There appears to be a few shiny new additions prepared to extend the rich history of distance runners in Montgomery County. The newest member in the not-so-exclusive club? A freshman "tomboy" from Albert Einstein High School.

Her name: Victoria Cabellos. Her resume: a third place finish in the indoor state meet in the 800 meters and an early promotion to anchor on the Titan 3,200 relay, which took sixth at states.

"She's the kind of kid who just runs around and runs around," Einstein coach Eric DaSilva said of Cabellos, his No. 1 runner in her first year with the program. "She's an energetic young lady."

Her ability to run around and run around and keep running around portends a wave of new runners prepared to excel in the distance events, something that Montgomery County has long had an iron grip on.

"There's a couple things I think are in play and one is that you rise to the level of your competition," said Winston Churchill coach Scott Silverstein, who oversaw one of the area's most dominant distance runners in Will Conway, a former Gazette runner of the year. "And these girls race against each other all the time. What's happening is Lucy [Srour] saw how fast these girls are and she's working harder to keep up with these girls."

Srour and fellow sophomore Bulldog David Fitzgerald are two of the more promising prospects on the horizon. Both were invited to attend last year's national meet to compete in the freshman mile - Srour, a little burnt out from running cross country, indoor and outdoor, opted out to swim - and each finished in the Top 10 in the 1,600 meters in the 2012 outdoor state meet (Fitzgerald took tenth, Srour second).

"The advantage we have with Lucy is that Lucy can run with the boys," Silverstein said. "David doesn't have that this year."

Fitzgerald had Conway and several others to push him in practice last year, but with the graduation of that Churchill distance contingent he will have to rely on those around the county, such as Thomas S. Wootton's Josh Trzeciak and Clarksburg's Will Bertrand, to serve as his primary motivation.

"[Fitzgerald's] got so much talent and once we get that talent consistently it's going to start showing through," Silverstein said.

There are the youngsters in Fitzgerald and Srour, Walt Whitman's Clare Severe (second in the 1,600 in the indoor state meet) and Lela Walter as well as Bethesda-Chevy Chase's Caroline Beakes (3,200 champ at the indoor state meet), and the grizzled vets such as B-CC's Brittney Wade, a Columbia recruit and near lock to win her fourth straight half-mile title, Trzeciak and Bertrand. In short, anything shy of six or seven countywide state titles in events 800 meters and up - including relays - is likely to be labeled a disappointment.

"There is a strong tradition of it in Montgomery County," Poolesville distance coach Prasad Gerard said. "The kids going from cross country to indoor to outdoor just continue to get stronger."

Gerard currently oversees a budding distance trio of his own in sophomore Claire Beautz and juniors Chelsie Pennello and Chase Weaverling. Pennello took second in last year's outdoor 1,600 meters with only Hannah Oneda, who graduated from Winters Mill, ahead of her while Weaverling finished third in the 3,200 meters and won the title in indoor. Beautz captured third in the indoor 3,200 meters.

"The future's up to them," Gerard said. "I think they're going to be breaking out a bit. It's hard to figure out who does what. It all comes down to hard work."

All this talk about the distance specialists isn't to say there aren't some gifted talents in the shorter events either. As a junior, Wootton's Gwen Shaw- the reigning indoor and outdoor girls Athlete of the Year- took home state titles in the 400 and 300-hurdles, ran a leg on the winning 1,600 relay team and finished second in the 100-hurdles in last year's outdoor state meet.

Clarksburg's Paul Joseph, The Gazette's indoor boys Athlete of the Year, finished in the Top 3 in each of his three sprint events at the indoor state meet, winning the 300 meters, and Northwest's sprint relays are one of the few that can compete with reigning girls Class 4A champ Bowie.

But the coaches know where their bread is buttered, and that's in those long events that not many want to sweat out in the 100 degree heat, as was the case in last year's state meet.

"It's one of those things where we're a huge county. We have numbers across the board, so that makes it easier," DaSilva said. "But we also have a lot of good coaches and the bigger the pool of kids, the better chance you're going to find some diamonds."

It's easier for DaSilva to say that now. In Cabellos, he just found his.

tmewhirter@gazette.net