Maryland Boys XC Preseason Team Rankings: #5 Mount St. Joe's

No. 5: Mount St. Joseph High School

The Mount St. Joseph boys broke out in 2015, rising to the top of the MIAA Conference. All year long they went back-and-forth with the boys from Loyola-Blakefield, which was one of the more interesting team battles in the state with Loyola's frontrunners and the Gaels' deep pack of runners. Most of their top runners from last year are back, including the top trio of Hunter Petrik (9:38.81 3200), Alex Whittaker (9:32.50 3200) and Carter Williams (9:52.12 3200). Beyond them, rising juniors Jacob Almendra and Andrew Brinker give them two more returners with 5K personal bests under 17:30. Gabe Antone (10:39.17 3200) and Joey Zietowski (4:43.51 1600) round out a very solid top seven returning squad for the Gaels, who will look to take advantage of the losses that Good Counsel and Loyola-Blakefield have suffered and take the title of top private school in Maryland in 2016.