52 valid votes were tabulated for Mocorunning's XC County Championship Poll. Below are the composite results of that poll.
1. Abigail Green, Walter Johnson 2018
403 Poll Points
She is the reigning county champion, and her time from last year's county meet is over 40 seconds faster than the next returning girl. This year she could become just the fourth Montgomery County girl since 2006 to run under 18 minutes in a 5K - and she is still only a junior.
She quickly rose up the ranks in Montgomery County last year, culminating in a fourth-place finish at the county championships. Her 18:45.70 time was fifth-fastest by a freshman on Mocorunning's "Since 2006" leaderboard. She missed the state meet due to an injury, but after a solid return on the track last spring she should be ready to roll in 2016.
The second of B-CC's three-headed monster this season, Nuechterlein also had a breakout season in 2015. She finished first at the team's scrimmage a few weeks ago, and combined with Brown and Michaela Peterson the B-CC girls might have the firepower to win states for the first time since 2012.
4. Julia Reicin, Winston Churchill 2017
250 Poll Points
Reicin has been remarkably consistent throughout her high school cross country career, finishing 13th, 12th and 10th at the state championships in her first three seasons. She had the best track season of her career last spring, hinting at even bigger things to come from the Churchill senior this season.
She finished not too far off of her freshman counterpart Brown at last year's county championships, where her time of 18:57.60 put her eighth on Mocorunning's "Since 2006" freshman leaderboard. She then impressed with a second-place finish at the 3A State Championships. She should contend for the state title again in 2016.
Another girl who broke out in a big way during the 2015 season, Delaplaine was not too far off of Satsangi at the 3A State Championships where she finished fourth. After a solid track season in which she captured her first state title in the indoor 4x800, she could break into the top ten at this year's county championships.
Since her debut in 2013, Zarate has improved her standing at the county, regional, and state meets in each of her first three seasons of high school cross country. A fourth straight season of across-the-board improvement may be in store for Zarate.
Kirsch has been a consistent driving force behind the Wildcats' three straight state titles, finishing 16th or higher at the state championships in all three of her high school seasons. This year she will be the only remaining member from the 2013 squad that started it all as they go for their fourth straight state championship.
Her seventh place finish at last year's 4A West Regional set her up for an even better track season, where she finished fifth and eighth at the indoor and outdoor state championships 3200. She will have the opportunity to become the fourth Quince Orchard girl since 2012 to crack the top 20 at the state championships this year.
After finishing 22nd at last year's county championships, she broke into the upper level of runners in the state with her 5:05.67 1600 and 2:21.40 800. If that success translates to the XC course she could make this prediction look conservative come mid-October.
1) Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons (349 Poll Points): After three years of looking up to their rivals up the road at Walter Johnson, the B-CC girls have the strength at the top and the depth to get back to the top of the state for the first time since 2012.
2) Walter Johnson Wildcats (326 Poll Points): They've got three straight state titles under their belts and the top returning runner in the county. The B-CC girls look strong, but it's hard to bet against this team after three years of dominance in the state of Maryland.
3) Winston Churchill Bulldogs (227 Poll Points): Their top three runners are back from last year's team that finished ninth at the state championships. They're going to be shooting for their sixth straight appearance at the state meet this year.
4) Walt Whitman Vikings (183 Poll Points): Injuries hurt what could have been a very good Whitman girls squad in 2015, but they still finished fifth at the 4A State Championships. They've got a strong squad returning this year led by Julia Johnson and Olivia Woods.
5) Quince Orchard Cougars (179 Poll Points): Led by Maya Jacobson, a large number of last year's varsity runners are back for the 2016 season, and they will be shooting for their first top-five finish at the county championships since 2012.
6) Thomas S. Wootton Patriots (177 Poll Points): The Wootton girls received an outstanding trio of freshman last year (Jessica Trzeciak, Adna Trakic and Madeline Grainger) that was never on the course all at once last year. This trio has the potential to turn Wootton into a state contender in the not-too-distant future.
7) Paint Branch Panthers (101 Poll Points): The Paint Branch girls had one of their best seasons in school history last year, finishing 12th at the 4A State Championships. Losing Beth Taye will hurt, but the rest of their team is back this year to possibly build on last year's momentum.
8) Richard Montgomery Rockets (97 Poll Points): The Rockets finished fourth at last year's county championships, but losing three of their top four runners is going to hurt. Rising junior Nefret El-Masry will definitely be striving to jump into the upper level of runners this year.
9) Northwest Jaguars (92 Poll Points): They have a chance to be the most improved team of 2016 after a 14th-place finish at last year's county championships and 8th place at the 4A West Regional. All of their top runners from 2015 are back this season led by senior Sofia Zarate.
10) Montgomery Blair Blazers (81 Poll Points): The Blair girls have a very deep returning team this season led by rising junior Josephine Brane-Wright. They will have to defend their Consortia Championship trophy against Paint Branch (among others) in October.
Tie breakers: Fans were asked to predict the winning individual time and team score. The average responses were 18:16.49 and 50.2 points.
Name
Comments
Runner Dude
Wednesday, September 07, 2016 11:41:09 AM
If I'm reading this correctly, a freshman, Megan Lynch at Visi, just defeated the numbers 3, 4 and 8 in this week's poll at the Woodward Relays.......
False
Wednesday, September 07, 2016 11:58:18 AM
You are not reading this correctly
Runner dude
Wednesday, September 07, 2016 12:47:57 PM
So how did it work? I know it was a relay of some type.
Ratboy genius
Monday, September 12, 2016 07:57:02 PM
Potato knishes
Runner Dude
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 05:23:28 PM
And she ran 18:39 at Episcopal's home meet...she's legit. Freshman. Not in MOCo but would be number 2 ranked runner.