Sherwood over Gaithersburg
Poolesville over Clarksburg
Quince Orchard over Magruder
Quince Orchard over Landon
Magruder over Landon
Einstein over Northwood
Kennedy over Seneca Valley
Damascus over Whitman
Richard Montgomery over B-CC
Wootton over Northwest
Blair over Rockville
Blake over Wheaton
Springbrook over Watkins Mill
Girls Picks
Sherwood over Gaithersburg
Poolesville over Clarksburg
Magruder over Quince Orchard
Northwood over Einstein
Kennedy over Seneca Valley
Whitman over Damascus
Richard Montgomery over B-CC
Northwest over Wootton
Blair over Rockville
Blake over Wheaton
Springbrook over Watkins Mill
Division I
The Wootton girls dominated Churchill last week, but they will face a much greater challenge in Northwest this week. The way Northwest is running, it would be an accomplishment it Wootton can get one or two runners to break up Northwest's top four.
The Wootton vs. Northwest boys matchup is very intruiging and difficult to predict. Joshua Trzeciak is emerging as a true number one runner for Wootton, but it wasn't enough to break up Churchill's top three runners last week at home. Nobody is going to touch Chris Miller right now, but Northwest's spread out varsity squad could be vulnerable to Wootton's pack attack. This will be a great one to watch for cross country fans.
Division II
Did you see the way the Quince Orchard girls nearly pulled off a 1-2-3 sweep against Sherwood? Sherwood's Gillian Tosatto saved the day by breaking into the #3 spot followed by Jade Lebrock of Quince Orchard and a flood of Sherwood blue. Magruder must be careful not to allow a 1-2-3 sweep. They need just one girl to break up QO's top three and they should get the victory after that.
As for the boys matchup, a 1-2-3 sweep by Quince Orchard's boys seems a likely possibility. Even if Magruder can break up the powerful QO trio, it will still be a difficult win to pull off as Michael Borton and James Ryan are never far behind.
I'm going to say the RM boys will continue to roll against B-CC, but the girls matchup will be something to see. The RM girls have really stepped it up this year as all of the returners have improved and the addition of Elena De La Paz gives them a big boost. Ava Farrell of B-CC will be the toughest MoCo opponent that De La Paz has faced this year so we will see just how good she is over 5k. The B-CC pack that won the Magruder Invitational appears to be very comparable to the RM pack. Tactics will play a large roll, especially on the B-CC home course which is fast and narrow.
Division III
I don't know a thing about Jewish Day School but I doubt they will get in the way of the Einstein boys as they look to improve to 3-0 against Northwood. The Northwood girls will look to win their first dual meet on Einstein's turf.
The Rockville boys scored a big upset victory over Clarksburg last week. Blair, while not the strongest team in MoCo, is a little deeper than Clarksburg and will give Rockville more of a challenge.
Clarksburg crosses I-270 into Poolesville this week and could return home with another bad loss to a 2A school as the Poolesville boys will be tough to beat. The girls matchup should be pretty close as Abbey Daley and Jacqui Young will surely grab the top two spots, but their lack of depth could kill them. They only beat Rockville last week because of a 1-2-3 sweep, but that likely will not happen against the Poolesville girls.
Division IV
The Kennedy girls sit atop Division IV with a 3-0 record, but the Seneca Valley girls will be looking to knock off the Cavs at home. Seneca Valley was not half bad at the Magruder Invitational, so this could be a good race.
The Springbrook boys and girls should stay undefeated against Watkins Mill, although I'd be willing to bet that Watkins Mill's #1 guy, Santon Shagavah, is going to catch some of the Springbrook guys that beat him at the Magruder Invitational.
