This season has been outstanding for the cross country team. Both the boys and girls repeated as regional and county champions — with times better than last year’s –and the varsity roster has been taken over by sophomores and juniors.

The team has been an unstoppable force this year, allowing no one within the Maryland borders to interfere with their stretch WC for States. Yet, since the first day of workouts, the team knew that they were going to have to win with very limited support from their home school.

“Cross country really doesn’t seem to have the same fan base that other sports have at WJ, but it’s understandable,” said senior runner Sean O’Leary. “A meet can be pretty confusing if you don’t quite know what’s going on.“

After taking out any competition standing in their way in Montgomery County, the boys reigned victorious in every meet within the Maryland borders as well.  So when it came time to face all of their victims at once at the county championships, they were merciless. The boys took four of the top 10 spots, having four runners finish consecutively in fourth through seventh place. Senior Ishan Dey led the pack with a time of 16:31.

It seemed as though one triumphant win wasn’t enough, as both the boys and girls  set their sights on a second consecutive Regional Championship. They favored WJ team ran their pre-race striders, preparing to bear a second Regional crown.  That momentum carried throughout as the boys and girls swept the competition again. This time they took four of the top 11.

After sweeping to become back-to-back County and Regional champions, both teams have been called the heavy favorite to win at states and post a second championship banner in a row in the WJ gym. Yet coach Tom Martin looks to prepare for States this weekend the same way he prepares for every other race.

“We’re going to practice hard, train hard and do everything we’ve been doing throughout the year,” said Martin. “We’re also getting ready for [Nike Cross Nationals Qualifying Meet] North Carolina in two weeks.”

This Saturday, Nov. 14, the team will approach a familiar scene, as they go to States carrying the same scenario as last year along with them: County Champs, Regional Champs and the heavy favorite to post a State championship banner. One thing that is different this year is the distinguishing factor between them and the rest of Maryland.

“What really sets us apart from other teams is our work ethic,” said O’Leary. “I don’t know of any other teams in MoCo that laid down the heavy miles like we did over the summer. In fact, this also ends up being a weakness for us at times because we sometimes work too hard.”