Freshman of the Year: Collin Crilly - Good Counsel Collin Crilly made his season debut at Mount St. Mary's where he finished 19th in 17:00.98. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot and cross trained on the bike and in the pool for nearly a month. When he returned to running in October, he developed epiphysitis in his heel and ran in great discomfort at the WCAC Championship. He only managed 19:30 in the JV race. He ran pain-free at the DC-MD Private Schools Championship and won the junior varsity race by 18 seconds in 17:06. He will run with the varsity team at the NXN Southeast Regional Meet in a week.

2. Alex Hadley - The Heights Alex Hadley is the youngest of four Hadley brother to come through Moco and he may be the best yet. A big personal best time of 17:11 at the DC-MD Private Schools Championship was key to helping The Heights win the small schools title. Hadley had the fastest time among Montgomery County freshman at the Magruder Invitational (17:57.2) and the Georgetown Prep Classic (18:24).

3. Chase Weaverling - Poolesville Chase Weaverling led all freshman at the Montgomery County Championship with a season-best 5k time of 17:22.02. He placed 48th in the varsity race. After running 16:33.72 on a 3 mile course at the 2A West Region Meet, he ran the second fastest freshman time of the state championship, 18:01. Only a Catoctin freshman was faster in the 1A classification.

4. Jonaton Baginski - Rockville Jonaton Baginski won the Magruder Invitational freshman race in 18:29.9 and later placed 70th at the county championship in a season best time of 17:39.86. He beat out Poolessville's Chase Weaverling at the 2A West Region Meet with a 3 mile time of 16:26.93. He then placed 27th at the 2A state championship in 18:12. He also placed second in both the AAU and USATF Regional Championships. He will compete in the USATF National Junior Olympics in Hoover, Alabama and the AAU National Junior Olympics in Disney World.

5. Bradley Shawen - Quince Orchard Bradley Shawen missed nearly the entire month of September with a stress fracture. He dropped a time of 17:50 at a Gaithersburg dual meet and then edged out Alex Hadley of The Heights by one second to take second place in the freshman race at Glory Days. He placed second in the freshman-sophomore race at the Montgomery County Championship in a season best time of 17:28.84. When he finally got a crack at varsity action, he placed 19th in the 3A west region and 56th at the 3A state championship (18:29).

6. Danniel Belay - Gaithersburg Danniel Belay placed second in the freshman race at the Magruder Invitational and eighth in the freshman race at Glory Days. He placed 67th at the county championship meet with a season-best time of 17:36.83. Coach Herb Tolbert explains that he beat out the freshman-best time of eventual county champ Eric Pauley.

7. Stephen Alexander - Richard Montgomery Stephen Alexander ran under 19 minutes in most of his races this season including his first two races at Clear Spring (18:29) and Gettysburg (18:56). He dropped a time of 17:23 on a three mile course at Boonsboro. He placed 9th in the freshman race at the Georgetown Prep Classic in 18:58 and 6th in the freshman-sophomore race at the Montgomery County Championship with a season-best 5k time of 17:45.73.

8. Adam Jung - Richard Montgomery Adam Jung ran 17:27 on a 3 mile course at Boonsboro before placing 5th in the freshman race at Georgetown Prep in 18:51. He broke 18:00 in the 5k when he placed 7th in the county championship freshman-sophomore race in 17:50.35.

9. Kyle Melnick - Rockville Kyle Melnick was in third place during the first mile of the Magruder Invitational freshman race but did not finish due to the flu. He broke out at the county championship meet where he placed 79th with a huge personal best time of 17:51.48. He underperformed at the 2A west region meet due to a nagging leg injury (19:03.50).

10. Trevor Stepek - Gaithersburg In "the most technologically advanced cross country race ever," Trevor Stepek's time showed up in the results four minutes slower than he actually ran. He placed 8th in the freshman race at the Magruder Invitational and ran 18:44 in a home dual meet. At the county championship, he placed 12th in the freshman-sophomore race with a season-best time of 18:15, but his result showed up at 22:19. That's technology. He is the fourth of four Stepek brother to come through Gaithersburg. Next will come the Stepek sisters.

Honorable Mention