It is anyone's race.

But if you ask any of the coaches, it is between one of four runners at the state Class A boys cross country race at Huron's Broadlands Golf Course on Saturday.

Hill City's Andy Coy, Todd County's Marc Whirlwind Horse, Parkston's Alex Munterfering and Cheyenne-Eagle Butte's Kiko Mendoza a three-time Class B champion will be the top contenders.

"It's so good up front with those four guys," said Hill City coach Jesse Coy. "Really, any one of those four guys could have their best race and still get fourth place."

Hill City will not have a boys team at the event this year, but it will have a determined runner in Andy Coy. He is the Black Hills Conference and Region 5A champion who has won six of his nine races this year. Right on his tail will be Whirlwind Horse, who only trailed Coy by six seconds at the Oct. 10 region race.

"He's excited," Jesse Coy said about his brother. "It's not one of those years where one guy is the clear favorite. You can run the race 10 times and get a different winner each time."

The favorite in the boys team race is Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, said Jesse Coy.

"They have some young kids that did well at region," he said, adding that Todd County also mounts a serious challenge.

The picture is not as clear for the girls race.

Area cross country coaches cite St. Thomas More's Alayna Ackerman, Custer's Karley Konkol and Todd County's Lottie Grimshaw as favorites in the individual ranks. In the team race, St. Thomas More - the Region 5A champion - is one of several favorites from western South Dakota. However, defending state champion Custer is right on More's heels.

"St. Thomas More looks tough. It will be a challenge for us. I still point to St. Thomas More as the favorite. I don't know a team that could beat them," said Karen Karim, Custer's cross country coach, who added that Madison and Lennox could also have good teams.

Going in Custer's direction is experience. Karim said her runners have seen the course at Huron twice this year, including the Huron Invitational. The course is generally flat and is comparable to the Elks Country Club course in Rapid City.

"My kids are looking forward to getting off the hills," Karim said.

St. Thomas More coach Kim Richardson shrugs all notion of being the favorite, citing that many other teams - Todd County, Custer and Chamberlain among others could do better Saturday. Of the good teams, he said Grimshaw and Todd County are tough, from what he has seen.

He does cite one determining factor: depth.

"It looks like when you are scoring four (runners), it will come down to the third, fourth runner," he said.

Richardson and his team have not been to the Huron course this year, but three of his four starting runners were at the course last year.

"We've got a real young team and I think it will be a real fun day," he said.

The Class A girls race will feature 138 athletes from 47 schools, with 15 of the schools fielding at least four runners. The race will begin at 12:30 p.m. MDT.

The boys race will have 135 runners from 45 schools, with 15 of the schools fielding at least four runners. It will begin at 1:30 p.m. MDT.