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	Photo by Doug Koontz The boys varsity runners charge off from The starting line during the Mountain Run at Woodsboro Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Chris Lewis' TJ girls have produced a pair of close, second-place finishes in some large, early-season meets. TJ's most recent second-place team finish came on Wednesday at the Mountain Run Invitational at Woodsboro Park.

Brunswick 's Sara Fisher, who was the overall winner at the Brunswick Invitational on Saturday, finished second in Wednesday's race behind individual winner Maura Linde, of Century, who crossed the finish line in 19 minutes, 13.2 seconds. Fisher's time was 19:15 and TJ's top runner was Stephanie Bryan, who finished third.

The top county boys finisher was Walkersville 's Steven Keith, who finished eighth (17:38.7).

The Patriots girls were edged out by Century, 48-58. On Saturday, the TJ girls were edged by Towson in the Barnhart Invitational at Dulaney High School in Timonium. With a pair of close runner-up finishes under their belts, Lewis said better things should be ahead for the team.

"It's the first time they've done this," Lewis said of the summer camp experience. "It worked out really well."

Lewis said he thought TJ would have a chance at overtaking Century, but the Knights had too many runners up front. "Century really packed it in the top positions," he said. "It was a real challenge."

Bryan, who won at Dulaney on Saturday, said she was hoping to repeat on Wednesday, but Linde was able to maintain her advantage down the stretch. "Maura is just an incredible runner," Lewis said. "And Century is such a strong team with her."

Bryan, a junior, said a big difference between the Woodsboro course and the Dulaney course was simple. Woodsboro features a challenging hill whereas the Dulaney course was flat.

"That was one big hill," Bryan said. "It's mentally more challenging and you have to play it by ear. With the Dulaney course, speed was the big thing."

Bryan also said the Woodsboro course featured no changes from the previous year. In the past, race officials had to alter the course somewhat if the weather was bad.

The TJ girls placed all seven of its runners in the top 25. In addition to Bryan in second, other scoring runners include Kristin Luttrell, sixth; Kelsey Igo, eighth; Amanda Caudle, 20th and Kristen Galligan, 21st.

Urbana 's Kathryn Fossaceca finished seventh (21:12). The Hawks were third in the team standings. Middletown 's girls were seventh, with Marissa Gastelle in 36th place (23:20.40). Nikki Roskowinski was 49th for Walkersville (24:08).

Caroline Delaney finished 37th for Tuscarora (23:25.7); Frederick 's Elise Cooper was 45th (23:54.4) and Catoctin's Kristi Steiner was 39th (23:30.6).

Keith, who finished third in Saturday's meet at Brunswick , said while he practices on the Woodsboro course during the week, he's not too fond of the hills.

"The hills just kill me," Keith said. "And we practice on them every day."

Winters Mill won the boys team title (51) and Middletown was second (104). The Walkersville boys got fourth.

Shifting his focus to Saturday, Keith said he is looking forward to the race at Oatlands. "There will be some tough teams there," he said."

South Carroll's Jake Zamostny won the boys race (16:40.8). Middletown 's Brad Dailey had a top-25 finish in 12th (17:55.10), teammate William Atchison was 15th, Willie Owens got 18th and Tom Brinton was 25th.

Walkersville 's Christian Blackner finished 14th and Luke Zeller finished 23rd.

TJ boys coach Nick Snyder took a different approach to Wednesday's meet. Instead of putting his main team on the course, he said he opted to run his second-line runners, holding his key athletes back for Saturday's Oatlands Invitational, near Leesburg, Va.

The Patriots were ninth in the team standings with Josh Chand leading the way in 35th (18:40.5). Frederick 's George Martinez finished 29th (18:31.7); Catoctin's Colin DuBois was 79th (20:01.9); Brunswick 's Ben Crutchley was 87th (20:31.4) and Tuscarora's Jamiel Majett was 54th (19:23.9).