116 valid submissions were collected from mocorunning fans between August 10 and August 29, 2017. Repeat IP addresses were counted only once. Below are the composite results of that poll.

Fan Favorite Preseason Top Ten Boys:

1. Ryan Lockett, Poolesville 2018	820 Poll Points
2. Adam Nakasaka, B-CC 2018	774 Poll Points
3. Garrett Suhr, Richard Montgomery 2020	474 Poll Points
4. Chris Thoms, Quince Orchard 2018	360 Poll Points
5. John Riker, Wootton 2019	331 Poll Points
6. Simeon Mussie, Einstein 2018	325 Poll Points
7. Obsaa Feda, Northwood 2019	323 Poll Points
8. Aaron Bratt, Whitman 2019	318 Poll Points
9. Mark Unger, Richard Montgomery 2019	292 Poll Points
10. Chase Osborne, Northwest 2018	276 Poll Points

The defending 3A cross country state champ, Ryan Lockett, is heavily favored by Mocorunning fans to pick up his first Montgomery County XC title in 2017. The 4-time track state champ and NBON 3200m All-American from Poolesville High School has proven that he can win a race in any kind of way. B-CC's Adam Nakasaka was the overwhelming fan favorite pick for this year's county runner-up. RM's rising sophomore Garrett Suhr is expected to be the next big thing in an otherwise crowded field that features 9 out of the top 12 boys returning from last year's county championship meet.

Fan Favorite Preseason Top Ten Boys Teams:

1. Bethesda Chevy Chase - 515 Poll Points The Barons have finished in the top five in Montgomery County for the past six years and have been runners-up for the past two years. The defending 4A West Regional champs graduated a few key seniors, but B-CC may have the depth to top all rankings in 2017.

2. Richard Montgomery - 385 Poll Points Richard Montgomery replaces the loss of two-time county champion Rohann Asfaw with 4:20 miler Mark Unger who intends to run cross country for the first time. Health will determine the upper limits of RM's big three (Suhr, Unger, El-Masry) who have all dealt with injuries in the past year. Depth will determine if the Rockets can match or surpass the school's highest finish in county meet history (2nd in 1990).

3. Thomas S. Wootton High School - 366 Poll Points Wootton will aim to bounce back from last year's fifth place county finish to regain its championship form of 2015. Wootton has the fastest returning #5 man from the 2016 county championship meet.

4. Northwest High School - 315 Poll Points The defending county champs graduated four of seven runners from last year's varsity squad, but the Jags are not starting over. Northwest returns five seniors and a rising sophomore who have run under 18:00.

5. Walt Whitman High School - 269 Poll Poionts Whitman fielded six sophomores and a junior through last year's championship season which saw the Vikings finish 9th in the county, 6th in the 4A West Region, and 12th at the 4A state championship.

6. Poolesville High School - 220 Poll Points In addition to the anticipated low score of All-American Ryan Lockett, eight non-seniors from Poolesville gained varsity experience at the 2016 county championship meet. Poolesville's highest all-time finish at the county championship meet was last year's 8th place finish.

7. Winston Churchill High School - 207 Poll Points Churchill strung together three consecutive top-3 finishes at the Montgomery County Championship Meet from 2014 to 2016. Five graduated seniors leave behind talented sophomores and juniors to lead this year's team.

8. Northwood High School - 196 Poll Points Northwood's average finish at the county championship in the last ten years is 17th, but look to the track. Something new was brewing this spring with five non-seniors under 4:50 in the 1600m, something only Wootton and Northwood can boast. 2017 will demonstrate how that translates to 3.1 miles.

9. Albert Einstein High School - 193 Poll Points Einstein returns nine out of ten runners who raced in the varsity race at last year's county championship meet. Yet, Mocorunning's fans have predicted a mighty tumble from last year's 4th place county finish to 9th place in this poll.

10. Quince Orchard High School - 179 Poll Points Quince Orchard returns its top three from last year's team which finished tenth at the county championship meet. Non-seniors from QO showed impressive improvement in the 3200m this spring.

Editor's Boost: Paint Branch High School Mocorunning's voters caught on to Northwood's rapid improvement this spring, but fans are missing the memo on Paint Branch's potential as a cross-country unit. Paint Branch returns six of seven from a team that finished seventh at last year's county championship meet. Paint Branch was one of just two teams (Wootton and Paint Branch) to put five non-senior boys under 17:50 at last year's county championship meet.

Just For Fun:
Winning Time: 15:37.08 Avg Response
Winning Score: 75.3 Avg Response