In what can be described as (for lack of a better way of putting it), the first weekend in the post-Bull Run regular season, some Maryland teams and athletes scattered to one of four regional invitationals, while other schools took the weekend off to train.
LANCER INVITATIONAL
Clearly this invitational was the hot spot for Maryland competitors this weekend. In the boys race, No. 1 Matthew Centrowitz (Broadneck) eclipsed the competition yet again, this time running a new PR in 15:00.50, enough to boost him all the way to #3 on the Milesplit Network-Wide 5K Elite List. He was followed, not too horribly far back by No. 3 Christopher Moen (Walter Johnson) who crossed the line in 15:27.00. The top two finishers allegedly cut 100m off the run, but ultimately were not disqualified. The validity of just how much of the run was cut off is very shaky; the times Centrowitz and Moen ran are not surprising. No. 13 Vince Walsh (Dulaney) outran B-CC's Nos. 9 and 10, Elias Tousley and Christopher Bowie. All three of these athletes clocked sub 16:00 5K times, only the fifth, sixth and seventh athletes to do so thus far this season.
No. 7 Sherwood easily took the boy's title, continuing their pattern of improvement from Oatlands last weekend. The previously unranked Bethesda-Chevy Chase boys had an incredible day, finishing ahead of Urbana - who beat them at Bull Run and Broadneck - who would've beat them at Bull Run had Matthew Centrowitz had competed. By one point, they slipped ahead of No. 8 Richard Montgomery in a significant upset. 21 teams competed.
On the girls side No. 11 Emma Eckerstrom (Northwest) ran a decent race for 18:26.9, granting her the #36 spot on the National Elite. Also finishing under 19:00 were No. 22 Nora McCall (Good Counsel) and Kathy Aherne (Northwest). The Good Counsel Girls (Unranked) ran strong, defeating No. 7 Northwest, but falling just short of No. 4 Dulaney (77-87).
DOC JONES INVITE
The Anne Arundel County invitational was abandoned by several of Anne Arundel County's top teams, making this invitational hard to name in terms of competition. Schools came from all over the state as well as DC. No. 5 Kyle Gaffney (Blake) had the top time of the day in 16:12.9, beating Tony Rowe (Calvert Hall), and unexpectedly stealing nearly a minute from No.16 Chris Moody (South River). No. 17 Anders Hullenberg (Park) won a separate varsity race in a time of 17:04.1, 3 seconds faster than Moody's time of 17:07.
Calvert Hall was the top finisher of the day, accumulating 62 points in the main varsity race. South River and Archibishop Spalding (without Robert Wetzel) lost to DC's Gonzaga and Leonardtown.
The overall most impressive time of the day was tapped by No. 9 Liz Mccarter (Mount Hebron), who finished in 19:02.9. Freshman Hillary Lee (South River) was second in the main girls race, running 20:03. Lindsay Wilson (Seton Kough) won a separate race in 20:07.2.
A good effort from the Leonardtown girls earned them a win in the main girls race, but the top team of the day was Seton Keough, finishing with just 19 points in the girls A2 race.
OCTOBERFEST INVITATIONAL
Quince Orchard was the lone team representing Maryland. The top ranked boys sent up huge sparks towards the folks at Nike, narrowly defeating Thomas Jefferson, the #3 ranked school in the Southeast region. The win will propel QO into the NTN SE top 5, a great accomplishment.
No. 10 Cara Harrison finished 7th for 20:06.46, leading the QO girls to a 10th place finish.
INTERSTATE CLASSIC
The River Hill and Severna Park girls and boys teams were a surprise to the Western Maryland meet, as both schools were the top teams of the day in both large schools races. The No. 2 Severna Park Girls put their five scorers in the top 8 for the title, while River Hill put five in 14 places, enough for a comfortable 2nd over Jefferson. No. 17 Katie Harman (River Hill) won in 18:46.1, while No. 14 Liya Kasimova (Severna Park) set a PR behind her in 19:01.00.
The River Hill boys swept the field efficiently, and caught the 3rd, 4th, and 5th individual ranks in Craig Morgan (16:59.4), Michael Feroe(16:59.8), and Sean Kirby (17:11.0). Severna Park pulled ahead of Jefferson by 5 points for 2nd.