HURRICANE -- The Hurricane High girls track and field team is finding out what life is like as a defending state champion.

Hurricane broke through in 2008 to win the West Virginia Class AAA championship, a first for the program under coach Steve Caldwell. The Redskins totaled 69 points to 56 for runner-up Wheeling Park.

In 2009, Hurricane has been seeing the best from opponents meet after meet, but so far the Redskins have come out on top all but once. That came on April 18 in the Bulldog Invitational in Louisville when they placed third.

"They're gunning for us," said Alex Dent, a junior who won the 1600 and 3200 in the Class AAA Region IV meet at Hurricane. "They want to take us off that pedestal. That's why we've been pushing ourselves so much harder."

In the latest Power Rankings on Runwv.com, Hurricane is ranked No. 1, one half-point ahead of Jefferson. Hurricane racked up 128 points to repeat as regional champion.

Cabell Midland placed second with 106.

Now, the Redskins are gearing up for the state meet Friday and Saturday at Laidley Field in Charleston.

"They're coming for us," said junior Josie Crouch, the team's top runner in the 400 and 800 along with anchor legs on the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. "We have to keep our mind right, train the way we've been training."

Crouch, who won the 400 in the state the past two seasons along with the 800 in 2008, knows what it's like to get challenged personally. The new rivals are Spring Valley's Savannah Rutherford and Ohio University-bound Danielle Winningham from Cabell Midland.

Rutherford (57.19) won the 400 Thursday night in the regional meet, Winningham (57.59) took second and Crouch (58.13) placed third. The next matchup comes at 10 a.m. Saturday, the first race of day two.

"I've got to pick it up," Crouch said.

Dent, also a key performer on the 4x400 and 4x800 teams, said the team has building for this moment.

"It's triangle based," she said of workouts that began in the winter. "It's endurance, tempo and now the short stuff so we can peak at the right time."

Two top performers for the Redskins in field events are junior Jaclyn Schiffour in the pole vault and sophomore Megan Turley in the shot put.

"The kids have done well," Caldwell said. "They've worked hard and tried to improve. That's the whole story behind it. They're very capable. They have to put it together one more time."

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