The Howard County cross country championships are being competed Thursday at 4 p.m. at Centennial High School, but River Hill girls coach Earl Lauer is already willing to speculate on the possibility of his No. 1 runner Katie Harman repeating as state champ.

Will Harman repeat?

"Yes," said Lauer, without hesitation.

A year ago Harman won the 3.1 miles in 19 minutes and 54 seconds. This year, she has been slow to round into form because of a heel injury that slowed her preseason training and early meet participation. But earlier this month she competed well at the Manhattan Invitational, where the best runners in the country assembled. She finished the 2.5-mile course in 15:30, which she described as, "OK," and earned a 50th-place finish.

And Lauer said she ran particularly well in the team’s tri-meet last week, though she didn’t win.

Lauer said Harman has been working hard without overstressing her heel, and believes she is ready for the postseason competition, even if Century’s Maura Linde runs well.

"Linde is the outdoor mile and two-mile champ," said Lauer. "She ran real well this summer, but she has dropped out of her last two races with some hamstring issues. So, that’s all we needed, was a little crack. That’s got to play mentally, because she hasn’t really run Katie this year and we know how strong we are. I think she’s already ahead of that 19:54 pace. She’s cruising, she looks so strong."

But Linde, he said, has to be thinking overtime.

"She has to be wondering, ‘Is it going to hurt again at two miles?’," he said. "That’s good, I like to have opposing runners with questions about our ability and their own. We know what we can do. And I have a lot of confidence in Katie. ... She’s proven and running well right now."

As for Harman, she thinks River Hill’s entire team has a chance to repeat as champions.

"Everyone on the varsity is so serious, because we want to win state’s [again] this year as a team," she said. "Everyone is focused and gets along so well. I played lacrosse my sophomore year and soccer, so I know what teams are like and this is probably one of the tightest I’ve ever played on."

- Sandra McKee