MoCoRunning.com conducted an open online poll between August 18 and August 30 for anyone to rank their top teams in the county. 88 valid boys individual votes were collected and tabulated to form the ranking you see below.

10. Zachary Weinstein - Churchill 2012 Poll Points: 107 2008 County Finish: DNR 2008 4A West Region Finish: DNR 2008 4A State Finish: DNR Zach Weinstein may be young, but last spring he hammered 3200 races on the track like a high school veteran. After running 4:45 and 10:09 as a freshman, fans have high expectations for his first season of high school cross country.

9. Sam Martin - Richard Montgomery 2011 Poll Points: 139 2008 County Finish: 23 2008 4A West Region Finish: 28 2008 4A State Finish: DNR Sam Martin captured the attention of fans when he placed second in the 1600 at the Montgomery County T&F Championship. He lowered his best time to 4:28, becoming only the third county sophomore to break 4:30 in four years of coverage by mocorunning. Fans are expecting similar progression on the XC course.

8. Thomas Arias - Damascus 2010 Poll Points: 290 2008 County Finish: 21 2008 3A West Region Finish: 2 2008 3A State Finish: 7 Thomas Arias ran a personal best 3200 in 9:50.96 just a few hours after helping his team win the 4x800 state title. He will be looking to pull that Damascus pack closer to the front of XC races this season.

7. Brandt Silver-Korn - Whitman 2010 Poll Points: 293 2008 County Finish: 10 2008 4A West Region Finish: 11 2008 4A State Finish: 10 Brandt Silver-Korn missed a significant amount of time during his entire junior year due to an injury, but is finally looking healthy for the start of the 2009 XC season. Despite injuries, he still managed tenth place at counties and states last year.

6. Chris Miller - Northwest 2011 Poll Points: 309 2008 County Finish: 11 2008 4A West Region Finish: 4 2008 4A State Finish: 6 Chris Miller got his 3200 time down to 9:58.16 during indoor track before returning to the lacrosse field in the spring. Not running outdoor track has not slowed him down in the past and its fair to expect another great season out of him.

5. Ishan Dey - Walter Johnson 2010 Poll Points: 357 2008 County Finish: 12 2008 4A West Region Finish: 12 2008 4A State Finish: 14 Ishan Dey was an unsung hero of last year's state champion team, but fans now expect him to prominently be one of the best runners in the county, especially after his 9:45.31 3200 race last spring.

4. Alex Willett - Walter Johnson 2011 Poll Points: 371 2008 County Finish: 7 2008 4A West Region Finish: 5 2008 4A State Finish: 7 It was not that surprising to see Alex Willett crack the top ten in the county last year, but to run 16:04 for seventh place was just crazy. He shied away from the 3200 during track, but there's no question he will return to the front of the XC pack this fall.

3. Nicolas Escobar - Magruder 2010 Poll Points: 614 2008 County Finish: 4 2008 4A West Region Finish: 3 2008 4A State Finish: 13 Fans are looking for a big senior year out of Nicolas Escobar who has been running with the leaders for a long time. He was fourth at last year's county XC meet, but the competition has not gotten any softer. His 9:44 on the track is the second fastest returning time.

2. Sean O'Leary - Walter Johnson 2010 Poll Points: 718 2008 County Finish: 6 2008 4A West Region Finish: 6 2008 4A State Finish: 5 Sean O'Leary's rapid improvement since his sophomore year has been impressive. His 4:24 on the track this spring is the second fastest returning time. He is the consensus #2 pick by mocorunning fans with 48 out of 88 second place votes.

1. Andrew Palmer - Whitman 2010 Poll Points: 875 2008 County Finish: 2 2008 4A West Region Finish: 2 2008 4A State Finish: 2 Andrew Palmer received first place votes from 85 out of 88 voters in this mocorunning poll. THAT'S RESPECT. Then again, how could anyone in good conscience vote for anyone else? He won the cross country state title as a sophomore before the would-be national champion Solomon Haile enrolled at Sherwood. After a full year of finishing in second place behind Haile, nothing will get in his way of sweeping county, region, and state titles. We will have to wait until the end of September to see him race because he is planning to extend his season right through the state meet to nationals. He is undecided at this point whether he will try to return to Nike Cross Nationals or try for Footlocker Nationals. On the track last year, he ran 4:19 for 1600 meters and 9:22.14 for two miles, a time that converts to the third fastest 3200 time of the decade by a county athlete.

Tie Breaker: The tie breaker question asked the voters to predict the winning boys time at the county championship meet regardless of who they thought would win. The average answer for the boys was 15:36.