Matt Jablonski may be gone, but Loyola still rules the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Kevin Corbusier led the way, winning without much trouble as top-ranked Loyola put four runners in the top 10 and claimed its third consecutive A Conference title in Wednesday's championship race at Oregon Ridge Park.
Much of the publicity Loyola received over the past few years focused on Jablonski, arguably one of the nation's top high school distance runners. Jablonski graduated in the spring and now runs for Oregon, but the Dons kept right on rolling without him.
Corbusier had a strong season this fall and won this race in 15 minutes, 52 seconds. The senior beat runner-up Will Meadows of Gilman by 12 seconds. Michael Wegner (sixth), Ted Terpos (seventh) and Tyler Spear (eighth) also finished in the top 10 for Loyola — eight seconds apart.
Hugh Monahan finished 16th as Loyola ended up with 38 points, easily beating No. 5 Gilman (66). This is the first time an MIAA team has won three consecutive championships in cross country since the conference changed over from the MSA in the early 1990s.
"Everyone focused on Matt, but we were good as a team besides him," Corbusier said. "I think we kind of surprised people this year."
Coach Jose Albornoz wasn't surprised. He expected big things from this team after seeing how hard his runners worked over the summer. Albornoz said they were ready to go right from the start this fall, and he knew the team had plenty of talent and depth — even without Jablonski.
"They picked up right where they left off," Albornoz said. "They really did the job."
Gilman put three runners in the top 10 Wednesday — Meadows, Sam Zunkeler (fourth) and Forrest Naylor (ninth).
John Carroll's Ben Pickett, coming all the way back from a collapsed lung that sidelined him during various stretches last year, finished third. Curley's Dave Ozarowski (fifth) and Spalding's Erik Hedlin (10th) rounded out the top 10.
St. Paul's won the B Conference title with 206 points. Boys' Latin took second place with 290.
Jack Hamed of the Crusaders was the top B Conference finisher at 14th overall (17:04). Hamed beat Severn's Chris Byrns by 39 seconds.
(Editor's Note: The final results were adjusted after an initial error in the scoring.)
MIAA Cross County Championships
(at Oregon Ridge Park)
A Conference
Team scores (top 5): 1. Loyola, 38; 2. Gilman, 66; 3. John Carroll, 82; 4. Calvert Hall, 126; 5. McDonogh, 162.
Individuals (top 10): 1. Corbusier (LOY), 15:52; 2. Meadows (GIL), 16:04; 3. Pickett (JC), 16:28; 4. Zunkeler (GIL), 16:30; 5. Ozarowski (CUR), 16:35; 6. Wegner (LOY), 16:38; 7. Terpos (LOY), 16:40; 8. Spear (LOY), 16:46; 9. Naylor (GIL), 16:52; 10. Hedlin (SPA), 16:56.
B Conference
Team scores (top 5): 1. St. Paul’s, 206; 2. Boys’ Latin, 290; 3. Glenelg Country, 342; 4. Severn, 359; 5. Friends, 398.
Individuals (top 10): 1. Hamed (SP), 17:04; 2. Byrns (SEV), 17:43; 3. Greenwald (FR), 17:46; 4. Tribble (PAR), 17:46; 5. Noble (SEV), 17:46; 6. Mullally (BL), 17:47; 7. Moreland (SP), 17:50; 8. Pickens (GCS), 17:53; 9. Heilman (LUT), 18:03; 10. Peters (SP), 18:12.