Richard Montgomery's Garrett Suhr wanted to run his final Montgomery County Cross Country Championship in the pack and win it with a kick. He also wanted the course record. It turned out that he couldn't have it both ways. He separated from the field early with a 4:40 first mile. 4:40 wouldn't be a big deal for the 4:13 miler if he did not have 2.1 more miles to run.

"I hate 5k's more and more every time I do one," said Suhr following the race, clearly yearning for track season.

"My original plan was just to stick with all the other guys until like a mile to go and make a move for it, but I got out, I was in first, didn't really want to slow down and I just went for it."

He was on an island, running all alone for the first two miles without much opportunity to check behind him. When he did turn around with about a half mile remaining, it was an "Oh, expletive," moment.

"I was like, 'Ohhhhhhhh, man. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.'"

That's because Springbrook's Surafel Mengist was right there. An accomplished track athlete in his own right, Mengist didn't give Suhr any time to think about it. He did the only thing that he could do to win the race: run the kick out of the middle distance specialist, Suhr.

Said Mengist, "I started pushing it because obviously Garrett is a 1:54 800 runner so I was like, 'I gotta push early. Just make him earn it, not just sit on us and kick.' So that's why I started pushing the pace early, and then the last straightaway he had more."

With a perfect view of it all, Northwood's Ayalew Fantaw started dreaming of a victory of his own. Fantaw closed the gap along with Mengist, but he never was so bold as to pass Suhr himself.

"I was like, 'I could actually win this,'" said Fantaw. "I was scared because I know Garrett is a fast miler so I thought he had an amazing kick. I was starting to close it, and I was like, 'well, maybe I can win,' but I should have kicked a little earlier."

Suhr said that he was happy to get passed in the last half mile.

Said Suhr, "I was kind of hoping [Mengist] was going to do that. I like sitting and kicking. That's my thing. And it just gave me more motivation to run fast. I was kind of dying out a little bit but he gave me extra motivation to run fast."

Suhr outkicked Fantaw and Mengist, but not by much. Suhr won in 15:35, Fantaw was second in 15:36, and Mengist was third in 15:37. Suhr will not see Northwood or Springbrook at the 4A West Regional Meet, but he promises that at the state championship meet, he will not lead until (ideally) the final quarter mile. He will then race for time and a national championship qualification at the Nike Cross Regional in late November.