High school cross country athletes will be running for regional championship glory Saturday as Eastern and Western Maine crowns will be handed out in Belfast and Cumberland.

The Eastern Maine meet gets under way at 11 a.m. at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast with the Western Maine competition starting at 10 at Cumberland’s Twin Brook Recreation Center, site of next month’s New England Championships.

All three defending EM champs look poised to repeat on the girls’ side. Two boys teams are out to defend their crowns while a third is on a mission for its second in three years.

Let’s kick things off with the girls.

Class A: Two-time defending state champion Brunswick is the favorite to capture its third straight EM title.

The Dragons have a formidable 1-2 punch in seniors Caroline Webster and Clare Franco, and they received a sound effort from freshman Meghan McDonough at last week’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships.

Brunswick’s chief challenger will be Brewer, which finished second at the KVACs.

Coach Glendon Rand’s Witches have one of the state’s top packs and will be in a comfort zone running on a fairly fast Belfast course with which they are familiar.

Brewer’s pack was led by freshman Michelle Haluska last weekend, while juniors Katie Snow, Kaitlin Noyes, Caitlyn Wilson, Ashley Geiser and Brooke Madden, along with sophomore Bekah Clark, have all enjoyed strong seasons.

The Witches’ pack time, the difference between a team’s first and fifth runner, was 42 seconds last week.

Bangor is led by sophomores Rachel Huber and Joyce Belanger, while Hampden Academy has a top-20 threat in senior Lacey Littlefield.

Class B: Reigning regional and state champ Mount Desert Island is the favorite but is not without challengers.

Coach Kate Goupee’s Trojans of Bar Harbor finished 14 points ahead of Caribou and 15 up on John Bapst of Bangor in winning the Penobscot Valley Conference title, and all three teams are legitimate contenders.

Junior Heather Spurling has been a strong lead runner for the Trojans this fall, while freshman Kailyn Russell and sophomore Jessica Swanson have emerged in the 2-3 spots.

Bapst and Caribou both have strong top runners in Kim Spencer and Hannah Saunders, respectively. Medomak Valley of Waldoboro and Leavitt of Turner could be sleeper picks, with KVAC “B” individual champ Kasey Eaton leading the Panthers’ pack and Becca Paquette leading the way for the Hornets.

Eaton, Spencer, Saunders and Spurling will all be in contention for individual honors along with PVC winner Hilary Maxim of Old Town.

Class C: Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln is the clear favorite here. Coach Bernice Stockley’s Lynx have a potent 1-2-3 punch of Renee LaFlamme, Hannah Ruhl and Janna Larlee.

Freshmen Abby Paul and Katelyn Deraps have settled into the 4-5 spots nicely and they ran well at PVCs.

Lee Academy and Orono will battle for state-meet spots.

There is a new wrinkle in Class C this fall as the top 30 individual finishers will qualify for the state meet compared to 20 in Classes A and B.

Now for the boys.

Class A: Lewiston has been head and shoulders above its competition this fall, and the Blue Devils appear to be hitting their postseason stride.

The Blue Devils have perhaps the state’s top schoolboy runner in Mohamed Noor, along with a tough 2-3-4 punch behind him in Sadam Abdi, Robbie Leeman and Matt Driscoll.

The individual race here should be one of the highlights of the day with Noor, Bangor’s Riley Masters, Mt. Blue of Farmington’s Eric Marceau and Cony of Augusta’s Luke Fontaine in the mix.

Noor bested the Rams senior by six seconds at KVACs, but Masters, along with Marceau, will give the Devils’ senior a competitive run on a course well suited for setting personal records.

Brewer finished fourth in the conference championships and has Travis Blackmer, a senior, and sophomore Evan Taylor leading the way. Bangor will compete for a state-meet berth, and Hampden Academy freshman Evan Piccirillo is a top-20 threat.

Class B: The team competition here is always fun to watch, and this year should be no different with three teams in contention.

Ellsworth is the defending champ, but the Eagles will have to battle rival Caribou and Medomak Valley to retain their championship perch.

Coach Andy Beardsley’s Eagles are led by junior frontrunner Logan Will and senior No. 2 Askihisa Ishida while freshman Ben Chapman has flourished in the No. 3 slot.

Caribou has a top-five threat in senior Spencer McElwain with juniors Jesse Stephens and Stephen Melbourne taking up the Vikings’ 2-3 spots.

KVAC champ Medomak’s top two runners are junior Alex Goldrup and senior Matt Poulin.

Presque Isle’s Corey Park and Leavitt’s Justin Fereshetian should have a good duel along with Will for the individual crown while Old Town’s David Falls and Alec Phippen of Ellsworth are also top-10 contenders.

Class C: Defending champ Foxcroft Academy won PVC honors last week and will be in the mix along with Orono and Mattanawcook.

Sophomore Graham Pearsall is FA coach George Rolleston’s top gun, while the Red Riots boast another of Class C’s top individuals in PVC champ Matthieu Nadeau.

Mattanawcook has a good 1-2 punch in senior Eric Lichtenberg and junior Jacob Rhodes.

Stearns of Millinocket’s Michael Rioux will be looking to crack the top 10.