MoCoRunning






Boys County Meet Poll Results
By: Kevin Milsted
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
webmaster@mocorunning.com

61 fans voted for male individuals in Mocorunning's County Championship Cross Country Poll. Below are the composite results of that poll.

1. Will Bertrand, Clarksburg 2013
578 Poll Points

Bertrand won nine consecutive races to begin his cross country career. His tenth race at Glory Days was the toughest test of the season and he came away with a fourth place finish in a personal best 5k time of 15:27. In the six invitational meets that he ran in the state of Maryland, his average margin of victory was 31 seconds.

2. Chase Weaverling, Poolesville 2014
500 Poll Points

With a season equally as flashy as Bertrand's, Weaverling is in fact undefeated through eight races. He has five invitational victories in the state of Maryland and twice competed in the same meet as Bertrand in separate races. At Bull Run, Weaverling ran 16:34 when Bertrand ran 16:29. At Frank Keyser, Weaverling ran 15:02.9 when Bertrand ran 15:01.3.

3. Joshua Trzeciak, Wootton 2013
433 Poll Points

He was the heavy favorite in the preseason, so why have fans/voters lost faith in Trzeciak? His season has simply been more low-key than that of Bertrand and Weaverling. Trzeciak finished sixth in both major out-of-state invitationals he competed in, but consider the following:

Oatlands Invitational
Thomas Madden 16:04
Joshua Trzeciak 16:12
Patrick Joseph 16:27
Logan Miller 16:41
Glory Days Invitational
Thomas Madden 15:03
Patrick Joseph 15:26
Will Bertrand 15:27
Logan Miller 15:42
In two major invitationals in Virginia, the three Virginian runners finished nearly evenly spaced relative to one another while Trzeciak fared better than Bertrand against these particular runners earlier in the season.

4. Nick Simpson, Einstein 2013
356 Poll Points

Simpson's season has also been relatively low-key with no flashy sub-16:00 performances and his only invitational victory coming in the medium race at the Bull Run Invitational. Even still, it would be dangerous to forget that Simpson is the top returning finisher from last year's county championship meet which came immediately following a Consortia Championship victory in 17:30. This year he ran 45 seconds faster than last year at the Consortia Championships.

5. David Fitzgerald, Churchill 2015
355 Poll Points

Fitzgerald is one of the only Montgomery County runners to cross paths with both Bertrand and Trzeciak this year, and certainly he is the only runner to finish within 20 seconds of both. In head-to-head situations, Fitzgerald finished 17 seconds behind Trzeciak and 18 seconds behind Bertrand. One of Fitzgerald's best races came out-of-state at the Great American XC Festival where he finished a race in 16:23.2.

6. Peter Horton, B-CC 2014
271 Poll Points

Horton had the edge over Fitzgerald at the Oatlands Invitational where Horton finished 13th in 16:33. There was a missed opportunity for the two to race when the B-CC vs. Churchill dual meet was canceled, but this allowed both runners to be fresh for the Coyote Invitational where Fitzgerald was second and Horton was third. One of Horton's best races came in a 16:14 winning effort at the Paul Short Invitational.

7. Ben Withbroe, Einstein 2013
186 Poll Points

With newfound confidence coming off a victory at the Consortia Championships, Withbroe will look to redeem himself after missing the entire 2011 championship season due to a freak injury. Weaverling and Simpson are the only Montgomery County runners who have defeated Withbroe this year. He has shown that he can beat Simpson on a good day, and he now owns the Northwood Consortia Championship course record with a time of 16:45.

8. David Levine, Wootton 2013
102 Poll Points

At the Carlisle Invitational, two Walter Johnson runners were better than Levine's 33rd place finish in 16:44.83. Unchallenged for nearly three weeks, Levine has swapped victories with teammate Trzeciak in low-key dual meets while the rest of Wootton's varsity squad showed great improvement to win the division. It may be the case that Levine's performances jump like those of his teammates when tested again this weekend.

9. Danniel Belay, Gaithersburg 2014
92 Poll Points

With an impressive 17:08, Belay had the fourth fastest Montgomery County time of the day at the Bull Run Invitational. In his most recent race, he finished second behind Weaverling at the Urbana Invitational in 16:08. Belay has also recently lost to Alex Riishojgaard and Rockville's Jonaton Baginski, two runners who ran very well at last year's county championship.

10. Alex Riishojgaard, B-CC 2014
89 Poll Points

Perhaps no runner is coming on stronger at this point in the season than Riishojgaard. History may be repeating itself as Riishojgaard came on strong this time last year to surprise everyone with a 9th place finish at the county meet. In his last two races, he finished 6th at the Paul Short Invitational in 16:34 and 5th at the Coyote Invitational in 16:14.


55 fans voted for male teams in Mocorunning's County Championship Cross Country Poll. Below are the composite results of that poll.

Boys TeamPoll Points
1. Walter Johnson486
2. Thomas S. Wootton 412
3. Albert Einstein 340
4. Bethesda Chevy Chase 333
5. Sherwood 304
6. Quince Orchard 218
7. Richard Montgomery 180
8. Clarksburg 168
9. Winston Churchill 109
10. Paint Branch 85


Analysis:

Walter Johnson is the heavy favorite to win this year's team title with 41 of 55 first place fan votes. No other team had more than 3 first place votes. Walter Johnson won MCPS division II in dominating fashion and won the Spiked Shoe Invitational and Manhattan Invitational 'D' race.

After WJ, fan votes were mixed among the next four teams. Wootton is coming on strong with a recent clutch performance to win division I over Sherwood. Einstein's season has been highlighted by complete team victories at William & Mary and the Consortia Championships. B-CC has worked all season to overcome injuries and recently won the Coyote Invitational despite missing one of its top five runners. Sherwood has one of the most complete teams and showed its strength by winning the large race at the Bull Run Invitational and the Track and Trail Invitational.

Although fans did not vote any Walter Johnson runner into the top ten in this poll, it seems likely that seven Walter Johnson runners can finish in the top 20. In fact, one or two WJ runners will probably break into the top ten, but it is impossible to predict which ones. In eight races, six different Walter Johnson runners have led the team. All we can conclude is that somewhere around tenth place all of WJ's top seven will swarm into the finish chute. One of the teams with two strong front-runners like Einstein, Wootton, or B-CC will have to place its #3, 4, and 5 runners closely behind WJ's pack for any chance of an upset.

The Paint Branch boys showed that they belong in the conversation with a third place finish at the Coyote Invitational. Paint Branch last made an appearance in the MoCo top ten in 1996 when they finished tenth. Paint Branch's average county finish in the fifteen years since 1996 has been 18th place.

Tie breakers: Fans were asked to predict the winning individual time and team score. The average responses were 15:44.41 and 60.9 points.






NameComments

Tuesday, October 16, 2012
07:15:36 PM
the ranking from 2 to 4 will probably change!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012
09:38:53 PM
Where's the girls?

SwaggerBoi69
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
09:28:40 AM
don't count out QO! I hear that they eat healthy and never drink coke...

Jim
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
10:04:49 AM
Didn't Whitman boys beat QO when they met earlier this year? Surprised they are not in the pre-race conversation.

wally the walrus
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
01:41:08 PM
QO is the bees knees!!! every other team = poop

anonomous
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
05:17:44 PM
I believe that whitman will make a surprising run at counties and finish in the top five teams. They are unproven and young but I believe they will run strong and beat many of the teams picked ahead of them. Look for 2 whitman kids to finish in the top 20 at counties.

Amazing
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
05:18:49 PM
Was there an average time they thought the winner would finish in?

I'm That Dude
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
05:25:05 PM
Wow, come on voters. There is no way Wootton is going to finish in 2nd. Einstein will probably finish 2nd. Then people seem to underestimate David Fitzgerald (15:54 at Coyote) and Peter Horton (won at Paul Short).

Agboola Clan
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
05:30:18 PM
We love you Matt! From your 16 brothers and sisters

Anonymous
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
05:33:55 PM
I heard that qo is gonna win because one on their runners is gonna go sub 14 in the jv freshman sophomore boys race and then he will make all other teams jealous by doing a back-flip as he crosses the finish line

Mike
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:01:45 PM
Go Einstein! Moco CC ain't just rich white kids! It's middle class kids too.

Mike
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:01:56 PM
Go Einstein! Moco CC ain't just rich white kids! It's middle class kids too.

Mike
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:01:57 PM
Go Einstein! Moco CC ain't just rich white kids! It's middle class kids too.

Mike
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:01:58 PM
Go Einstein! Moco CC ain't just rich white kids! It's middle class kids too.

Mike
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:02:01 PM
Go Einstein! Moco CC ain't just rich white kids! It's middle class kids too.

Mike
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:02:02 PM
Go Einstein! Moco CC ain't just rich white kids! It's middle class kids too.

anonymus
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
07:56:39 PM
have to say i think Fitzgerald is overrated, He was over a minute off Bertrand and only 7 seconds in front of QO's McCann at Glory Days, and wheres Evan Woods?

SwaggerBoi69
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
09:01:28 PM
If you add up the poll points for places 1-5 and divide the total by 69, QO wins.

SwaggerBoi69
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
09:17:09 PM
QO IS GONNA GIVE THE D!

Small Pond
Thursday, October 18, 2012
01:28:56 AM
Finally, Bertrand and Weaverling are going head-to-head. Both crushed their respective heats at Bull-Run by almost 40 seconds, and their Keyser times were eerily close. Bertrand has an edge, but it should be a good match-up. Even if one has a bad race, I doubt that anyone either than one of these two will be Champion.

mococreeper
Thursday, October 18, 2012
09:58:51 AM
Word on da street is that Churchill's varsity team is all gonna go sub 20- i wouldnt keep them out of the talk if they can do this and maybe even get 1 or 2 under 19 30!!! then they could actually win!

Amazing
Thursday, October 18, 2012
02:21:44 PM
Mococreeper did you mean to post that on the girls page?

Anon
Thursday, October 18, 2012
05:51:58 PM
1. WJ 2. Einstein 3. B-CC why Wootton even up there HAHAH

12345
Thursday, October 18, 2012
07:33:56 PM
Watch out for Nolan Ebner from BCC. He's underrated and I think he's gonna break into the top 30. Maybe top 25.

Watch out
Thursday, October 18, 2012
09:10:49 PM
Watch out for the Sherwood warriors boys Moco

*$%@ MocoCreeper
Friday, October 19, 2012
12:18:29 AM
Hey uh why dont you kill yourself? Our girls team will kick your teams @#$#, and one of our sophomores will kick yours. Why don't you say who you are so I can laugh at your 1845 senior year times and tell you to get a life off of Moco forums? Churchill XC forever.

Zach Lippman
Friday, October 19, 2012
12:29:03 AM
I'll race anyone.

Friday, October 19, 2012
10:13:28 AM
and while you all waste your energy and fight over second WJ runs silently and keeps on winning.

Zack Lippman
Friday, October 19, 2012
11:26:36 AM
Ya WJ was really silent at the county course this morning

WJ FOR LIFE
Friday, October 19, 2012
11:52:57 AM
Yea WJ talks so much cuz they are the best team in the county! No one can even come close to beating WJ. SCREW CHURCHILL.

WJ FOR LIFE
Friday, October 19, 2012
11:53:04 AM
Yea WJ talks so much cuz they are the best team in the county! No one can even come close to beating WJ. SCREW CHURCHILL.

Friday, October 19, 2012
12:04:36 PM
Yo how was your homecoming game?

big train
Friday, October 19, 2012
12:13:06 PM
WJ FOR LIFE correct your statement. Best team in the state year after year after year after year. Honestly who cares about football. Stupid game where you get crushed in your head at full speed.

Small Plane
Friday, October 19, 2012
03:20:02 PM
Guys why are you even arguing over WJ vs. churchill when everyone clearly knows that Watkins mill is gonna by bring home the win. they may be in the lowest division and we may have not won a single dual meet but, i heard they are going to be trying extra hard and their passion for running cannot be matched


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