MD Private School State Meet Preview + Virtual Meets

Friends senior Henry Griffith won an MIAA title on Tuesday. What does he have in store for the encore this weekend? (Photo by Craig Amoss)

We preview Saturday's MD Private School State Championships to take place at Georgetown Prep on Saturday!

Virtual Meets: Boys 5K - Girls 5K

*DC schools included until 2017)*

2010s Table of Champions (Large Schools)

2010s Table of Champions (Small Schools)

Boys Individuals

Karayianis ran a season-best 15:40 5K at the Third Battle Invitational in October, and has five sub-16 performances this year.

Bullis senior Nick Karayianis is the defending private school state champion, having beaten John Carroll's Alexander Kirkland last season at Georgetown Prep. Karayianis has also been one of the most consistent runners in the state, with five separate 5K performances between 15:40 and 15:52 on the year. He is coming off a win at the IAC Championships two weeks ago where he beat St. Albans (DC) Damian Hackett. Karayianis' season best is 40 seconds faster than anyone else in Saturday's field.

Friends senior Henry Griffith won a conference title of his own earlier this week at the MIAA Championships. Griffith won the C Conference individual title by over a minute and a half, but his time (16:51) was the third-fastest of the day across all three classifications behind only Owen Johnson and Ryan Miller in the A Conference race. Gilman junior Beck Wittstadt is the only other runner in the field who has run a sub-16:30 5K this fall.

Others to Watch:

- Thomas Broadus - Senior, Gilman

- Charlie Edwards - Senior, Gilman

- Michael Gilbert - Senior, Landon

- Jared Leath - Senior, Bullis

- Ryan Rasco - Junior, St. Maria Goretti

- Kevin Zaleksi - Junior, Mount St. Joseph

Boys Teams

The Gilman boys finished second at Tuesday's MIAA Championships. (Photo by Craig Amoss)

The Gilman boys handily won last year's private school state title and will be the heavy favorites once again this weekend. The Greyhounds finished second at the MIAA Championships earlier this week with 66 points, a comfortable margin ahead of the next team (Loyola-Blakefield). Gilman has five runners who have run under 18 minutes in the 5K this season, while no other team in Saturday's field has more than two.

Girls Individuals

Holton-Arms junior Natalie Desarbo forms one of the top duos in the state along with senior Francesca Cetta. The Panthers won the ISL Championship in October behind their star tandem. (Photo by Craig Amoss)

Holton-Arms has two of the top runners in the field in senior Francesca Cetta and junior Natalie Desarbo. Cetta, a first-year cross country runner who ran 2:16/5:00 last spring, has won each of her last three races; the only race she lost this year was a runner-up finish to St. John's (DC) freshman Meredith Gotzman at the Landon Invitational. Desarbo owns the second-fastest 5K time (19:33) in the field; she finished third at the county private school championships and was the second-fastest Maryland finisher (behind Cetta) at the ISL Championships.

Meanwhile, Stone Ridge sophomore Katherine Strong has run the next-fastest 5K time (19:45) in the field, and she recently beat Desarbo at the county private school championships. Other potential contenders include the Holy Cross duo of Anna Avila and Leah Stephens.

Others to Watch:

- Maria DiBari - Sophomore, Stone Ridge of the Sacred Heart

- Lusya Engen - Sophomore, Holton-Arms

- Isabella Sauro - Sophomore, Our Lady of Good Counsel

- Kate Walter - Junior, Stone Ridge of the Sacred Heart

Girls Teams

The Stone Ridge of the Sacred Heart girls are coming off a close win over Holton-Arms at the Montgomery County Private School Championships. Could they turn in a repeat performance on Saturday? The Holton-Arms girls were not at full strength last weekend, and the last time the two teams went toe-to-toe at full strength the Panthers emerged victorious at the ISL Championships.

Beyond the top two teams, fellow Montgomery County private schools Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Academy of the Holy Cross will likely also be in the running for a top three position. This year's young, up-and-coming Holy Cross team finished third at the WCAC Championships, where all seven of their varsity runners were freshmen or sophomores. Good Counsel finished fourth, 26 points behind Holy Cross.