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Early season showdowns will be plentiful in the opening weekend of the 2008 cross country season. Arguably the top two boys in Maryland will meet the top two boys in Virginia at the Great Meadow Invitational in The Plains, Virginia while two returning All-Met girls and eight of twelve WCAC schools collide at the Peter Geraghty Invitational in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Footlocker finalist and returning Washington Post All-Met Runner of the Year Thomas Porter of Mountain View High School will not be the favorite at the Great Meadow Invitational. Solomon Haile of Sherwood will make his cross country debut in the Virginia opening weekend mega-meet which will include five of Virginia's top seven teams and five of their top eight male runners. Porter and Andrew Colley of Jamestown High School have both run under 15:20 for 5000 meters, but Haile's PR on the track of 14:38 could leave the top two ranked VA runners in the dust. The possibility of treacherous course conditions due to predicted bad weather opens the door for anything to happen. Defending Maryland 4A State Champion Andrew Palmer will look to stay with the front pack after a summer of hard work.
Frances Dowd of Fairfax High School placed second at the Peter Geraghty Invitational last year, beating every runner from a loaded Northwest team that placed five in the top ten. This year, another team from Virginia will try to pack their team into the top ten while spoiling Dowd's hopes of winning the race.
Bishop O'Connell from Arlington, VA will arrive with their loaded girls' team that features returning All-Met runner Megan Fitzpatrick. Returning four of their top five from their multi-championship winning 2007 squad, O'Connell could dominate this meet the way that Northwest did a year ago. After graduating their "big three," Northwest does not look as strong this year and only look like second or third best heading into this meet. South River also has a strong girls team once again.
A novice Britt Eckerstrom lost early season matchups to both Dowd and Fitzpatrick last year before beating them both at the Glory Days Invitational. Now a returning All-Met, Eckerstrom has a target on her back and will be tested from the very first race. Also running with the front pack will be Holy Cross's Chinyelu Asher, Gaithersburg's Abby Spitler, and South River's trio of Hillary Lee, Miranda Heater, and Mary Fromme.
The Northwest boys' team is largely considered the favorite to win the Montgomery County title and the Maryland 4A State title this year, but they may find their match in the top schools from the WCAC. Gonzaga and Good Counsel are projected to have successful seasons and could surprise the public school favorites in this opening weekend.
Individually, the big four from the WCAC of Bill Ledder, Robert Patterson, Cory Puffett, and Sam Rainard can all be expected to finish in the top 10. Vikas Bhatia, Antonio Palmer, Wayne Bartholomew, and a pack from Northwest should be joined by Kevin Dowd of Fairfax and Matt Jablonski of Loyola in the top pack.
Other teams from Montgomery County will attend the Clear Spring Interstate Classic and the Gettysburg Invitational.
Peter Geraghty Invitational:
Academy of the Holy Cross
Fairfax High School
Loyola Blakefield
Red Lion Area High School
Gonzaga High School
Mount St. Joseph
Notre Dame Prep
Catoctin High School
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Wheaton High School
Middletown High School
John Carroll School
Greencastle-Antrim High School
Arch-Bishop Curley High School
Seneca Valley High School
Northern High School
DeMatha High School
Bishop McNamera
St. John's College H.S.
South River High School
Fallston High School
Clarksburg High School
Northwest High School
Bishops O'Connell
Quince Orchard High School
Elizabeth Seton
Gaithersburg High School
Gettysburg Invitational
Altoona
Battlefield HS, VA
Bel Air, MD
Bermudian Springs
Biglerville
Bishop McDevitt
Blue Ridge
Boiling Spring
Bryn Mawr School for Girls, MD
Camp Hill
Carlisle
Central Bucks West
Central Dauphin
Central Dauphin East
Chambersburg
Chancellor HS, VA
Coatesville
Conestoga Valley
Conrad Weiser
Cumberland Valley
Dallastown Area
Delone Catholic
Devon Prep
Dover
Eastern York
Easton
Elk Lake
Ephrata
Francis Scott Key
Frederick, MD
Garden Spot, ELCO SD
George Mason, VA
Gettysburg
Greater Latrobe - #2 Girls team in PA
Greenwood
Hempfield
Heritage HS, VA
Hershey
Holy Ghost Prep
James Buchaan
Kennard-Dale
Kutztown
Lampeter-Strasburg
Lewistown
Littlestown
Lower Dauphin
Manheim Township
Mechanicsburg
Montgomery Blair, MD
Muhlenberg
New Oxford
North Carroll, MD
Northeastern
Northern York
Octorara
Palmyra
Red Land
South Western
Spring Grove
Trinity
Tuscarora
Tulpehocken
Waynesboro
West York
Williamsport, MD
Winston Churchill, MD
Winters Mill, MD
York County
Vo-Tech
Great Meadow Invitational:
Briar Woods XC
Broad Run High School
Brooke Point Cross-Country
Colonial Forge High School
Dominion Titans
Douglas Freeman High School
Edmund Burke School
Fauquier High School
Forest Park
Freedom High School
Greenbrier Christian Academy
Hampton High School
Hanover High School
Harrisonburg
Hortonsville High School
James River High School
John Handley High School
Kettle Run High School
Lee-Davis High School
Loudoun County High School
Louduon Valley High School
Magruder Colonels
Manassas Park High School
Midlothian - #1 Girls Team in VA
Millbrook
Mills Godwin High School
Mountain View High School
North Stafford HS
Oakton - #1 Boys Team in VA
Osbourn High School
Potomac Falls High School
Robert E. Lee (Staunton)
Severna Park High School
Sherando High School
Sherwood High School
St. Anselm's Abbey
Stafford High School
Trinity School @ Meadow View
Walt Whitman High School
West Springfield High School
Western Branch High School
Woodbridge Senior High School
Brentsville
Bullis
Jamestown - #2 Boys Team in VA
WT Woodson
Osbourn Park
Park View - Sterling
Potomac
Turner Ashby
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