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.