You didn't have to look far last year to find cross country runners from the southwestern Wake area.

They were typically some of the first across the finish line.

This year figures to be no different, with one defending state champion runner and three defending state champion teams among those looking strong again.

Thomas Graham is going for his fourth straight N.C. Independent Schools Association individual championship. The Cary Academy senior is the top returning boys cross country runner in the state, with last year's best time at 15:06.

Green Hope won both the boys and girls 4-A N.C. High School Athletic Association state championships last season. The girls team returns 15 of its top 16 runners and is ranked No. 5 in the nation.

Cary Christian's girls are also defending state champions, having won back-to-back NCISAA titles.

Girls cross country: With four of the top eight returning runners in 4-A ranks returning for the Falcons, Green Hope is the odds-on favorite to win a third straight state title this year.

Lauren Colberg, Erica Amatori, Maura McDonnell, Jessica Rossabi and Sarah Alexander are each capable of running under 19 minutes.

Along with now-graduated Olivia Enright, they took the first six spots in last year's Tri-Nine Conference championship.

Enright now runs for N.C. State, but there is plenty of talent left for Green Hope, which finished last season ranked 10th in the country.

Alexander's top time from last year was 18:41. That would be the third-best returning time on the preseason No. 2 team in the state, Charlotte Ardrey Kell. But Alexander's time is fifth on the Falcons.

The only other local team ranked in the preseason by NCRunners.com is Apex at No. 17. The Cougars are led by Vishal Iyer, who was 16th in last year's Tri-Nine championship.

Cary finished second to Green Hope in last year's Tri-Nine meet, but the Imps lost their top four runners to graduation.

On the NCISAA scene, Cary Christian's girls have also won back-to-back titles. The Lady Knights compete in the 1-A/2-A championships.

Aundrea Holmes finished second at last year's state meet and is ranked as the second-best returning NCISAA runner.

Caroline Stoger is one of the best on the 2-A NCISAA level.

Boys cross country: You'd have to go back to 2001 to find the last time Green Hope's boys didn't win the conference championship. But if there was a year where the Falcons could take a back seat to someone else, this appears to be it.

Green Hope returns just two runners who were in the top 20 of last year's Tri-Nine championships in Daniel Glover and Tom Nobles.

Panther Creek could contend, as the Catamounts return three runners - Jacob Sears, Brendan Derr and Josh Vermette - who were top 20 finishers in the Tri-Nine. The leader is Sears, ranked 14th in the state and the second-fastest returning Tri-Nine runner.

The same could be said of Cary, who has the top 4-A runner in the state in junior Bakri Abushouk. Abushouk's best time last year was 15:36. However, the Imps will need other runners to step up to win the Tri-Nine - the next-best Imps runner is more than a minute slower than Abushouk.

Athens Drive, led by Paul Tanner, returns most of its team and could be a threat for the Tri-Nine or a spot in the Mideast Regional. Fuquay-Varina returns its top two runners in Ryan Catrine and Clay Jones.

Apex was second in the Tri-Nine last year but lost most of its leading runners.

The only boys runner in the state ranked ahead of Abushouk is Graham, who is on the quest to be possibly the first-ever four-time NCISAA champ.

Graham will be the first part of a tough one-two punch for the Chargers, who finished second in last year's NCISAA 3-A championships. Junior Colin Goodwin, who has the fourth-best returning time in all NCISAA classifications, also returns for Cary Academy.

Cary Christian's Daniel Jezioranski is ranked as one of the top 10 returning NCISAA runners regardless of classification. He finished fourth in last year's 1-A/2-A state meet.

Jacob O'Connor and Ian MacPherson of Grace Christian are among the top 10 returning NCISAA runners on the 2-A level.