Boys Black and Gold Team Preview

Top Teams Competing:

#2 Towson
#3 Howard
#7 Winston Churchill
#11Wilde Lake
#15Thomas Wootton
Heights School

The Black and Gold race will feature 5 of the top 15 teams in the state. Towson, Thomas Wootton, and Wilde Lake battled last week in the Bull Run Elite race with Towson coming out on top. This week Howard and Winston Churchill will join them, which should make for an exciting race. 

Towson will be the pre-race favorite. They won the Barnhart Invite and Bull Run Invite. They have a senior-heavy team and are looking to repeat as 3A State champions. Kieran Mischke will be one of the favorites for the individual title as well. Until someone shows that they can beat Towson it's hard to bet against them. 

With that said, Towson will still need to run well to win, Thomas Wootton was the surprise of Bull Run last week, almost pulling off the big upset and winning the meet. They placed a very respectable 2nd and only 15 behind Towson, They are led by Troy Bailey and Edward Sun who placed 5th and 6th respectively in the Bull Run Elite race.. They haven't run a super fast course this year so when you look at the top 50 list below you won't see them high up, but come race day, they'll be in the mix. 

Howard ran at the Paul Short Invite last week. They are led by Joey Ensor who has run 15:37 for 5k this year. Deheini and Max Vom Saal have run mid-16s and make a strong top 3 for the Lions. Winston Churchill ran at the inaugural Bretton Woods Invite and won pretty easily with a score of 65 points

The Heights School may be the sleeper here as they placed very well at a muddy and loppy Oatlands Invite a few weeks back. Conditions may be similar to that for MDXC as well. Look for them to be in the mix. 

Prediction: Towson

Boys Black and Gold Individual Preview

Henry Hopper is coming off a big win at the Bull Run Invite. He had the top time of any division running 16:04 on the hilly course. He also comes in with the top overall 3-mile time of 15:13 earlier in the season at the Seahawk Invite. Given the fact that he was getting over a cold last week, it looks like he will be the one to beat.

With that said, this race is loaded with talent. Joey Ensor (Howard) has run well to start the season winning the Top of The Hill Invite and Eagle Invite, Kieran Mischke (Towson) won the Barnhart Invite and finished second to Hopper at Bull Run. Caleb Tinney and Mateo Gros-Slovinsky (Walt Whitman) each finished runner-up to Ensor at meets earlier this season. 

Alejandro Berrio (Seneca Valley) is a name to watch out for in this race. While not a "sleeper" since he has run 15:43 this year, he seems to be getting better each race and coming into form at the right time of the season. 

Prediction: Kieran Mischke (Towson)

Boys B&G Top 50 Individuals (5K&3mile combined)