4A North
Photo by Debbi Persinger
Meet Page - Boys Preview - Girls Preview
The 4A North regional races featured rematches from this season's Barnhart Invitational. Bel Air's Kieran McDermott was the runner-up in that race, with Howard's Nick Deamer and Dulaney's Matt Owens not far behind. McDermott opened up a large lead early in the race, but Deamer kept it close, narrowing the gap to just a few strides within the final mile. In the end, it was not enough to stop the Bel Air junior, who pulled away in the final half mile for a comfortable win in 16:04.80. Deamer crossed the line second at 16:13.62.
Owens rounded out the top three and led a large pack of Dulaney boys on their way to their fourth consecutive team title, and their varsity squad remained unbeaten this season. Dulaney's top six runners all finished between 16:32.93 and 16:47.58 - and all seven of Dulaney's runners are underclassmen, meaning a fifth straight title could be in the cards next season.
Rounding out the state qualifying teams were Howard, Bel Air, Paint Branch, Sherwood and Springbrook. For Springbrook it ended a three-year streak of finishing one spot away from states; the past two seasons had been especially agonizing, finishing a combined seven points away in those two races. This year, however, they flipped the script, beating Digital Harbor by five points. Individual qualifiers included Catonsville's Graham Strzelecki, Parkville's Zenden Cole and Digital Harbor's Ablel Gebreselase.
The girls rematch, unlike the boys, didn't finish the same way it went earlier in the season. The race was still neck-and-neck with a mile to go, but Paint Branch junior Yasmine Kass broke away and ended up winning by 15 seconds. It's the second straight year a Paint Branch girl has claimed the 4A North title (Bethlehem Taye did last year).
Fellow junior Dorrie Gaeng finished second in 19:39.15. She was one of three Dulaney girls to finish in the top five and the Dulaney girls won their seventh consecutive regional title. Howard, led by third-place finisher Courtney Mann (19:43.59) finished 15 points behind Dulaney in second place.
Sherwood, Paint Branch and Bel Air rounded out the top five teams heading to the state championships. Catonsville's Eva White was the lone individual state qualifier.