By Jack Armstrong ’15

The cross country team competed at the Montgomery County Championships at Gaithersburg on October 18, finishing the regular season strong.

Overall the girls’ varsity team finished 11th out of 24 teams, while the boys’ varsity team finished 12th. Senior Jefferson Ruiz led the boys’ side. Ruiz finished seventeenth out of 227 runners with a time of 16:43. Junior Amanda Hayes-Puttfarcken finished 6th with a time of 19:13, setting a new personal record.

As both teams prepare to compete at the Regional Championships at Dulaney on October 30, they must focus on pacing and pack running.

“We have been focusing more on pace and less on mileage as the season has progressed,” says senior varsity runner Owen Miller. “Our main strength is pack running with Jefferson as our only standout runner so we train fast and in packs so we’ll be able to run as a team.”

Regionals consists of the top seven runners from each high school in the 4A North division. The team will likely finish in the top half and qualify for States on November 8.

States Update, November 10:

On November 8, the cross country team competed in the State Championships at Hereford High School. The team had many strong performances including senior Jefferson Ruiz and juniors Amanda Hayes-Puttfarcken and Madeline Peloff.

The boys’ team placed 14th out of 24 teams, and the girls’ placed 9th out of 23. Junior Amanda Hayes-Puttfarcken finished 13th with a time of 19:50. Senior Jefferson Ruiz performed well, finishing 26th with 17:08. Junior Madeline Peloff finished 29th with a time of 20:45, respectively.