said.

Athens coach Courtney Michel, who has had some of her top runners sidelined with nagging injuries, said the team races are not settled for the conference meet.

“I think the beautiful thing about our conference is that anything can happen, so opportunities are there,” Michel said. “It’s a strong conference, and people race well.”

Green Hope is the team to beat, Michel said, “but there are also things you can learn from watching Green Hope.”

For his part, Miragliuolo is not predicting a fifth straight win for his boys squad.

“Cary and Apex boys just keep creeping closer and closer, so we know it’s going to be a three-way race for conference on the boys side,” he said. “I think the boys have to sharpen up a little more maybe than the girls for conference.”