MoCoRunning.com conducted an open online poll in mid-August for fans to rank their top ten teams and athletes in the county. Below you will find the result of 51 boys team rankings combined into one ranking.

10. Magruder - 4A West
Poll Points: 140
2007 County Finish: 9th
2007 State Finish: 9th
Magruder returns five of their top six from 2007 including #1 runner Nicolas Escobar and #2 Chris Gregorski. Look for junior Mark Mechak to fill in the void left by the departure of Emilio Galis. Magruder should return to states and improve upon last year's 9th place finish.

9. Quince Orchard - 4A West
Poll Points: 178
2007 County Finish: 1st
2007 State Finish: 1st
Quince Orchard graduates all seven of their varsity runners that went undefeated against Maryland teams in 2007. Last year's best "8th man," Wayne Bartholomew, will take the lead in this rebuilding year for Quince Orchard.

8. B-CC - 3A West
Poll Points: 192
2007 County Finish: 2nd
2007 State Finish: 1st
B-CC graduates five of their top seven after their 2007 run to the 3A state title. Matt Davey-Karlson and company are set on rebuilding and having another successful year regardless of expectations. Sophomore Eliot Gerson is expected to move up to be a varsity contributor in 2008.

7. Damascus - 3A West
Poll Points: 201
2007 County Finish: 8th
2007 State Finish: 5th
Wil Zahorodny leaves behind a deep pack of juniors that are expected to be very competitive as a team. Watch for them to contend for the 3A West Region title and improve on their 5th place finish at the 3A state championship.

6. Gaithersburg - 4A West
Poll Points: 248
2007 County Finish: 5th
2007 State Finish: 6th
Gaithersburg's top two of Vikas Bhatia and Antonio Palmer is a good start, but they will have more depth issues to address in 2008. Sophomores Shane Stepek and Matt Trumble are next on the depth chart with Brendan Stepek out with injury.

5. Whitman - 4A West
Poll Points: 251
2007 County Finish: 3rd
2007 State Finish: 5th
Whitman has one of the best duos in the state with Andrew Palmer and Brandt Silver-Korn, but like Gaithersburg will have depth issues to address in order to hang with the best in the county and state. Seniors need to step up.

4. Churchill - 4A West
Poll Points: 284
2007 County Finish: 10th
2007 State Finish: 8th
Churchill should be one of the most improved teams in the county. They return all of last year's contributing members including a few more who will be vying for the top seven. The intrasquad competition will do them well, but their depth must be complimented by one or two low finishers to compete with the best.

3. Walter Johnson - 4A West
Poll Points: 296
2007 County Finish: 6th
2007 State Finish: 7th
Walter Johnson is nearly always led by someone pushing for the individual county title. They are hoping Sean O'Leary and Roni Teich plus a slew of talented young runners will fill the void of a Chris Moen / Andrew Jesien type.

2. Sherwood - 4A West
Poll Points: 317
2007 County Finish: 7th
2007 State Finish: DNR
Solomon Haile's ability to score one point in every meet will make Sherwood more like a four person scoring team. Sherwood's success will rely on bringing the 2-5 runners along at the right time, as they've been known to do many times in the past. The Balderson brothers should fill out a dangerous top three along with Haile.

Nick Gummo and John DiNardo

1. Northwest - 4A West Poll Points: 379 2007 County Finish: 4th 2007 State Finish: 2nd Northwest returns their entire top five from the team that placed second at the 4A state championship in 2007. The squad which featured two freshmen and three juniors was able to fit five in the top thirty-four at the state meet, but only Bobby Sonken and Nick Gummo went on to run indoor and outdoor track. Regardless, everyone is back including #1 runner Chris Miller who placed eleventh in the state as a freshman last year.