River Hill is favored to win this season's county boys' cross country championship, with Wilde Lake its chief competitor.
Mount Hebron is the prohibitive favorite to repeat as county girls' champs, with River Hill and Wilde Lake battling for second.
Atholton: The Raiders graduated their top six boys from a team that finished second in the county and state and won its Class 2A region a year ago. The Raiders have 29 runners.
Ed Lopez (37th county) is a senior captain along with Keith McMullen. Junior Steve Miller, sophomore Matt Barresi and senior Steve Gluth give coach Pat Saunderson hopes for a third- or fourth-place county finish.
The girls finished seventh in the county but return several runners, among them Allison Mann (28th county) and Nicole McMorrin (40th county). The Raiders hope to finish in the top half of the county and make the playoffs.
Other team members are seniors Becky Peterson, Stephanie Hankin, Caroline Kennedy and Jackie Cook.
Centennial: From a team that finished third in the county, second in the region and fifth in the state, the Eagles return three of their top seven boys, including sophomore Shawn Spencer (10th county) and seniors Tom McAfee (16th county) and Sean Munjal (22nd county).
Add a much-improved sophomore, Sayer French, and senior Matt Tinnirella, who ran for the B team last season, and coach Al Dodds' Eagles can hope to finish among the top five at the county championship.
The girls' squad has lost five of its top seven from a team that was second in the county, first in the region and third in the state.
Veteran runner Neha Amin (eighth county) returns along with another of last season's top seven, senior Renika French.
Seniors Stephanie Martin and Jane Zhang, along with juniors Elizabeth Parker and Lori Fritz, hope to keep alive Centennial's proud tradition of strong teams.
Chapelgate: The Flames' top three boys' runners for coach Jeremy Alder are sophomores Matt Bryan, Jeremy Holroyd and Andy Young. The team has just six runners, however. "We're still building the boys' team," Alder said.
He expects better team results from the 12-member girls' squad. Leading the way will be sophomores Kristin Zang and Tessa Ring and senior Sarah Jahng. Alder thinks they have a chance to win the Washington Independent Schools Cross Country championship after finishing sixth last fall.
Glenelg: Veteran coach Roger Volrath believes his boys' team could be near the top if it can produce a strong fifth runner to go with the top four.
From a team that finished sixth in the county, second in the region and third in the state, four of his top five runners return, including Brian Selmer (14th county, third state), who won the Class 1A region title.
Other returnees are senior Sean Wright (47th county) and sophomores Jonathan Goldsmith (40th county) and Philip Selmer (42nd county).
The girls' team also shows potential but is nagged by injuries.
Senior Blair Heinke (51st county) had knee surgery in the spring. Senior Kirsten Hogan (20th county) has had a sore foot. Freshman Carrie Selmer is coming off a stress fracture last spring.
Junior Lauren Koutrolakos and sophomore Erika Morgan finish out the top five.
Glenelg Country School: Although the Dragons were the top B Division boys team at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championships last season, and return the top B Division runner, Hunter Eden, they've lost three of their top five runners and expect to struggle early.
Senior Jon Bullock returns, and freshman Mike Raybourne and sophomore Paul Turner show promise for coach Trey Cassidy.
In just its second year, the girls' team should be competitive in the Association of Independent Schools B Division. It includes sophomore Maria Pecklo, senior captain Laura Kolosvary, sophomore Mia Kelly and junior Katherine Cape.
Hammond: The Bears have a turnout of 21 boys and enough experience to raise their hopes for a top-five county finish in this, coach Larry Roberts' 25th season.
Junior Steve Rivas (29th county)is running No. 1, pressed by juniors Joe Blasi (33rd county) and Jeremy Miller. Seniors Sam Katz and Greg Burnett and sophomore Julius Chang fill out the top five.
The girls' team is led by senior Amanda Harrison (39th county). Senior Patti Shelton, juniors Caroline Baker and Sarah Mulhull and sophomore Sarah Haack complete the top five.
Howard: The Lions have 18 boys, led by three returnees, sophomore Andy Rosebrough (45th county) and seniors Richie Grantham (55th county) and Todd Goldfinger (61st county).
The girls' team features fourth-year runner Kristin Stickles (49th county), sophomore Bridgit Baker (35th county) and senior Jen Pribble (41st county).
Long Reach: Chuck Bragg, a successful baseball coach at Centennial before he became a school administrator, has returned to teaching and coaching and will guide the boys.
He'll try to build a program with junior Josh Siegert (52nd county), sophomore Philllp Harley, junior Keith Loudermill and five others.
The girls' team has only six participants, and like last season, is unlikely to field a complete team for the county championships.
Mount Hebron: The boys' team is looking to improve upon its eighth-place county finish of a year ago, and returns seniors Clint Miller (27th county) and Brad Parsons (43rd county).
Chad Zimmerman, a junior and former soccer player, senior Sid Murphy and freshman Nick Hoffner complete the top five.
"Hoffner is the best freshman I've seen for some time," coach Mark Agnew said. "We have a bunch pushing for the sixth and seventh spots."
The girls' team returns its top seven runners from last season, when the Vikings won the county title and were second at both regions and states.
Junior All-Metro performer Kate Frande (second county, second region, third state) leads a deep and talented squad that includes seniors Sheri Hyson (11th county), Mia Molfino (12th county, eighth state) and Erika Snook (22nd county), junior Lindsay Evens (30th county) and sophomores Sierra Charon (13th county) and Jamie Hiiliard (15th county).
In addition, juniors Jeni Hodges and Christina Schmiesing are back.
Oakland Mills: The legendary Steve Carnahan, who directed the Scorpions to eight state titles and 12 regional titles, has been replaced by Phil Lang, the captain of Oakland Mills' 1984 state championship team.
Lang, who ran at UMBC and Frostburg, was Carnahan's assistant for the past four seasons and will be assisted on varsity by his wife, Vicki. Two other former Scorpions runners, Jonathan Hill and Jason Tripp, are also assistant coaches.
Already Lang has found that a coach's life is not always smooth. His No. 1 runner, Adil Qaiyumi, broke a leg running outdoor track, then spent the summer in India and is currently ineligible.
Four other lettermen are back, however, including juniors Alex Bailey (25th county) and Brian Fleming (46th county) and seniors David Kay (38th county) and Geoff Glaesser (35th county). Kay and Glaesser are captains. Senior Jacob Jennifer was the top JV runner last season, and senior Wes Campbell is a first-year runner with an ice hockey background.
"It's a very promising team, and we still have hopes for a regional title," Lang said. Oakland Mills won a Class 1A regional title in a tiebreaker with Glenelg.
The girls' team returns three veterans from a squad that finished sixth in the county, third in the region and eighth in the state.
Senior Sarat Condon (18th county) and junior Danielle Stoddart (16th county) are the leading runners. Senior Fronica Schoey (50th county) and senior newcomer Kerry Peterson should help.
River Hill: The boys' team returns its top five finishers from the county meet, where it finished fourth. It also finished fourth in the state and third at regions.
"This could be as good as any team I've ever had," said veteran coach Earl Lauer.
The top four are seniors Mike Prada (third county, third region, fourth state), and Zach Heidepriem (fourth county, fourth region, 16th state), and juniors Seve Chu (18th county, 14th state) and Mike Styczynski (24th county).
Senior Dave Anderson (32nd county) and junior Justin Clark who didn't run last season, round out the top echelon.
Although the boys are favored to win the county, the girls, who finished fourth in the county, third in the region and fourth at states, should also, be good and push Mount Hebron for the top spot.
Three returning runners bolster the Hawks' hopes, including All-County junior Staci Mallare (sixth county, fourth region, fourth state), senior Kelli Bloch (10th county, sixth in the region, 17th state) and junior Anne Marie Lucas (25th county).
But destined to surpass those three is sophomore Leigh McDuff, who didn't run cross country her freshman year but should battle Mount Hebron's Kate Frande for this season's county title. She ran a 10:52 outdoor 2-mile at the state track meet last spring - the only girl in any class to break 11 minutes. Junior Becky Hurley, a former soccer and volleyball player, will probably be the Hawks' fifth runner and how she performs will determine how close the Hawks come to beating Mount Hebron.
Wllde Lake: The Wildecats, defending county and region boys champs, finished third in the state and have won three of the last four county titles under coach Charles Shoemaker. They return three runners among the top 19 at last season's county championships.
Second-team All-Metro Ben Coffman (fifth county, second region, fifth state) heads a strong list that includes three other seniors, Matt Daddio (15th county), Ayaz Hasan (19th county) ar David Wilson, and sophomore Matt Bryden.
The girls' team finished third in the county, first in the region and second at the states a year ago, and returns three of its top seven, including juniors Ashley Etue (26th county), Marissa Schwartz (19th county) and Kelly Goodwin (29th county). Seniors Allison Davis and Alice Cheung, and junior Nina Jackson are ready to step up.