Archbishop Curley didn't have to make many changes to lock up its first win at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship meet since 1990. But one small change helped McDonogh sophomore Tristram Thomas beat Spalding's J.J. Wetzel for the first time and win the individual title.
The second-ranked Friars once again relied on their pack of strong runners, placing four in the top 10 to win the team title in yesterday's meet at Oregon Ridge. Curley finished with 56 points, topping McDonogh (70), which had three runners in the top 10 but couldn't overtake the balanced Friars.
Curley had been nearly perfect this season, going 7-0 in dual meets and winning its division at the Bull Run Invitational plus the team titles at the McQuaid Jesuit Meet (N.Y.) and the Mervo Invitational.
"We had the talent and we did what we had to do," Curley coach Gene Hoffman said. "This has been like a dream year, and I enjoyed every bit of it."
The Friars struck gold by putting the four runners in the top 10. Erik Silwick (third), Eric Hanson (fifth), Warren Kus (ninth) and Jonathan Salamone (10th) led the way. Mike Timberlake finished 18th, rounding out the solid top five Curley has depended upon all season.
But Curley lacked depth after the top five and Hoffman said the Friars had to stay away from injuries. That's how the team ended its 12-year title drought and gave Hoffman his sixth championship in 26 years - Curley won four times in the '80s and once more in 1990.
"We had five really solid kids, but we needed those five to stay healthy," Hoffman said.
Injuries held Thomas out of last year's meet, but he had been pointing toward winning the title meet throughout the fall season.
However, he first had to figure out a way to get past Wetzel. The Spalding senior had beaten Thomas in four other meetings this year, prompting the McDonogh coaches to suggest an alternate plan of attack for this race.
They told Thomas not to jump out and take the lead against Wetzel as he had done in their other races. Instead, they suggested letting Wetzel do the work and go out front with Thomas making a move around the two-mile mark.
The plan worked perfectly. Thomas stayed neck-and-neck with Wetzel for the first two miles before charging to win in 16:38, beating the Spalding runner by 32 seconds.
"This is the first time I've beaten him this year or in cross country," Thomas said. "It makes this very sweet."
It also was a sweet day for the Glenelg Country School team. The Dragons had little trouble winning the MIAA B Conference title. Glenelg's 132 points gave it an easy victory over second-place Park (249).
Alek Pivec of St. Mary's was the individual winner in 17:23, three seconds in front of Glenelg Country School's Greg Koffel. The Dragons then had Peter Nash, Dan Loeb and Alex Owens take sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Glenelg Country School was 13-0 in dual meets this year and had looked toward winning the title after finishing a close second to St. Mary's last year.
"They were definitely ready for a win this year," Glenelg coach Trey Cassidy said. "They ran very well ... together and [as a pack]."