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Merely speaking the words "Hereford High School" can be enough to send chills through the state's high school cross country runners.

Becoming a champion in Maryland means an inevitable date with the Bull Run state championship course at Hereford, regarded as one of the toughest 5-kilometer courses in the nation.

"I think mentally, it's a big deal because they're already afraid of it," said Bowie High coach Richard Andrulonis.

Runners from across the state will gather at the course Saturday morning for the state championship meet. One of the biggest mistakes runners and coaches can make is running the course without prior preparation, whether it's knowing the nuances of the course and forming a strategy, getting proper training for the course's numerous hills or coming in with tired legs.

The course was once picked as the toughest high school course in the nation by John Dye, who founded and runs the comprehensive national running Web site Dyestat.com. Without question, the course has an intimidation factor.

"The first year I had this group and went up there it was really funny," Charles H. Flowers coach Tracee Gilchrist said of her team. "The kids knew nothing about cross country period. To take them up there and have them witness a true cross country course, they were kind of taken back. But even though it was so tough, they actually liked it."

Many teams say practicing or competing on the course before the state championships is essential.

"My assistant coach and I drove our runners up there," Andrulonis said of the team's Oct. 31 training session. "I timed them to let them get familiar with the course. That's why we wanted to go up there. We wanted to take them up there so they wouldn't be shocked."

The county is guaranteed at least two individual regional champions every year, as the 4A South Region is comprised entirely of Prince George's schools.

But this season, the county got four regional champions. Frederick Douglass senior Gloria Roberts won the girls' 2A South Region title. Forestville Military Academy senior Ekundayo Sogbesan won the girls' 1A South Region championship. Eleanor Roosevelt's Charles Bolinger and Amirah Johnson won the 4A South Region boys' and girls' titles, respectively.

Two of the biggest surprises in last week's regional meets came in the 1A South, where both the Fairmont Heights girls' and boys' teams along with the Surrattsville boys qualified for the state championships.

Fairmont Heights was one of only two complete girls' teams to compete in the 1A South Region and earned a berth to the state championships, finishing second with 34 points. Jovany Smith-Gale took third place, followed by Chancelle Ndomfeng (fifth), Laquannea Whitmire (11th), Danielle Jackson (13th) and Daja Tyree (17th).

The Fairmont Heights boys also finished second and will be represented at the state meet by sophomore Deion Lee (fourth), senior Yaw Adjei (13th) and Devron Ross (15th).

E-mail Terron Hampton at thampton@gazette.net.

State Cross country championship meet

When: 10 a.m. Saturday

Where: Hereford High School, Parkton

County 4A qualifiers

Girls' teams: Charles H. Flowers, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bowie,

Oxon Hill.

Girls' individual qualifiers: Amirah Johnson (Roosevelt), T'Nay Williams (Flowers), Asia Lewis (Flowers), Danielle Calhoun

(Roosevelt), Danielle Gainer (Flowers), Elizabeth Carino

(Parkdale), Neema Rowe

(Roosevelt), Lydia Nichols-Russell (Roosevelt), Alexxis Walston (Suitland), Nicole Franklin

(Flowers), Camille Washington (Flowers), Deseree' King (Oxon Hill), Elise Allen (Roosevelt),

Taylor Blackwell (High Point) and Nicole Scott (Roosevelt).

Boys' teams: Eleanor Roosevelt, Bowie and Henry A. Wise.

Boys' individual qualifiers: Charles Bolinger (Roosevelt), Justin Ahalt (Roosevelt), Paul Yuan (Roosevelt), Troy Browne (Flowers), J.D. Thornton (Suitland), Cullen Mosely (Parkdale),

Adam Snyder (Roosevelt), Trevon White (Wise); Gerardo Amaya (Bowie), Carl White (Roosevelt),

Alan Ottenstein (Bowie), Nelson Danachi (Parkdale), Kevin King (Wise), Adrian Miller (Wise) and Dera Nwosu (Bladensburg).