True MD/DC Private School States - Part II

2018

Photo by Craig Amoss

The Winners - Individuals

Large School Boys: Nicholas Karayianis (Bullis)

Small School Boys: Sam Beesley (St. Andrew's Episcopal)

Large School Girls: Juliette Whittaker (Mount de Sales)

Small School Girls: Allison Mitchell (St. Andrew's Episcopal)

The Winners - Teams

Large School Boys: Gilman School

Small School Boys: Sandy Spring Friends School

Large School Girls: Mount de Sales High School

Small School Girls: Rockbridge Academy

Top runners who did not compete (D.C. runners included):

Owen Johnson (Calvert Hall) - 16:12 5K, MIAA champion

Camden Gilmore (Loyola-Blakefield) - 15:28 5K, second at MIAA Championships

Ronan Sullivan (Loyola-Blakefield) - 16:35 5K, third at MIAA Championships

Gavin McElhennon (Gonzaga) - 15:42 5K, second at WCAC Championships

Cullen Capuano (Gonzaga) - 15:55 5K, third at WCAC Championships

Liam de Beaufort (St. John's) - 16:31 5K, fourth at WCAC Championships

Arjun Thillairajah (Sidwell Friends) - 16:30 5K, MAC champion

Zoe Benitez (Key) - 19:37 5K

Sophia Hanway (National Cathedral) - 19:55 5K, ISL champion

Katie Hirsche (Edmund Burke) - 20:12 5K, PVAC champion


The 2018 boys race was a terrific one, featuring a two-person battle between Bullis' Nicholas Karayianis and John Carroll's Alexander Kirkland. Throughout the area, however, were likely at least half a dozen more who would have competed for the title, including Johnson, Gilmore and McElhennon. A three-team battle between Loyola and Calvert Hall (separated by just two points at the MIAA Championships) and Gonzaga would have been thrilling as well.

Meanwhile the girls private school field in Maryland was down a bit in 2018, headlined by Mount de Sales and its two frontrunners, Juliette Whittaker and Samantha Facius (the team won the large school state title). No girl at the IAAM Championship finished within a minute of that duo. Sophia Hanway and Katie Hirsche both won titles in their respective conferences, and Hirsche especially could have competed for the small school state title that Natalie Sokol-Snyder won two years prior.