STEVENSVILLE - Kaitlyn Henderson would rather forget last week's UCBAC Cross Country Championship.
"I was sick the week before so I took like four days off. I was the definition of death," said Henderson of her 12th-place showing in the conference meet, held at Fair Hill. "I was very unsure of myself."
The North East junior looked like she had regained her confidence Thursday afternoon at Terrapin Park, dueling Kent Island's Clare Stanfield and Maddy Masucci before pulling away in the last 800 meters to win the girls' individual title at the Class 2A East Region championships.
"This is where she wanted to be from the beginning of the year. She set her personal goal to be the region champion," Indians coach Brandon Shemak said of Henderson. "Last week, she had one of those races we'd all like to forget. And I think she really used that as motivation and went out and achieved everything she wanted to."
Henderson, Stanfield and Masucci led the pack through the first loop of the 3-mile course on this cold, windy day, and exchanged leads over the first two miles.
"From the beginning I knew I had to get out fast because the Kent Island girls are very smart runners," Henderson said. "I had to work from the start, so I tried to take the lead then.
"But as soon as we hit the trails, they both came in front of me and I heard a few people behind me," Henderson added. "I didn't know who they were, though."
Henderson said she was surprised how slow her pace was at the 1- and 2-mile marks, where she trailed Kent Island's 1-2 punch by 50 meters.
"The two Kent Island girls started to break off and they were maybe 50 meters ahead of me so I had a flash of doubt like, 'Will I be able to stay up with them?'" Henderson said. "But then I just got it out of my head and just ran."
Henderson and Stanfield appeared ready for a great finish when Stanfield, defending region champion, doubled over in pain and stopped briefly heading toward the final loop.
"I saw her go down and I took that as almost an opportunity to speed up," Henderson said. "But then I heard her behind me so I knew I really had to go."
Stanfield, who put on a furious kick over the final 100 meters last year on the way to the championship, couldn't produce another rally and watched Henderson hang on for the victory with a time of 20 minutes, 16.20 seconds. Stanfield finished second (20:29.10) and Masucci third (20:56).
Kent Island totaled 35 points to easily win the girls' team championship, 44 points better than runner-up North East, which along with Queen Anne's and Fallston qualified for next Saturday's state championships at Hereford.
Erin Palmer (21:09.10) placed fifth, Morgan Shipley (21:26.50) finished 10th and Crystal McCollum (22:53.60) came in 25th to help the Indians secure a trip to states.
"I thought from the beginning of the year that we had a decent shot," Shemak said of qualifying as a team. "That was the goal from the beginning of the year. We set our sights on it and we practiced toward it and we achieved it."
Elkton junior Lena Muldoon (21:18.10) placed eighth and Rising Sun freshman Autumn Russell (21:53.20) came in 15th to qualify for the state meet as individual competitors.
Edgewood's Lenier Tucker won the boys' individual competition, clocking a 16:32.30. Kent Island, led by the 2-3 finish of Nikolai Rhodes and Anthony Carroll, won a third straight boys' team championship, finishing with 30 points – 46 points better than runner-up Edgewood. Rising Sun (third), Fallston, Queen Anne's and Patterson Mill also qualified as teams for states.
“After losing Austin McGinley to graduation, the team had to work really hard to get back to states, and that’s exactly what they did,” Tigers coach Gail Dillaway said. “They all worked really hard and stepped up, and as a result, we were able to come in third and get another state trip. I am really proud of this group of guys because they worked so hard.”
Jeff Frost (17:28.80) led the way in 10th for Rising Sun, while Ryan Whaley (17:58.40), Ian Gompers (18:05.40) and Kevin Aklinburg (18:18.30) finished among the top 25 runners. Joey Hurm (18:47) rounded out the Tigers’ scorers in 33rd.
Elkton finished two points out of sixth place in the team standings, failing to qualify, but Xavier Alvarez (18:14.50) placed 20th to book an individual trip to the state meet.
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