Photo by Dasam Gill
The Richard Montgomery boys return one of the most talented teams in the state this season after flashing their potential by winning last year's 4A West regional title. Rising senior Garrett Suhr is the runner to watch, but fellow seniors Aidan Goldenberg-Hart (right) and Nicholas Olano - who finished 24th and 25th, respectively, at last year's county meet - are definitely part of the equation. Throw in three other runners who cracked 10:15 in the 3200 during track (Rafael Berhanu, Lucas Corea and Edward Sorenson) and you have all the makings of a team that can win this year's county titleMontgomery County Boys XC Preview: By The Numbers
Photo by Craig Amoss
Only three Montgomery County runners broke 9:30 in the 3200 this past spring: Eldad Mulugeta and Obsaa Feda, and Springbrook's Surafel Mengist. He came off a cross country season in which he placed ninth at the state championships as a junior, following a pattern of steady, consistent improvement up to his senior year. While there may be no clear-cut favorite for the county title entering the fall, Mengist is one of the top runners to watch in the county, if not the state.
Photo by Craig Amoss
When healthy, Richard Montgomery's Garrett Suhr is one of the top runners in the state. After placing fourth at the 4A state meet as a sophomore, he battled through some injuries last fall and finished 36th. However, he returned strong on the track in the spring, clocking a state-leading 4:13 1600 at the DMV Meet of Champions. Could Suhr and the Rockets make it back-to-back years of the boys team champion also fielding the individual champion?
Photo by Phil Grove
One of last year's standout freshmen, Northwood's Lamar Wilson clocked the second-fastest 3200 time in his class in Maryland. While Northwood did lose four of their top runners from last year's county championship squad, they still return a good team for 2019, led by Wilson. No team has won back-to-back county titles this decade, but the Gladiators will have their chance to end that pattern this fall.
Photo by Phil Bond
Damascus' Tamrat Snyder missed most of his junior cross country season but made up for it with a stellar track campaign. He took the county title in the 1600 and dropped his personal best below 4:20 when he won the 2A West regional title over eventual state champion Kyle Lund. Like fellow 1600 spring standout Ayalew Fantaw (Northwood), Snyder is a name to watch that won't show up in any of the top returning cross country rankings.
Photo by Brandon Miles
Poolesville's Sam Bodmer broke out in a big way last fall; he dropped his 5K personal best from 17:52 to 17:05, rose from 100th to 22nd at the 2A state meet, and shaved one minute and 16 seconds off of his 3200 personal best during the spring. He is also the fifth-fastest returning runner from last year's Montgomery County Championships, where he finished 18th.