It's beginning to feel a lot like fall! It was a wet weekend, but one that certainly seems to indicate some more autumn-like weather going forward into October. Here's what happened around the county last week:

- Four-team division meets are somewhat of a rarity around the county, but this week featured two such meets on the same day. The big one saw Sherwood host Northwest, Einstein and Whitman in a meet that basically determined the outcomes of Division 2. Whitman's Aaron Bratt was the winner on the boys' side, defeating a loaded field (as division meets go) that included Einstein's Simeon Mussie and the entire Northwest varsity squad. The Northwest girls went 1-2 with Sofia Zarate and freshman Helena Lee. In fact, two of the top three girls finishers were freshman, with Whitman's Paula Bathalon six seconds behind Lee.

- The Northwest boys swept the meet to wrap up their division title; Sherwood beat Einstein on a tiebreaker, so both teams finished 3-2. It's possible that three teams in the division finish 3-2 if Paint Branch wins both of their matchups on Wednesday against Whitman and Clarksburg. The Whitman girls also swept the meet, and all they need to do is beat either Paint Branch or Clarksburg on Wednesday to wrap up the division since they own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Northwest.

- The other quad meet happened not 20 minutes away at Blake High School, who hosted Northwood, Blair and Gaithersburg. Northwood's Obsaa Feda continued his strong season, winning by over 30 seconds. The Blair girls dominated their race: Josephine Brane-Wright and Morgan Casey went 1-2, and they also went 4-12 (only Gaithersburg's Elise Durr was able to break up their pack).

- Three seconds separated the 2-5 finishers in the boys race, which made for an exciting team battle. The Blair boys swept the meet, improving to 4-0 on the season. Their matchup at Poolesville on Wednesday will almost certainly determine the division 3 champion, although there will be a Blair vs. Springbrook makeup meet the following week. The Blair girls also easily swept the meet, and the same situation applies to them as to the boys.

- Richard Montgomery and Churchill traveled to Wootton on Wednesday for another crucial division meeting. Richard Montgomery sat out most of their top runners. Wootton's John Riker won the boys' race but Churchill pulled out a big win, 26-29, and improved to 4-0 on the season. The Bulldogs will finish their division season against B-CC on Wednesday at Landon, a meet that will determine the boys' Division 1 champion. Churchill's Julia Reicin did not run, opening the door for the Wootton girls to dominate. The Wootton girls can capture the division championship by beating Quince Orchard and Walter Johnson on Wednesday.

- Clarksburg traveled to the Mountain Run in Frederick County on Wednesday. Zachary Worthman opened some eyes with a second-place finish, beating (among others) defending 2A state runner-up Nick Tilson. Overall, both the boys and girls finished sixth.

- A handful of Montgomery County schools traveled to the Urbana Invitational on Saturday where they were met with soggy conditions. No Moco team shined more than Poolesville, as sophomore Nandini Satsangi captured her first major cross country win in 19:03.34. Her teammate, freshman Logan Rohde, finished third - that duo will be one to watch in the coming years. Speaking of duos, Ryan Lockett and Andrew Lent were at it again, as Lockett finished second and Lent (recovering from a minor injury) finished sixth in a very strong field. Read Mocorunning's recap here.

- Quince Orchard, Good Counsel, and JDS traveled up to the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Saturday. Good Counsel finished 12th in the boys brown division, led by Jimmy Vazanna (16:15). Good Counsel had five more boys finish between 16:40 and 17:21 in the varsity race and had a freshman, Loick Ohresser-Joumard, win the junior varsity race in 17:14, making it one of the more impressive team performances of the season by a county school. Reuben Winston (16:57) led the JDS boys to an eighth-place finish in the white division. On the girls' side, Quince Orchard finished 23rd in the brown division led by Maya Jacobson (19:54). Churchill's Julia Reicin was also present; she ran 18:39, good for 21st in the brown division.

- Stone Ridge junior Genevieve DiBari won the small school race at the Salesianum Invitational. She clocked an impressive time of 20:16.28 on the slow course. Her teammate, Isabel Barnidge, finished fifth.

- Sherwood met Mother Nature when they traveled down to North Carolina for the Great American Cross Country Festival. Ethan Tagliere (16:59.50) and Alexa Donaldson (20:24.10) were their top runners.

- Octoberfest (VA) was rained out. Sorry, Rohann Asfaw and the rest of the Richard Montgomery squad.

What's Next: If you've made it this far, congratulations. This will essentially be the final week of divisional action in the county (Springbrook and Blair have a makeup meet next week). Besides the division meets highlighted above, a few mid-week invitationals are a pleasant surprise. Damascus is scheduled for the Crossfire Invitational at Liberty High School on Tuesday, where Heather Delaplaine will get to run against some of the best runners in Frederick and Carroll counties. Northwest is once again scheduled to run the Tidewater Classic; look out for some fast times on the notoriously flat course. Watkins Mill will host their second annual Wolverine Run on Saturday, allowing schools to preview their 3A South regional course. Other Moco teams will travel out-of-state, either to Virginia for the Glory Days Invitational or to New York City for the Manhattan Invitational. Here's to another good week of running in Montgomery County!