The Top 15
1. Calvert Hall
The Cardinals won the MIAA A Conference championship last year by 41.5 points over Gilman and have plenty of returning talent, including Sean Johnson and Thomas Smith IV, who won the 55 dash and 55 hurdles, respectively. They also have MIAA cross country champion Owen Johnson, who finished second in the 1,600 and 3,200 indoors last season.
2. South River
The Seahawks won the Anne Arundel County championships before finishing third at the 4A Central region meet and third at the 4A state meet. They are led by Sam Keeny, who won the 4A state championship in cross country and should compete in the 1,600 and 3,200, as well as Corey Troxler, the state champion in the pole vault who also scored in the long jump at the state meet.
3. Dulaney
The Lions won the Baltimore County title and the 4A Central before finishing fourth at the 4A state meet. They are talented across the spectrum of events, led by Abdur Henley and JR Harrison, who finished first and second, respectively, at the region meet last season.
4. Century
The Knights won the Carroll County title before finishing second at the 2A West and second at the 2A state meet. Though there is a solid amount of returning talent, they will need to replace the production from departed Athlete of the Year Jalen Stanton.
5. Howard
The Lions won the Howard County title and finished second in the 4A Central before tying for ninth at the state meet with Mervo. They should be competitive, especially on their strength in the field events, particularly with Collin Greene and Christopher Joseph.
6. Harford Tech
The Cobras won the 2A Central before finishing in a tie for third at the 2A state meet with Oakland Mills. They will be strong in the distance events, led by Kevin Baranoski, who had a strong cross country season and finished third in the 3,200 at the 2A meet, as well as Daron and Zachary Taylor, who will be featured on relays.
7. Gilman
The Greyhounds finished a distant second to Calvert Hall at last year’s MIAA A championships but could challenge for the top spot given the high number of returning runners, including Beck Wittstadt, who ran a 4:26 to finish third in the 1,600 run at the championship meet.
8. Mervo
The Mustangs finished third at the Baltimore City championships before finishing fourth in the 4A Central and tying for ninth in the state with Howard. They should challenge again with the return of Josiah Grant, who scored in four events at the 4A state meet.
9. Mount St. Joseph’s
The Gaels finished third at the MIAA A championships, just seven points behind Gilman, and will score lots of points in the field events, where they return the high jump and triple jump champion and long jump runner-up in Donte Thornton, as well as Kai Herbert, who finished second in the high jump.
10. Severna Park
The Falcons finished third at the Anne Arundel meet before a fifth-place finish at the 4A Central. Their points will come from their distance core, including Jake Gelfand, Carson Sloat and Nick Engleman, who helped lead the school to a state cross country championship.
11. McDonogh
The Eagles finished fourth at the MIAA A championships and return a solid amount of talent, including Spencer Pett and Isaiah Kessler, who finished second in the 800 and pole vault, respectively.
12. Digital Harbor
The Rams were second at the Baltimore City championships before winning the 3A Central and finishing fourth at the 3A state meet. A lot of scoring talent has graduated but Shaun Getzen and Afeez Bhadmus return from an 800 relay that took second at the 3A state meet.
13. Arundel
The Wildcats were runners-up at last year’s Anne Arundel championships and could be poised for bigger things with the return of several key runners, including Tanner Piotrowski, who is coming off a big cross country season and is the returning indoor state champion in the 800.
14. South Carroll
The Cavaliers finished second at the Carroll County championships before finishing third in the 2A West. They will be led by John Kettula, who scored points in both the 800 and 1,600 last year at the 2A state meet.
15. Oakland Mills
The Scorpions finished fourth at both the Howard County championships and 2A Central before surging to a third-place finish at the 2A state meet. They will need new runners to step up as they have no returning runners who scored at that 2A state meet.
Others considered: Archbishop Spalding, Dundalk, Franklin, Mount Hebron, Pikesville, River Hill