On Oct. 24, the Cross Country team competed at the Montgomery County Championships at Gaithersburg High School.

Many of the Viking cross country runners have been plagued with illness and injuries, but despite these obstacles, the boys and girls varsity teams both finished fourth overall.

In the girls varsity race, sophomore Anna Ryba clocked a time of 19:19, earning her a fifth place finish. This was five seconds faster than her time on last year’s course which had better conditions. Along with Ryba, senior Shayna Barbash and freshman Caroline Elmendorf had strong showings.

Andrew Palmer led the way for the boys team, winning his first county cross country title in a time of 15:43. Senior Brandt Silver-Korn also helped propel the boys to a strong overall finish by placing ninth in 16:40. The boys number three to seven runners ran in a pack during much of the race, helping them finish within only thirty seconds of each other.

The Vikings look to continue their success into the Maryland 4A Regional Championships at Watkins Mill on Nov. 5.