For the third straight year, and with a different top individual finisher each time, the Potomac School Panthers continued atop the throne as conference cross-country champs.
The boys high-school team had scored a meet-best 24 points to win the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference varsity title Oct. 26 on the 5,000-meter Agricultural Farm Park course in Derwood, Md.
Georgetown Day was second with 45 points.
Potomac School coach Meredith Valmon said a race strategy of “patience” paid off for the runners, along with a strong work ethic during the summer to prepare for the fall season.
“They combine talent and a lot of hard work,” Valmon said of team members. “We felt we were in a strong position to do well again in this race.”
The Panthers were led by junior Luke Carter, who won the race. He surged to the title by passing James Mirembe of St. James to win in 16:37.79. Mirembe of St. James was second in 16:41.
Carter, second in last year’s race, was one of five Potomac School runners to finish in the top nine.
Senior Noah Altschuler was third in 16:42, junior Trip Moser fourth (16:45), junior Eli Levine seventh (17:14) and senior Zach Dalva-Baird ninth (17:32). Also for the Panthers, senior Javier Almonte was 12th (17:58) and junior Avi Agrawal 18th (18:24).
Moser also was fourth in last year’s race and Levine finished ninth.
Valmon stressed the importance of bringing back a strong core of runners each year. Potomac School’s race winners of the last two MAC championships graduated the previous two Junes.
The Flint Hill boys placed sixth in this season’s boys MAC championships. Bensten Schone was their top runner in 14th (18:04), Evan McLaughlin finished 30th (19:25.94) and Micah Krasner 32nd (19:29).
Next, the Potomac School boys will try to win a third straight Division I private school state championship. That meet is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7 at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, a few miles north of Charlottesville. That course is where the NCAA men’s and women’s championships were held last fall.
Carter was 10th in last year’s state meet, Levine 12th and Moser 16th.
NOTE: Also at the MAC championships on Oct. 26, Potomac School’s Josh Reinecke won the freshman/sophomore boys race in 18:58 and Hugh Antonik was third in the varsity B race (18:28). Valmon said each has the potential to be key future varsity runners.
