Blair Boys’ Cross Country wins Counties for the first time

On a brisk October morning at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the Montgomery County Cross Country (XC) Championships were underway. The air was crisp and filled with the quiet tension of race day. The Blair’s boys’ varsity team was preparing to compete. Since August, the team had logged hundreds of miles, pushing themselves through grueling practices and long runs. This race, however, was not just another meet. For Blair’s varsity team, it was a shot at history.

Despite being one of the top teams in the county, Blair’s boys’ cross-country team had never won a county championship — at least not since a new meet format was introduced in 1977. But this year was different. 

Hours after the race began, as the final scores were tallied, the months of hard work and preparation paid off. Blair had done it. Blair had won counties. 

Boys' Varsity XC 2024

Photo: The 2024 boys' varsity cross country team.

The 2024 boys' varsity cross country team. Photo courtesy of Erich Ramos.

A close-knit group

The season began in August, with Blair’s boys’ varsity cross-country team preparing for another year of competition. The team started the season with plenty of optimism, though success was far from guaranteed. Through the summer and preseason months, the boys ran through the sweltering morning heat for two hours, five days a week. When school started, they kept at the rigorous schedule, running upwards of 50 miles a week by the end of the season. 

Even in the preseason, the boys knew they had a shot at the win. “We knew we were going to be good this year,” junior captain and boys’ varsity runner Erich Ramos says. “We didn’t know how good, but most of us have been running together since freshman year, so this felt like our year to shine.”

Another varsity runner, junior Benjamin Burckle, shared a similar sentiment. “We were all very close,” he explains. “Most of the boys’ varsity team this year, pretty much all of us, are juniors. We’ve been doing this together since freshman year.”

That connection extended far beyond practices and races. Between meets, the boys bonded over meals, shared inside jokes, and supported one another in and out of training. For Ramos, those moments meant a lot. “We hung out together, got food sometimes. We slept at the same house, traveled together,” Ramos says. “They’re some of my best friends in the world right now.”

The pack mentality

The key factor to Blair winning counties this year was defined by this team connection. Instead of relying on standout individual performances, the boys focused on running as a “pack.” “Having all of us come in so clustered, as a pack, definitely helped us in our win,” Burckle explains. 

In cross-country, team scores are determined by adding the placements of the top five runners per team in one event, to achieve the lowest possible total. A tight “spread” – the time difference between the first and fifth finishers – can make or break a team’s chances.

At their season opener, the Hood College Invitational, Blair’s varsity runners stayed close together, and the results reflected it. “When I saw how close everyone’s times were, I knew we had something special,” Ramos says. “It wasn’t just about individual improvements — it was about what we could do as a pack.”

As the season progressed, the team’s spread continued to shrink, eventually narrowing to just under forty seconds by the county championship. Assistant coach and math teacher Edward Kirk recognized that this strategy would set Blair apart. “Our team didn’t have to rely on one or two stars,” Kirk explains. “Every runner mattered. That’s what made us so competitive.”

The depth of Blair’s roster proved important as the team faced challenges. Some runners struggled with mental blocks, while others dealt with injuries, but their pack-running strategy ensured that even when one runner had a tough day, others could push themselves to make up the gap. “The team has always seemed to step up when it matters most,” Ramos says. 

The day they made history 

When the team arrived at Bohrer Park, they settled into their pre-race routines. Some jogged lightly to shake off the early-morning stiffness, while others focused on their stretches. Their chatter and laughter began to fade as the boys turned their attention to warm-up drills and exercises, building focus for the challenge ahead.

Once the starting gun went off, the Blair runners moved as planned, falling into their stride and focusing on running as fast as possible The course at Bohrer Park, with its rolling hills, was challenging, but the team stayed close together, working as a unit to maintain their pace.

Burckle recalls how the race panned out in the first mile. “We were all really close together,” he says. “When we started, Evan, Stuart, Satchel, and Aiden were in a tight group, and John was right there too. Erich was a little ahead, and I was just behind them.”

From the sidelines, Kirk watched the race continue, tracking the runners’ positions through the last two miles. “We could see we were in a good spot, but it was going to come down to the wire,” he says.

As the runners crossed the finish line, the tension built. Coaches, teammates, and spectators crowded around the live results, waiting to see how the team had performed.

“When the results came in, it was incredible,” Kirk says. “We knew it would be close, but we pulled it off.”

Blair’s victory in counties came by a slim margin of just eight points, beating out the eventual state champion Whitman for the win. Their tightly packed finish proved to be the deciding factor, an impressive accomplishment for a team with no individual runners placing in the top 10. This collective effort marked the end of the race and the start of a historic moment for Blair cross-country.

Looking forward 

For the runners, the victory at counties was the culmination of years of effort and progress as a team. Even with the county championship trophy in hand, the team isn’t satisfied. After a regional meet where they placed second and a challenging day at states, they’ve already set their sights on what’s next. “We know that we can win states [in 2025],” Ramos explains. “That’s our biggest goal for next year.”

For Kirk, this season has been a source of pride and excitement for what lies ahead. “These students made Blair history,” he says. “And with all of them coming back next year, it’s going to be really special to see what they can do.”