We unveil our all-UCBAC (Cecil and Harford counties) team of the decade (2010-11 through 2019-20).
Boys Runner of the Decade: Nick Fransham (North Harford High School, Class of 2015)
Photo by Steve Lee
Personal Bests: 15:24 3M, 15:35 5K
Medals: 3 conference, 2 region, 1 state
The only three-time UCBAC boys champion of the decade, Nick Fransham was one of the top runners in his class in Maryland throughout his career. As a freshman, Fransham was a top-five finisher at both counties and regionals. His 17:22 performance at 3A states earned him a 16th-place finish and was the second-fastest freshman performance of the day. As a sophomore, Fransham won his first conference title and ran a MD #6 15:25 three mile. Fransham picked up his first invitational victory as a junior in the fall of 2013 in the medium school division at the Spiked Shoe Invitational (which served as the replacement for the Bull Run Invitational due to construction at Hereford High School). After losing to Bohemia Manor's Ty Franks at the UCBAC Chesapeake Divisionals, Fransham came back to win his second conference title (breaking 16 minutes in the 5K for the first time in the process). Although Fransham won his first regional title that fall, he did not race at states, meaning he had not medaled at states as a sophomore or junior. That changed in a big way in 2014: Fransham rolled through the UCBAC as a senior, and his only loss of the season was a fourth-place, 15:35 5K performance in a loaded Barnhart Invitational field. In the first year of the new course at Hereford, Fransham set a course record that stood for five years in one of the most exciting races of the decade. Despite the 2014 state meet race not being one that produced many fast times (compared to other years at Bull Run or states), nobody was able to match Fransham's 15:41.30 performance until Sam Keeny broke the 15:40 mark at states this fall.
Fransham's 15:35 5K personal best ranks third in the UCBAC over the course of the decade, just behind Kieran McDermott and Caleb Zylka. Despite finishing fourth in the race, his 15:35 time from the 2014 Barnhart Invitational ranks fifth at Dulaney High School during the decade. His 15:41.30 time from the 2014 state championship stood as a course record for five years and is still the second-fastest time in course history.
College: Mount St. Mary's University
Personal Bests: 15:41 5K, 24:58 8K, 26:03 5M, 31:48 10K
Fransham ran an 8K personal best as a junior at the 2017 Paul Short Run. That fall he recorded his first top-ten finish at the Northeast Conference championship and ran a 10K personal best at the DI Mid-Atlantic regional. As a senior Fransham finished second at both the Gettysburg Invitational and Northeast Conference championship, and rounded out his college cross country career with a 27th-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic regional.
Kevin Baranoski (Harford Technical High School, Class of 2021)
Photo by Erik Cloyd
Personal Bests: 15:22 3M, 16:07 5K
Medals: none
Baranoski debuted for Fallston High school in the fall of 2017. That season Baranoski recorded the third-fastest freshman 5K in Maryland (16:51) and the fourth-fastest freshman time at states (17:35, good for 44th place at 2A states). The next year Baranoski transferred to Harford Tech High School, where he teamed up with Shanoon Dooley and Zachary and Daron Taylor to form one of the top teams in 2A. He turned in plenty of top-three performances, including Bull Run (third), Harford Invitational (second), the UCBAC Championships (second) and 2A East regionals (second). Baranoski led the Cobras at the state meet (eighth) as they tied their highest-ever finish in school history at fifth in the team scores. As a junior Baranoski won his first major invitational, taking the small school race at the Bull Run Invitational. He was once again the runner-up at both counties and regionals, as well as the Gunpowder Invitational where he ran his 5K personal best. Baranoski was part of one of the best state meet races of the decade this past fall, and ultimately placed third, also leading Harford Tech to the team's highest placing at states (fourth). He finished his junior season by placing 33rd at Foot Locker Northeast as the third Maryland runner.
Baranoski's 15:22 three mile personal best is fifth-best among UCBAC runners this decade, and the only one of the top five times that wasn't run at the 2018 UCBAC Chesapeake Divisionals; his 5K also ranks fifth. His 16:20 time at the Foot Locker Northeast regional ranks second behind only Bel Air's Caleb Zylka (16:18).
Ty Franks (Bohemia Manor High School, Class of 2016)
Photo by Lisa McArthur
Personal Bests: 15:13 3M, 16:20 5K
Medals: 3 region, 3 state
From the beginning of his freshman season in the fall of 2012, Franks was an unstoppable force in the 1A classification. His first big performance was a 16:12 three mile at the Maryland Track and Trail Invitational, and he followed it up with a 15:42, runner-up finish at the UCBAC Championships that October. He won his first regional title that year and then dominated at Hereford, winning the 1A state title by 25 seconds. Franks was far more dominant as a sophomore; other than his first race of the fall, his only loss of the year came at the UCBAC Championships where he lost to Nick Fransham for the second consecutive year. He ran a personal best three mile of 15:13 at the 1A East regionals and widened his winning margin at states to 36 seconds. His junior year in 2014 would be his final full season of racing; Franks won titles at Track and Trail and the Cecil County Invitational, and once again finished second to Fransham at the conference championships. He won his third consecutive regional and state titles, this time winning by 42 seconds on the modern Hereford course.
Franks is the only Maryland boy to have won three XC state titles since Broadneck's Matthew Centrowitz in 2004-2006. His 15:13 three mile personal best is the third-fastest by a UCBAC runner during the decade. His 15:31 time at The Jungle over at Cambridge-South Dorchester High School (which frequently hosts Bayside Conference and regional championships) was a course record until Kent Island's Finn Walsh and Harford Tech's Kevin Baranoski ran faster at this year's 2A East regional meet.
Zachary Laird (Bohemia Manor High School, Class of 2019)
Photo by Craig Amoss
Personal Bests: 15:19 3M, 16:22 5K
Medals: 1 region, 2 state
College: Bucknell University
Kieran McDermott (Bel Air High School, Class of 2018)
Photo by Melissa Rose
Personal Bests: 15:38 3M, 15:33 5K
Medals: 2 conference, 2 region, 1 state
Perhaps the top mid-distance runner of the decade (he broke the 35-year-old outdoor state meet record in the 800 as a senior), McDermott became a force on the cross-country course as well. In 2014, McDermott's 16:00 three mile time led all freshmen, and he finished fourth at both conferences and regionals. He won his first major race as a sophomore in the medium school race at the Bull Run Invitational (he also won the Gunpowder Invitational and Harford County titles), and he once again led his class in the three mile. McDermott reached another level as a junior in 2016; between his first race (third at the Track and Trail Invitational) and last race (fourth at the 4A state meet), he won every race except for a second-place finish at Barnhart. He broke 16 minutes in the 5K twice at the Barnhart and Spiked Invitationals and added his first conference and regional titles to his resumé. His senior year got off to a bit of a bumpier start, but he was rolling once again by the end of September, clocking a 15:33 personal best at Paul Short. McDermott went relatively unchallenged throughout the championship season, winning counties, regionals and states by 15 or more seconds.
McDermott's 15:33 5K personal best is the fastest by a UCBAC runner during the decade, just beating out fellow Bel Air runner Caleb Zylka (who also ran his personal best at Paul Short). His 15:33 time at the Paul Short Invitational was the fourth-best time by a Maryland runner at the meet during the decade. He was one of just three UCBAC boys to break 16 minutes on the post-2013 course at Hereford High School. McDermott is one of just three boys from the conference since 2002 to win a state title above the 1A classification.
College: Princeton University
Austin McGinley (Rising Sun High School, Class of 2012)
Photo by Marleen Van den Neste
Personal Bests: 15:54 3M, 16:11 5K
Medals: 1 conference, 1 region, 1 state
McGinley did not start running cross country at Rising Sun until his junior season in the fall of 2010. Aside from a 12th-place, 16:46 effort at the Barnhart Invitational that year, McGinley finished no lower than fourth at any meet. He finished third at both the UCBAC Championships and 2A East regionals, and fourth at the state meet. He wasted no time in setting a 5K personal best in the fall of 2011, finishing second at the Barnhart Invitational. McGinley won the UCBAC Chesapeake Divisionals, UCBAC Conference championships and 2A East regionals heading into a state meet showdown with Williamsport's Evan Hardy who hadn't lost a race since September 17. McGinley emerged victorious by 14 seconds, becoming Rising Sun's first (and only) XC state champion regardless of gender. He finished his senior season with a 31st-place effort at the Foot Locker Northeast regional meet in New York City.
Between 2010 and 2012, McGinley's 16:20 time at the old Hereford course was 29 seconds faster than any other UCBAC runner. His 16:11 5K personal best was eighth-fastest among UCBAC runners this decade. McGinley, McDermott and Fransham were the only UCBAC boys during the decade to sweep conferences, regionals and states in a single year. From 2010-19, only 14 boys from Maryland finished higher at the Foot Locker Northeast regional than McGinley.
College: Shippensburg University
Personal Bests: 12:59 4K, 19:47 6K, 25:00 8K, 30:24 10K
As a sophomore in 2013 McGinley qualified for the NCAA DII national championships where he finished 174th. He set an 8K personal best of 25:00.60 at the 2014 PSAC Championships and then finished fifth at the DII Mid-Atlantic regionals, qualifying once again for nationals (he placed 94th). After dropping back to 13th place at the 2015 DII Mid-Atlantic regionals he turned in his best nationals performance of his career, finishing 32nd in the 2015 race.
Caleb Zylka (Bel Air High School, Class of 2020)
Photo by John Roemer
Personal Bests: 14:58 3M, 15:34 5K
Medals: 2 conference, 2 region
Like McGinley, Caleb Zylka did not start running cross country at Bel Air until his junior season in the fall of 2018. In his first two major races he finished second (Bull Run and Paul Short invitationals), then went on a winning spree that included the fastest UCBAC three-mile time of the decade (14:58) and both conference and regional titles. He went on to finish second at the 3A state meet, then ran 16:18 - good for 28th place - at the Foot Locker Northeast regionals. Zylka repeated as both conference and regional champion this past fall while also turning in a 15:34 5K personal best at the Paul Short Run - just one second behind fellow Bobcat Kieran McDermott for the fastest 5K of the decade by a UCBAC runner. Zylka was in the running for second place at the 3A state meet before fading in the second half of the race to 16th place as a senior.
Zylka's 16:18 time at the 2018 Foot Locker Northeast regional was the tenth-fastest performance by any Maryland boy at the meet during the decade. He was also just one of five Maryland boys over the course of the decade to break 15 minutes in the three mile, joining David Dorsey, Braden Bruning, Will Merritt and Anish Nanjappa.
All-Conference Second Team:
Theo Dorsman (Elkton High School, Class of 2011)
Alex Longeway (Bohemia Manor High School, Class of 2019)
Tyler Muse (Bel Air High School, Class of 2011)
Ryan Pfarr (Bohemia Manor High School, Class of 2012)
Adam Thornton (Perryville High School, Class of 2014)
William Tikiob (North Harford High School, Class of 2020)
Lenier Tucker (Edgewood High School, Class of 2013)
Table of Champions:
2010 (Tollgate Park): Theo Dorsman (Elkton) - 16:21
2011: Austin McGinley (Rising Sun) - 16:15
2012 (North Harford HS): Nick Fransham (North Harford) - 15:25
2013 (Fair Hill Racetrack): Nick Fransham (North Harford) - 15:41
2014 (Tollgate Park): Nick Fransham (North Harford) - 15:24
2015: David Dzambasow (Edgewood) - 16:15
2016 (Fair Hill Racetrack): Kieran McDermott (Bel Air) - 16:35
2017: Kieran McDermott (Bel Air) - 15:43
2018 (Churchville Rec Center): Caleb Zylka (Bel Air) - 15:10
2019: Caleb Zylka (Bel Air) - 15:13
Girls Runner of the Decade: Haley Cummins (C. Milton Wright High School, Class of 2020)
Photo by John Roemer
Personal Bests: 17:29 3M, 17:56 5K
Medals: 3 conference, 3 region, 2 state
Cummins was a force from the moment she stepped on the course as a freshman in the fall of 2016. After finishing second in her debut race at the Track and Trail Invitational and fourth at the William and Mary Invitational in Virginia, Cummins did not lose a race all the way through the state meet. Her state meet performance was truly dominant: she was not the favorite (although certainly a contender) entering the race but led almost immediately and never looked back, beating Northern's Molly Barrick by 11 seconds. As a sophomore, her only loss came back at the William and Mary Invitational in September 2017. Her season included a 17:56 personal best 5K time at the Harford County Invitational, and she once again repeated as conference, regional and state champion - this time winning by 24 seconds. In the fall of 2018, Cummins finished third at the Bull Run Invitational but rebounded with a big three mile personal best at the UCBAC Championships. Her streak of championship victories ended that fall, however, when she finished fourth at the 3A state meet. As a senior Cummins won a sun-baked medium school race at the Bull Run Invitational, while she teamed up with fellow senior Lindsay Perry to form one of the top 1-2 punches in the state. She finished third at conferences and regionals and sixth at the 3A state meet.
Her 18:41 freshman performance at the state meet still ranks among the top ten on the post-2013 Hereford High School course. She is the only UCBAC girl this decade to win multiple state titles, the only to win a state title in a classification higher than 1A and the only to win multiple UCBAC conference titles. Her three mile (sixth) and 5K (13th) times both rank among the fastest times by any Maryland runners over the course of the decade. Cummins and Urbana's Emily Mulhern are the only two girls during the decade to win state XC titles as freshmen and sophomores.
Ashley Betz (Patterson Mill High School, Class of 2019)
Photo by Craig Amoss
Personal Bests: 19:18 3M, 19:20 5K
Medals: 1 conference, 4 region, 1 state
After a solid start to her freshman cross country season in the fall of 2015, Betz burst into the state spotlight when she won the UCBAC conference title with a 19:25 three mile performance in October. She followed that up with a 1A North regional title and a runner-up finish at the state meet. Betz repeated as the 1A North regional champion as a sophomore while also finishing second at the UCBAC Championships, but dropped back to 12th at the 1A state meet. During her junior season she set a 5K personal best at the Harford County Invitational, then ran under 20 minutes once again at the UCBAC Championships. She won her third straight regional title (this time at the 1A East regional meet), and captured the somewhat elusive state title by beating Brunswick's Elly McGillivray by two seconds. As a senior, Betz ran a three-mile personal best of 19:18 at the conference championships and won her fourth regional title before placing fourth at the 1A state meet to round out her cross country career.
Betz is one of just four UCBAC girls to win an individual state XC title since 2004, joining Cummins, Jordan Dodson and Jennifer Cleary. She is the only conference runner this decade to have won four regional titles. Her 20:18 winning time from the 2017 state championship ranks sixth among UCBAC girls at the new post-2013 Hereford course.
Jordan Dodson (Perryville High School, Class of 2014)
Photo by Steve Lee
Personal Bests: 19:24 3M, 20:00 5K
Medals: 1 conference, 1 region, 1 state
As a freshman in the fall of 2010, Dodson was a medalist at the 1A state championships where she finished 20th. She made huge strides between her freshman and sophomore seasons, picking up her first major win early in the 2011 season in the sophomore race at the White Clay Creek Classic. After finishing second at the Susquehanna Divisionals she went on a roll, sweeping conference, regional and state titles, winning each of the latter two by over 30 seconds. During her junior season Dodson set a three-mile personal best of 19:24 at the UCBAC Championships where she finished fourth, and finished second at regionals and eighth at the 1A state meet. She once again finished as the regional runner-up during her senior season in the fall of 2013, and wrapped up her cross country career at Perryville by finishing fifth at the state meet.
Along with Betz and Cummins, Dodson is one of just three UCBAC girls to win an individual state title this past decade. During the three years that Bull Run and the state meets were run at the old Hereford course, Dodson was the only conference runner to break 20 minutes there. She is still Perryville's only individual state cross country champion (boys or girls).
College: Goldey-Beacom College
Personal Bests: 21:14 5K, 24:37 6K
As a freshman in the fall of 2014 Dodson ran a 6K personal best at the NCAA DII East regionals where she placed 91st. She ran a 5K personal best the next fall at the Central Atlantic Conference championship and finished 21st.
Mackenzie Morrison (Bel Air High School, Class of 2022)
Photo by Craig Amoss
Personal Bests: 18:04 3M, 18:33 5K
Medals: 1 conference, 1 region
Morrison has been at the front of a resurgence for the Bel Air girls, who have finished second at the 3A state championships in each of Morrison's first two years. As a freshman she broke 20 minutes in the 5K in her first attempt at the Paul Short Invitational before going on to finish third at the conference and regional championships. Her 20:12 time at the state championships was the sixth-fastest among freshmen across all classifications and was good enough for an eighth-place finish. After finishing behind the C. Milton Wright duo of Cummins and Lindsay Perry as a freshman, Morrison overtook the top spot in the UCBAC as a sophomore. She ran 18:33 at the Paul Short Run and finished fourth in the elite division at Bull Run before going on to win her first conference and regional titles in October. She wrapped up the year with a fourth-place finish at the 3A state meet, where her 19:38 time was the third-fastest in her class.
Morrison's 18:33 5K personal best ranks as the second-fastest 5K time of the decade by a UCBAC runner behind Cummins (who also ran her 5K personal best as a sophomore). Only five girls throughout the decade have clocked a faster three-mile time as a sophomore than Morrison has. Her 19:32 personal best on the post-2013 Hereford course ranks third behind only Cummins and Perry among UCBAC runners.
Lindsay Perry (C. Milton Wright High School, Class of 2020)
Photo by Mary Ann Magnant
Personal Bests: 18:04 3M, 19:12 5K
Medals: none
Perry wasn't the immediate star that her classmate Haley Cummins was as a freshman in 2016 - and running alongside Cummins for four years likely cost Perry a medal or two - but over time her improvement led her to form one of the strongest duos in the state. Perry finished sixth at the conference championships and ninth at the regional championships as a freshman, then built upon those by finishing second and third at the same meets as a sophomore. That same year she also ran a 5K personal best of 19:12 at the Harford County Invitational and also medaled for the first time at the 3A state meet (22nd place). She truly became Cummins' counterpart as a junior in 2018, as Perry finished second behind her teammate at the Chesapeake Divisionals, Harford County Invitational, UCBAC Championships and 3A North regional. Perry also continued to improve upon her state meet performances, placing seventh. She finished second behind Cummins at the Bull Run Invitational to kick off their 2019 season, then took over as the Mustangs' top runner throughout the rest of the season. She won the Harford County Invitational (her first major win), and finished as the runner-up behind Bel Air's Mackenzie Morrison at conferences and regionals. She once again improved upon her finish at states, rounding out her career with a third-place effort.
In terms of three-mile personal bests, only Cummins ran a faster time in the conference throughout the decade than Perry did. Her 19:25 time at the post-2013 Hereford course is also the second-fastest by a UCBAC runner in course history.
Megan Schott (North Harford High School, Class of 2011)
Photo by Marleen Van den Neste
Personal Bests: 18:53 3M, 19:01 5K
Medals: 1 conference, 1 region
Schott's career at North Harford began back in the fall of 2007 when she placed 15th at the 3A state championships. It would be the only time in her career that she finished outside of the top five at the XC state meet. As a sophomore in 2008 she ran a three-mile personal best of 18:53 at the UCBAC Championships where she finished fourth; she would also finish fourth at the 3A North regionals and fifth at the state championships. Schott won both the Hawks and Barnhart invitationals to begin her junior cross country season, while also adding a win at the UCBAC Chesapeake Divisionals (where she set a new 5K personal best). She set new bests for finishes at all three championship races (second at conferences, third at regionals and states) as well. As a senior, Scott clocked her 19:01 5K personal best in a runner-up effort at the Barnhart Invitational, and then got on a roll in October, sweeping divisional, conference and regional titles (winning her first two championship season medals). She wrapped up her North Harford cross country career with her second straight third place finish at states.
Schott's 20:18 time from the 2010 state meet was the second-fastest by a UCBAC runner on the old Hereford course between 2010 and 2012. Her 19:01 5K personal best from the 2010 Barnhart Invitational was the third-fastest of the decade by a UCBAC runner. Since Schott did it in 2008-10, only three other girls (Erin Causey, Shreya Nalubola and Oakley Olson) have finished in the top five at the 3A state meet in three consecutive seasons.
College: Mount St. Mary's University
Personal Bests: 18:29 5K, 22:41 6K
In the fall of 2012 Schott ran a 6K personal best at the DI Mid-Atlantic regionals, where she also recorded her highest regional finish (83rd). Schott finished 16th at the Northeast Conference championships in back-to-back seasons in 2013 and 2014; in the latter, she set her college 5K personal best.
Megan Tidey (North Harford High School, Class of 2014)
Photo by Steve Lee
Personal Bests: 18:42 3M, 19:46 5K
Medals: 1 conference, 1 region
Tidey debuted on the course as a sophomore in the fall of 2011, when she turned in top-five finishes at both the Gunpowder Invitational and UCBAC Chesapeake Divisionals (in what ended up being her last race of the season). The next season she finished third in the medium school race at the Bull Run Invitational and second at the Chesapeake Divisionals before her breakout performance at the UCBAC championships, which she won by 15 seconds (and at which she set a three-mile personal best). She would go on to finish her junior season with a 13th-place finish at the 3A state meet, the highest state finish of her cross country career. As a senior, she sandwiched a runner-up performance at the conference championships between wins at the divisionals and 3A North regionals before rounding out her cross country career at North Harford by finishing 29th at the state meet.
Tidey's 18:42 personal best three mile time is the seventh-fastest mark by a UCBAC runner over the course of the decade. Between 2010 and 2012 only Dodson and Schott ran faster than Tidey did at the old Hereford cross country course (she ran 20:25 as a junior in 2012).
College: Hofstra University
Personal Bests: 20:46 5K, 24:56 6K
Tidey recorded her best finish (75th) at the Colonial Athletic Association championships as a freshman in the fall of 2014. That same year she set a 6K personal best at NCAA DI Northeast regional.
All-Conference Second Team:
Rachel Goldsborough (Edgewood High School, Class of 2017)
Kaylee Haberkam (Perryville High School, Class of 2013)
Pam Koga (C. Milton Wright High School, Class of 2016)
Jessica Peters (Bohemia Manor High School, Class of 2011)
Elizabeth Pickett (Bel Air High School, Class of 2022)
Jessica Rogers (C. Milton Wright High School, Class of 2018)
Casey Welsh (North Harford High School, Class of 2016)
Table of Champions:
2010 (Tollgate Park): Megan Schott (North Harford) - 19:51
2011: Jordan Dodson (Perryville) - 19:44
2012 (North Harford HS): Megan Tidey (North Harford) - 18:42
2013 (Fair Hill Racetrack): Nicole Wohlfort (Fallston) - 19:54
2014 (Tollgate Park): Jessica Rogers (C. Milton Wright) - 19:43
2015: Ashley Betz (Patterson Mill) - 19:25
2016 (Fair Hill Racetrack): Haley Cummins (C. Milton Wright) - 19:42
2017: Haley Cummins (C. Milton Wright) - 18:52
2018: Haley Cummins (C. Milton Wright) - 17:59
2019: Mackenzie Morrison (Bel Air) - 18:04