The hardest thing for Glenelg's Edward Hogan to overcome this season was the attitude he developed last season that second place was acceptable.
The Baltimore Sun's Howard County Boys cross country Runner of the Year spent all of last season trailing his brother and teammate, Gerard, the Class 2A state champion. And Edward got comfortable with that. He finished second in the state.
"It's hard to push yourself to make every race count," he said. "When you finish second, you don't have to sprint hard every time."
So at his first two invitationals this season, Howard County and Westminster, he was leading at the one-mile point but was passed at the 1.5-mile mark both times by C. Milton Wright's Brian Harris.
"He came up on my shoulder and in both races I let him pass without really fighting it," Hogan said.
The idea that he couldn't settle for second place any more finally sank in at the Brunswick Invitational, which he won.
The familiar scenario started to play itself out. He was leading at the mile mark when Quince Orchard's Troy Harry pulled up to his shoulder.
"This time I didn't blow my concentration but kept looking straight forward," Hogan said. "I know I've lost it if I start looking at the ground."
That victory spurred him to win all of his dual meets except one -- against Bryan Townsend of Atholton. Hogan had been injured in a bike accident before that meet and was not 100 percent.
And he certainly redeemed himself with a huge win at the county championships, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Townsend.
He expected to feel a lot of pressure from having to follow in his brother's footsteps, but he wound up being pleasantly surprised.
"It was much easier to follow my brother than I thought it was going to be," he said.
One disappointment was that the team didn't do as well as last year's unbeaten state championship team -- due mainly to illnesses and one ineligibility.
"Edward is our team captain and does a good job of it," coach Roger Volrath said. "He kind of takes it to heart that the team has struggled."
Hogan also runs indoor and outdoor track and is a member of Glenelg's math team, chess team, and academic team.
He has a 4.0 grade-point average and scored 1,400 on his college boards, but has not yet decided where he'll attend college.