Two runners were aiming for course records on Saturday. Abigail Green of Walter Johnson High School and Rohann Asfaw of Richard Montgomery High School were open and honest when it came to shooting for the records. Green was happy at the end of the day while Asfaw left less satisfied.

It was easy for Green to recall the existing course record because it was her own personal record from her sophomore year.

Said Green about the record, "It was an 18:04 so I was just trying to break that record again and do better than I did last year just to prove that I'm growing as a runner. I was really happy that I was able to get pretty far under that even with the wind factor."

The wind was her only opponent as she had about a 30 second lead in the first five minutes of the race. Weathermen called for 30 to 40 mph northwesterly wind gusts on the blustery and sunny day. Green said that she wanted to get out hard to feel out the elements and maintain a good pace throughout, although she felt like it was not her hardest start of the season. She won the race by 49 seconds in 17:46.6, trimming 18 seconds from the course record.

Behind Green, Walter Johnson once again put five girls in the top twenty under 20:00 as they did in 2015, with each returning girl improving on time and place from a year ago. The Wildcats won their third consecutive county title and ninth in meet history which ties Whitman High School as the winningest team ever at the county championship meet. While Whitman's dominance was mostly in the 80's and 90's, WJ has now won nine of the last nineteen girls county titles.

Head coach Tom Martin preached: "They were successful for a couple years and finding that motivation gets more difficult. Sometimes it's the fear of not attaining those goals that motivates them... I've seen this kind of pattern before where you've got a lot of previous success and you have to hold onto that motivation and they are doing a really good job of that. They really are."

Martin also said that his girls felt like the race was a seven out of ten due to tired legs so he was proud of their effort while not feeling 100%.

For Rohann Asfaw, it was not enough to win a second consecutive county title and become the first runner to ever break 16:00 at the county championship meet three times. He was not very concerned with the wind or his opponents, although he said that B-CC's Adam Nakasaka reminded him that it was still a race.

"I was just trying to keep my pace," said Asfaw. "...Keep the strides, keep going fast because I had that record in mind. I really wanted to get that course record so that's what pushed me today...I'm a little disappointed...I still felt good. I still felt fast."

He added that he will work on focus and concentration in future races if he finds himself all alone.

Asfaw completed the race in 15:33.7 by leading from the beginning and breaking away from Nakasaka in the third mile. It was not a record but it was as good of a run as anyone could expect without a challenger in the final mile. The course record was set at 15:24.99 in 2012 during an epic showdown between Poolesville junior Chase Weaverling and Clarksburg senior Will Bertrand. Weaverling improved as a runner the following year, but he could not touch that course record as a senior without anyone to push him.

Nakasaka at least tried to make it interesting by hanging on to Asfaw for about two miles.

Said Nakasaka, "I decided today this was where I wanted to make a name for myself. I went out and knew I just wanted to stay behind Rohann and draft off him so that's what I did." (Later at the awards ceremony when the MC butchered his name, he grabbed the mike and literally made sure everyone knew his name).

Nakasaka paid a price for the aggressive run as Asfaw broke away along the fenced downhill just past two miles and then was caught by Poolesville's Ryan Lockett in the final quarter mile, but he said he had no regrets.

"Next year...I still have Ryan Lockett so definitely I'm going to be competing with him. I want to get the title next year. That's one of my big goals. I've even been thinking about it this year how next year we're not going to have that guy out front like Rohann, that guy who is just impervious to so many different competitors....but right now I have to stay focused for regionals and states and then indoor and outdoor."

The Northwest High School boys team won its first county title since the team's current runners were in diapers. Northwest had a dominant team in 2001 and 2002 under a different coaching regime, but that was a long time ago. This year's team made it a goal from the onset to win the county title and they accomplished that goal on Saturday despite not having a runner in the top ten and losing one of their top six runners during the race.

Elton Quansah, who brought the team together with dashikis from Africa early in the preseason and spoke so passionately about holding the pack together, unfortunately could not finish the race. But the Northwest pack - the pack that Quanseh helped to mold - squeezed five guys between thirteenth and twenty-third position with a 19 second spread.

"Elton couldn't even finish the race," said Youngblood. "They're so excited for him. It's a great accomplishment. A team accomplishment. They pulled through."

County Firsts: