Photo by Brandon Miles
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Now the site of the Wolverine Run and 3A South Regional meet, it's no secret that the course at Watkins Mill High School is one of the hardest in Montgomery County. Combined with the soggy conditions in the state of Maryland for the second straight weekend, the second annual Wolverine Run didn't necessarily seem like the right meet to run a season best.
Well, don't tell Heather Delaplaine.
The Damascus junior separated herself from the rest of the field within the first half mile with a clear goal in her mind: break 20 minutes. She had come very close this season on some tough courses like the Rebel and Crossfire Invitationals, and on Saturday she finally broke through, completing the course in 19:52.95 - just three seconds off Annie Imhof's 3A South winning time last season on a much drier course. Behind Delaplaine was her freshman teammate, Alexis Whitehorn-Coriz - a 1-2 punch that carried Damascus to the team title.
On the boys side, Eleanor Roosevelt senior Edward Belsoi came into the race looking to make a statement after a less-than-ideal race at the Spiked Shoe Invitational due to sickness. Having not seen the course before he was more tentative at the beginning of the race than Delaplaine, but he broke free of the pack around the one mile mark and never looked back, finishing with a strong time of 17:02.02 (which would have placed him a close fourth at last year's 3A South regional). It was the boys of the Heights, however, who captured the team title by putting four runners in the top 14.