Meet Preview: 2021 Scorpion Crawl XC Invitational

The races will be separated into a varsity (Top 7) and JV for each gender with the boys running first and then the girls. Although there are several meets tomorrow, meaning that some of the top teams and individuals won't be facing each other, the still very talented field of runners should show off some very fast times and performances.  

(Oakland Mills' Ethan Aidam finishes second at the Eagle XC Invitational)

On the boys' individual side, Ethan Aidam of Oakland Mills (home favorite) has been on a tear this season and isn't looking to stop on his home course. With multiple first and second-place finishes this season, (most notably a 15:46 2nd place finish behind Antonio Camacho-Bucks at the Eagle Invite and 16:28 win at the Brunswick Invite), Aidam is not going to make it easy for anyone who wants to take the individual crown from him. Other top runners include Christian Brower of Long Reach, Damon Martin of Old Mill Senior, Alejandro Cabrera of Long Reach, and Henry Hopper of Wilde Lake. Coming off of a blistering 15:54 3-mile at the Frank Keyser Invite, Brower comes into this race full steam ahead ready to challenge for the individual crown. His teammate Cabrera has also been running very well this season with the duo finishing both 6th and 9th respectively at the Eagle Invite. Martin also looks to make his way into the top group with a 16:39 5K showing last week at the MDXC invite. A dark horse: Hopper comes in after a 16:46 5K performance and a 16:03 3-mile race, seeing drastic drops in his times since the season has begun. Look for Hopper and the other group of guys to challenge Aidam in the quest to be the first across the line. 

On the team side, the gates are wide open, as it truly could be any team's race. Old Mill seems to be the most likely to take home the team crown however Marriotts Ridge and Long Reach could also be in the running. If Old Mill can get their 3-5 spread down, they should likely see the team title come their way. However, the battle for 2nd and 3rd should be interesting as Marriotts Ridge's low 1-5 spread face off against Long Reach's strong 1-2 punch. 

On the girls' individual side, Rosemary Baquie comes in as your top seed with a strong 20:48 5K from the 5th Annual XC Chesapeake Invite. However, similar to the boys' race, there are many potential contenders that could contest for the title. Mikayla Stephens of Academy of the Holy Cross, Rachel Roberts of Marriotts Ridge, Lydia Nelson of Northern Garrett, and Lily Decker of Oakland Mills could all challenge for the 1st place title. Stephens is coming off of a 2nd place finish against some strong competition at the Blue & Gold Invite with a 5K time of 20:54. Roberts has been having a consistently strong season with a notable 4th place finish at the notoriously difficult Crossfire Invitational. Nelson of Northern Garrett is running her first year of cross country, but just in her first race, she has managed a tough 3rd place finish at the 7th Annual Wildcat Invitational. And lastly, look for home favorite Decker to use her home-course advantage to potentially crack into the top 3.

On the girls' team side, it looks to be a very snug race especially between the Northern Garrett girls and the Old Mill girls. With four girls potentially in the top 10 (Lydia Nelson, Arrisyn Amtower, McKenzie Upole, and Minka Amtower), the Northern Garrett team looks to snatch home the team title. Old Mill, led by Baquie, looks to their top 2 scorers to place well and keep their 1-5 spread down. However other teams such as Marriotts Ridge could challenge the team title as well.

Whatever the outcome tomorrow, there will be no doubt some great competition and times on the Oakland Mill's course that we have missed for 3 years.

RACE SCHEDULE:  The approximate race schedule is as follows:

• 8:15 a.m.    Coaches meeting and packet pick up

• 9:00 a.m.    Boys A Varsity (boys 1st through 7th on team)

• 9:30 a.m.    Girls A race (girls 1st through 7th on team)

• 10:15 a.m.  Boys B race (all boys 8th or greater on team)

• 11:00 a.m.  Girls B race (all girls 8th or greater on team)

• 12:00 p.m.  Awards