Championship Preview: Howard County

Howard County, one of the deepest counties in Maryland cross country along with Montgomery and Anne Arundel, comes together at a new course this year to compete for the championships on Friday. The new course is located at the Belmont Conference Center. It stretches 3.1 miles and is said to be very difficult, among the likings of Hereford High School (Bull Run, State Championships).

Returning county champions Alison Smith and Andrew Revelle, both from Atholton, are competing in the county competition for their last time. Both are the top picks for the county title again this year.

Girls
Individuals
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ALISON SMITH, Senior (Atholton)
The two-year state champion just recently returned to health after her injury during the Howard County Invite, but her impressive performance at Manhattan is justification for her final county campaign to be a success.
COULD BE: #1 SHOULD BE: #1
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ELIZABETH MCCARTER, Senior (Mount Hebron)
Probably the toughest athlete in Howard County, Hebron is typically overshadowed by Smith and Harman, despite being ranked in the top ten statewide. Beating Harman will be a long-awaited relief for McCarter, and a great start to her championship campaign.
COULD BE: #2 SHOULD BE: #2
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KATIE HARMAN, Sophomore (River Hill)
The county, region, and 3A state runner-up from 2005 has had an average season, but shows all the signs of having a great performance this Friday. She is capable of beating McCarter, but she will need a very strong race.
COULD BE: #2 SHOULD BE: #3
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ANGELI SIVARAMAN, Senior (Centennial)
The deep athlete started off the season with a bang, coming in sub-20:00 at Bull Run. An average race at Meade Autumn Classic questions her ability to maintain her #4 spot that she claimed at the county championship last fall.
COULD BE: #4 SHOULD BE: #4
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ELYSE BORISKO, Sophomore (Howard)
Howard County's rookie of the year has made improvments all year, recently slipping ahead of Angeli Sivaraman (Centennial) in the rankings, but her first chance to actually beat her comes Friday.
COULD BE: #4 SHOULD BE: #5
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KATIE WILLIAMS, Senior (Wilde Lake)
Williams will need to utilize her four years of experience in order to stay ahead of Shouse and Tsioumas Friday. Hopefully her light season that consisted of just two invitationals and a few league meets will work to her advantage.
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #6
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NICOLE SHOUSE, Sophomore (Howard)
The sophomore missed all-county honors by two positions last year, but has the talent to prevent that from repeating this year. She is dead even with Williams this season, Friday's race will determine who is tougher.
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #7
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JACLYN TSIOUMAS, Junior (Reservoir)
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #8
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MEGHAN YI, Junior (River Hill)
COULD BE: #7 SHOULD BE: #9
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LINDSEY SIFERD (Wilde Lake)
COULD BE: #7 SHOULD BE: #10
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SARAH BOONE, Sophomore (Wilde Lake)
COULD BE: #8 SHOULD BE: #11
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ALICIA SEELAUS, Sophomore (River Hill)
COULD BE: #8 SHOULD BE: #12
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KARA SWIRDOVICH (Wilde Lake)
COULD BE: #10 SHOULD BE: #13
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KERI WILSON, Junior (Long Reach)
COULD BE: #12 SHOULD BE: #14


Teams
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HOWARD
County's leading team was ranked stadewide earlier in the season. They are greatly improved from last season's 9th place county finish, but will need to pull out all the stops to outrun the fastly increasing Wilde Lake girls. WL beat Howard in a league meet earlier in the month. (Howard was missing their #2 runner at that meet, resulting in a 4-point loss to Wilde Lake)
COULD BE: #1 SHOULD BE: #1
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WILDE LAKE
This team has also made great progress this season, improving from 4th last season, and recently defeating Nos. 1 and 2 from last year's county championships - River Hill and Centennial.
COULD BE: #1 SHOULD BE: #2
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RIVER HILL
It's been a rough season for the returning county champs, but these girls have notable strength in races. A good race could send them back to the top two.
COULD BE: #2 SHOULD BE: #3
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MOUNT HEBRON
COULD BE: #3 SHOULD BE: #4
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CENTENNIAL
COULD BE: #4 SHOULD BE: #5


Boys
Individuals
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ANDREW REVELLE, Senior (Atholton)
Also a two-year state champion, Revelle is the clear favorite again this year.
COULD BE: #1 SHOULD BE: #1
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GRAHAM BAZELL, Sophomore (Atholton)
The fastest sophomore in the state has gotten closer to teammate Revelle with every race. He will look to improve from 4th to 2nd in the county this year.
COULD BE: #2 SHOULD BE: #2
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JP ALLERA, Senior (Wilde Lake)
Allera has not made any major improvements from last year, and will need to use his experience to beat Bazell for a second year.
COULD BE: #2 SHOULD BE: #3
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DEREK LANGE, Junior (Wilde Lake)
Athlete has had a great season, beating Allera at a league meet and coming within 11 seconds of him at a recent invitational.
COULD BE: #4 SHOULD BE: #4
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DEVON GILLETT, Senior (Hammond)
Leader of the "best of the rest" in the county. Has had a sucessful season.
COULD BE: #5 SHOULD BE: #5
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PERU WILLIAMS, Senior (Wilde Lake)
Newly sub-17:00 athlete leads Wilde Lakes 3-5 pack.
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #6
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JONATHAN SHAM, Sophomore (Wilde Lake)
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #7
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EVAN ANDERSON, Sophomore (Wilde Lake)
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #8
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BRIAN ALLEN, Senior (Reservoir)
COULD BE: #6 SHOULD BE: #9
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JAKE WILLIAMS, Sophomore (Reservoir)
COULD BE: #8 SHOULD BE: #10
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CRAIG MORGAN, Sophomore (River Hill)
COULD BE: #9 SHOULD BE: #11
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JASON HARMAN, Junior (River Hill)
COULD BE: #10 SHOULD BE: #12
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SEAN KIRBY (River Hill)
COULD BE: #11 SHOULD BE: #13
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RYAN STEINBACK, Sophomore (Mount Hebron)
COULD BE: #10 SHOULD BE: #14


Teams
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WILDE LAKE
The No. 2 team in the state will have no trouble snatching this title again this year, or either of the other two titles they're after, for that matter.
COULD BE: #1 SHOULD BE: #1
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RIVER HILL
Another strong team is in a very boring position - not good enough to top Wilde Lake, but considerably stronger than the rest of the county.
COULD BE: #2 SHOULD BE: #2
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ATHOLTON
COULD BE: #3 SHOULD BE: #3
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MOUNT HEBRON
COULD BE: #3 SHOULD BE: #4
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RESERVOIR
COULD BE: #4 SHOULD BE: #5