Boys Predictions Magruder over Blair Whitman over RM Whitman over Sherwood Whitman over Northwest Northwest over RM Northwest over Sherwood Sherwood over RM Paint Branch over Seneca Valley Kennedy over Rockville Einstein over Springbrook Northwood over Wheaton Watkins Mill over Northwood Watkins Mill over Wheaton Quince Orchard over WJ Quince Orchard over Churchill WJ over Churchill B-CC over Damascus B-CC over Wootton Damascus over Wootton

Girls Predictions Magruder over Blair Whitman over RM Whitman over Sherwood Whitman over Northwest Northwest over RM Northwest over Sherwood RM over Sherwood Paint Branch over Seneca Valley Rockville over Kennedy Einstien over Springbrook No Score No Score No Score Quince Orchard over WJ Churchill over Quince Orchard Churchill over WJ Damascus over B-CC Wootton over B-CC Wootton over Damascus

This week, Divisions I, II, and IV will all host a meet that determines divisional champions. However, with the Paul Short and Maymount Invitationals beginning on Friday, and the always brutal Bull Run course on Saturday, it will be interesting to see which teams set their focus on the weekend and which teams go all out for the divisional crowns.

Division I

The undefeated Walter Johnson boys will take a crack at Quince Orchard for the first time. Although Quince Orchard is largely considered the cream of the crop in Maryland, Walter Johnson will be the biggest test for them this season. Led by Chris Moen coming off a decisive victory at the Whitman Quad Meet, WJ would love to steal the divisional title just three days before QO is tested against elite competition at the Paul Short Invitational. QO coach Seann Pelkey says his team will be running for the win, but undefeated #1 runner Neal Darmody cannot be contained when the air gets competitive. This should be a very telling race between two of the very best runners in the state, but unless WJ's 4th and 5th runners have phenomenal races, QO should have this one in the bag.

The Quince Orchard and Walter Johnson girls will both get a rematch against Churchill. This time it's for keeps. I wouldn't expect any upsets out of this one. Churchill will use this meet to continue to build confidence and momentum heading into the much-anticipated Maymount Cross Country Festival. Best of luck to Churchill in gaining regional attention after this weekend. Visit www.milestat.com for extensive previews and coverage of this meet.

The Northwest girls have a chance to redeem themselves after a loss to Whitman last week, but with the divisional title all but lost and the Paul Short Run on Friday, Northwest does not have much motivation to hammer this race. I expect Whitman to once again come out on top.

The Northwest and Whitman boys' matchup was very close last week and could be even closer this week on Northwest's home course, but with both having lost to WJ and QO, it will be a fight for 3rd place.

Division II

It doesn't get any better than this. The only meet on Wednesday features 3 undefeated girls' teams. This is like Monday Night Football except it's a Wednesday afternoon. B-CC and Wootton have stuck to divisional meets this season while Damascus has gone out and won two small invitationals in addition to their divisional wins. Damascus is deep, Wootton is strong up front, and B-CC is just completely spread out by comparison. The outlook is gloomy for B-CC, whose lack of depth allowed for them to just barely get by Gaithersburg and Magruder. Wootton, on the other hand, should be able to take the top two spots against both team and hope to get their next two in before the stampede of Damascus girls. If they do that, they will be home free.

On the boys side of Wednesday Afternoon Footba...I mean cross country...the battle for second place in the division will commence. After lying dormant for the first half month of the season, B-CC finally showcased its talent in an extremely fast race against Gaithersburg and Magruder. The result was a close loss to Gaithersburg and 5 guys between 16:40 and 17:21. Even if the times from that course are...what's the word...inflated?....that kind of depth won't even give Damascus a chance to win this one. Dylan Straughan and Alex Prevost will be the best in-county competition that Wil Zahorodny has seen.

Blair and Magruder will be an interesting meet. The Magruder girls should be a few steps ahead of Blair, while the boys' match up is a toss up. Both boys' teams barely got by Wootton and seem to have pretty evenly matched runners 1 through 5.

Division III

Like B-CC, Einstein finally reappeared last week and showed that they can run a little bit by smashing Blake and Seneca Valley on the boys' and girls' side. Einstein at Springbrook will definitely be a meet that undefeated Clarksburg will be watching closely in their bye week (bye week...I think I've been watching too much NFL). A tri meet next week between Clarksburg, Einstein, and Paint Branch should determine the division unless Springbrook can pull off something big here.

Division IV

I'm not sure how Watkins Mill fared against Poolesville last week, but this could be the final division IV showdown on the boys' side between 3-0 Northwood and Watkins Mill. Northwood has looked OK so far this year in their first year with seniors attending their school, but Watkins Mill seems to be the stronger team all around.

The Rockville girls, who have already won 3 meets by default, will no doubt keep it going against Kennedy this week. They will finally face a full team against Poolesville next week.