Landon varsity cross-country tested its mettle against 13 other teams Saturday at the Interstate Classic in Clear Spring, MD, securing a solid fourth-place finish overall to wrap up what has been an auspicious fortnight of preseason training for the Bears. Despite the absence of rookie Adam Brill '13 on Saturday, the squad ran with great courage and a collaborative spirit, both of which bode extremely well for their chances in the IAC this fall.

Indomitable veteran Jack Strabo '10 blasted his way to fourth place in a field of 105 runners, holding off Berkeley Springs' John Mundey (who beat Strabo last weekend at Morgantown) and Winters Mill's Tom Carpenter to keep his team in contention. Ricky Dallavecchia '10 took the 22nd position for Landon in his first race of the season, edging out Ryan "Dog" Dougherty '11, who finished 27th overall. Ceena Modarres '10 and an ailing Jack Falvey '11 paced each other nicely and took 35th and 36th, respectively. Henry Zhu '10 and Brian Liu '12, rounded out Landon's varsity crew with top-60 finishes.

In JV action, Duncan Harvey '10 wound his way through hundreds of runners to finish in the top 50; both Harvey and gritty sophomore Worth Smith finished with impressive sub-20 times. Mark Strabo '12 also looked sharp, setting his own PR for the Clear Spring course by a huge margin and finishing in the top 100. Kevin Keena '12 returned to action with a strong race that placed him in the top half of an enormous field of runners.

Thanks to all those who helped make Landon's pre-season campaign a great success. The team returns to action Friday afternoon at the Magruder Invitational.

Photos can be found at Tristaterunnur.com