Diamond Richardson and Noelle Foss have gone head-to-head in the 55 dash before this year. Another win for Richardson would help Surrattsville in the team scores. (Photo by Brandon Miles)
Let's take a look at how each of the top 1A teams could bring home this year's 1A girls team title.
Top Projected Girls Teams (based on season bests - non-state qualifiers are not counted in any event)
- Largo High School Lions - 79 points
- Brunswick High School Railroaders - 61 points
- Smithsburg High SchooL Leopards - 46 points
- Surrattsville High School Hornets - 37 points
- Catoctin High School Cougars - 34 points
- Western Tech High School Wolverines - 28 points
- Maurice J. McDonough High School Rams - 26 points
- Cambridge-South Dorchester High School Vikings - 25 points
- Bohemia Manor High School Eagles - 21 points
- Central-PG High School Falcons - 19 points
- Friendly High School Patriots - 17 points
- Perryville High School Panthers - 17 points
- CMIT South High School Tigers - 16 points
- Gwynn Park High School Yellow Jackets - 14 points
- Snow Hill High School Eagles - 12 points
- Havre de Grace High School Warriors - 10 points
- Fairmont Heights High School Hornets - 7 points
- Academy for College and Career Exploration Eagles - 6 points
- Fort Hill High School Sentinels - 6 points
- Mountain Ridge High School Miners - 6 points
- Washington High School Jaguars - 5 points
- Southern Garrett High School Rams - 4 points
- Clear Spring High School Blazers - 3 points
- CMIT Academy Golden Tigers - 3 points
- Pikesville High School Panthers - 2 points
- Crisfield High School Crabbers - 1 points
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High School Poets - 1 points
- Hancock High School Panthers - 1 points
Brunswick High School Railroaders
Michelle Cincotta beat defending indoor 800 meter champion Emma Strickland at the 1A West regionals. (Photo by Craig Amoss)
The Railroaders have potential point-scorers in nearly every event at the state meet. Sophomore Michelle Cincotta won both the 1600 and 800 at regionals and leads 1A in both events. Jena Rhodes owns the second-best pole vault mark (8'3) in 1A and has the fifth-fastest 1600 time in the field. They also won all three relays at the 1A West regional meet.
Catoctin High School Cougars
A repeat of last year's 2:23, state-winning performance from Emma Strickland would help boost the Cougars' team score.
Senior Emma Strickland scored 28 points by herself at the 1A West regional meet (she won't be running the 300 at the state meet). They are also just one of three 1A teams that have run under 11 minutes in the 4x800 relay. Sophomore Brenna Williams also has the second-fastest 1A time of the season in the 3200 (12:39.28).
Largo High School Lions
Alysha Robinson brought her personal best down from 9.28 to 9.15 at the 1A East regional meet, a time that leads all 1A girls. (Photo by Craig Amoss)
If the Lions win the state title on Monday, many of their points will likely come from the field. Seniors Sade Panton and Sierra James own the top two shot put marks in 1A (by over two feet) while Sanaya Ross and Joseline Adeoye rank first and third, respectively, in the high jump. They still have plenty of opportunity to score on the track, where they are led by senior Alysha Robinson (top hurdle time in the field) and relay teams that rank either first or second in all three events.
Smithsburg High School Leopards
Can anyone challenge Daylie Younker in the 3200 at Monday's state meet? (Photo by Craig Amoss)
The distance duo of Daylie Younker (the 1A state XC champion) and Jillian Jerwick (1A #4 3200, #6 1600) could score upwards of 25 points by themselves in the distance races. Rebecca Hayes (55 hurdles) and Lenna Cross (500, 800) are also both right on the cusp of point-scoring territory for Smithsburg.
Surrattsville High School Hornets
The Hornets only qualified three individuals for states, but they also own by far the fastest 4x200 time in the field after their regional performance.
Sophomore sprinters Diamond Richardson and Tyliyah Hannah will do most of the point-scoring for Surrattsville along with junior thrower Savanna Drummer. They also own the top 4x200 relay time in 1A by nearly two seconds at 1:47.69.