The best team effort of the season resulted in top-five finishes in all four races for the Marshall cross country teams at the 19-school Knight Invitational on Friday, Sept. 28 at Montgomery College.

Junior Christy Friend finished third to lead the girls to a runner-up trophy in the JV race. Juniors Theresa Kattula (8th) and Natalia King (9th), sophomore Lexi Witman (10th) and senior Gail Reese (13th) rounded out the scoring, while freshman Sam Belcher (19th) and junior Sara Hoffmann (20th) also earned top-20 finishes in the 95-runner race.

Sophomore Beth Stein placed 11th out of 108 runners and junior Liz Tran finished 13th to earn individual medal honors and pace the varsity girls to a fourth-place showing. Junior Lara Simonton (27th) turned in her best performance of the season, followed by junior Jessica Lee (29th) and sophomore Jacqui Yahn (34th).

Senior Tim Eckard (11th) ran one of the finest races of his high school career to spark the varsity boys to a fifth-place finish. Senior Jorge Mendoza (13th), sophomore Doug Shapiro (14th) and freshman Justin Harper (22nd) also stood out in the 126-runner field, while junior Sharif Sabur (64th) closed out the scoring for the Statesmen.

Junior Brad Mader (4th of 258 runners) helped the JV boys finish fourth. Senior David Wadley (11th), sophomore Matt Belcher (15th) and freshman Red Daly (24th) also ran well.

Official Results

Girls Varsity Results
1. Walter Johnson 47
2. Gaithersburg 56
3. Quince Orchard 98
4. Marshall 109
5. Churchill 145
6. Northwest 167
7. Blair 184
8. Wootton 200
9. Bethesda-Chevy Chase 223
10. Springbrook 268
11. Damascus 333
12. Watkins Mill 335
13. Blake 373
INC Einstein
INC Kennedy
INC Rockville
INC Seneca Valley
INC Sherwood
INC Wheaton

Marshall Varsity Girls
11. Beth Stein 22:12
13. Liz Tran 22:21
27. Lara Simonton 23:27
29. Jessica Lee 23:31
34. Jacqui Yahn 23:45
46. Laura Colello 24:29
51. Zoe Van Gelder 24:52
(108 total runners)

Girls JV Top Five Teams
1. Walter Johnson 21
2. Marshall 43
3. Wootton 105
4. Northwest 107
5. Quince Orchard 117

Marshall JV Girls
3. Christy Friend 24:32
8. Theresa Kattula 25:18
9. Natalia King 25:25
10. Lexi Witman 25:28
13. Gail Reese 25:40
19. Sam Belcher 26:05
20. Sara Hoffmann 26:11
21. Melissa Menke 26:12
26. Angela Carrato 26:37
34. Jesica Nunez 26:53
71. Nehal Sabah 29:33
72. Sonia Benjelloun 29:40
90. Kim Tran 33:07
(95 total runners)

Boys Varsity Results
1. Gaithersburg 69
2. Northwest 76
3. Damascus 108
4. Walter Johnson 118
5. Marshall 123
6. Blair 202
7. Sherwood 209
8. Wootton 229
9. Seneca Valley 239
10. Quince Orchard 272
11. Bethesda-Chevy Chase 308
12. Watkins Mill 321
13. Blake 369
14. Wheaton 370
15. Churchill 427
16. Springbrook 444
17. Kennedy 466
18. Rockville 474
INC Einstein

Marshall Varsity Boys
11. Tim Eckard 18:17
13. Jorge Mendoza 18:26
14. Doug Shapiro 18:32
22. Justin Harper 18:46
64. Sharif Sabur 20:17
69. Irving Duncan 20:29
70. Jesse Bradford 20:32
(126 total runners)

Boys JV Top Five Teams
1. Northwest 46
2. Gaithersburg 54
3. Walter Johnson 62
4. Marshall 85
5. Damascus 107

Marshall JV Boys
4. Brad Mader 19:30
11. David Wadley 20:02
15. Matt Belcher 20:08
24. Red Daly 20:33
31. Jeff Barnes 20:49
43. Stephen Somers 21:18
48. Andrew Campos 21:25
59. Michael Eckard 21:40
85. Juan Nunez 22:18
96. Keith Born 22:28
99. Ryan McElveen 22:30
104. Kevin Davis 22:32
108. Alex Finnell 22:43
124. Ryan Tumulty 23:22
136. A.J. Frank 23:38
182. Dennis Witowski 25:06
(258 total runners)