The Bethesda Chevy Chase boys team won its second consecutive XC team county title bringing its all-time win count to three. As a school, B-CC has eight combined boys and girls team county titles which ties for fourth most in meet history.
This year's B-CC boys are just the second male repeat county champions in the past fifteen years. Only Northwood boys of 2018 and 2019 repeated as boys county champs in that time frame. Prior to 2011, repeating was more common. This year's B-CC boys are the tenth boys team to win two or more consecutive county titles in meet history.
B-CC, Sherwood, and Montgomery Blair took the top three spots in the boys standings for the second consecutive year. I would have bet all the money that the top three teams have never repeated places, but it has happened before in 1991 and 1992 when Whitman, Quince Orchard, and Walter Johnson were the top three boys teams in two consecutive years at the county meet.
Damascus (9th) made a return to the top ten in the boys team standings for the first time since 2010.
Whitman (5th) has the new longest running streak of top ten finishes in the boys standings with ten consecutive county meets finishing in the top ten.
Girls Teams
The Whitman girls team won its twelfth all-time girls team county title and first since 2019. This ties Whitman with Walter Johnson for most girls team titles in meet history (12). When combining all-time boys and girls team titles, Whitman High School now has 26 combined boys and girls county titles which by far leads the county.
The Whitman girls team's top-5 spread was 2:47 which is the widest spread by a winning team that we have sufficient data on going back to 1996.
Several girls teams maintained long streaks finishing in the top ten at the MCPS Championship: Whitman (43+), Wootton (24), B-CC (19), and Walter Johnson (14).
Einstein's girls team (8th) returned to the top ten for the first time since 2014.
Montgomery Blair's girls team (3rd) placed higher than the school ever had before. Its previous best team finish was fourth place in 2016 and 2017. Blair also had its lowest girls team point total in meet history (134). Its previous lowest team point total was 138 in 2016.
Individual Accolades
Dimitrios Rementelas of Sherwood became the eighth all-time boy to repeat as Montgomery County individual champion. Other names on that list are Tom Eagleson (Whitman), Pascal Dobert (Whitman), Jarrett Van Tine (B-CC), Andrew Jesien (Walter Johnson), Chase Weaverling (Poolesville), Rohann Asfaw (Richard Montgomery), Nathaniel Swanson (Winston Churchill). No boy has ever won three Montgomery County XC titles.
Rementelas's time of 15:50.0 was #21 in meet history on the Bohrer Park Course.
Nir Arieli of Walter Johnson (10th) became the first freshman boy to earn All-County (top ten) since Andrew Palmer of Whitman High School finished 9th at the county meet in 2006. Montgomery Blair's Wesley Blenksinsop was 12th this year. Arieli and Blenkinsop are in elite company with names like Andrew Palmer, Richard Montgomery's Garrett Suhr (11th in 2016), Northwest's Chris Miller (12th in 2007), and Whitman's Paul Tufaro (5th in 1996) who placed highly at the county championship meet as freshmen. The only two male athletes to earn All-County (top ten) at the county meet four times were Andrew Palmer of Whitman class of 2011 and Paul Tufaro of Whitman class of 2000. Nir Arieli and Andrew Palmer have a common head coach in Steve Hays.
Eleanor Finnegan became the second all-time county champion from Wootton High School (female or male). The other name on that short list is Jessie Rubin from 2009.
Finnegan's time of 18:20.0 was the #10 all-time performance on the Bohrer Park course. She improved on her runner-up time from the previous county championship meet by 21 seconds. 18:20 is the third fastest time recorded on the course by a sophomore girl.
Behind Finnegan, Madeline Kelly of Clarksburg (18:28.0) recorded the #13 all-time performance on the course. Maya Gros-Slovinska of Whitman (18:36.0) recorded the #16 all-time performance on the course. And, after not being able to finish her sophomore and junior cross country seasons due to injuries, Katherine Morey of Churchill (2026) tied Katherine Morey of Churchill (2023) for the #42 all-time performance on the course (18:54).
Madeline Kelly's 18:28 was the fastest performance on the Bohrer Park course by a girl from Clarksburg High School. Kelly's second place finish tied Lucie Noall (2nd in 2013) and Will Bertrand (2nd in 2012) as the highest placing finishers in meet history from Clarksburg High School.
Madeline Kelly and Nya Stoian of B-CC became three-time All-County (top ten) finishers.
Adelaide Ryan was the first female runner from Gaithersburg High School to earn All-County (top ten) since Abby Spitler in 2009.
