Photo by John Roemer
Two years, two dominant team victories for the Bel Air girls at the UCBAC Championships, who wrestled control of the conference away from the C. Milton Wright girls. It all started with junior Mackenzie Morrison (far right), the team's top finisher at each of the last two conference meets and last year's individual champion. The bigger question for the Bobcats: would this be the year they finish the job and win the program's first ever state title? In 2019 they finished just four points behind a Northern team that lost their top runner, individual state champion Oakley Olson.
Photo by Craig Amoss
Twice a top-40 finisher at the 2A state championships, North Harford's Laurel Brown had just gotten on a roll last indoor season when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the competitive year to a screeching halt. Brown finished sixth in both the 1600 and 800 at the indoor state meet, clocking season bests of 5:32 and 2:29, respectively, that were just off her overall personal bests. When sorting UCBAC returning runners by their performances at last year's state meet, both Brown and teammate Angelyn Wiggins rank among the top six.
Photo by Craig Amoss
The Bel Air girls are the overwhelming favorite to win their third consecutive UCBAC team title, but with last year's second- and third-place teams from Edgewood and Wright losing many seniors, the race for the second spot appears to be wide open at the moment. Sitting in the second spot in our virtual meet rankings (based on last year's three mile times)? The Elkton girls, who finished eighth but return all of their varsity runners, led by seniors Esther Greenblatt and Sadie Marra.
Photo by John Roemer
There weren't many standout freshmen in the UCBAC last year, but the class was headlined by 1A state medalist Adeline Murray from Havre de Grace. She was the first girl to represent Havre de Grace at the state meet since the team qualified back in 2012, and her 25th place finish was the program's best since Britta Nelson was the runner-up back in 2002.
Photo by Craig Amoss
The 2019 cross country season represented a big step forward for Bohemia Manor's Maya Osborne. From her freshman to sophomore season, she cut over three and a half minutes off her 5K personal best and improved from 11th to second at the 1A East regional meet. Over the past 13 years, 11 different Bohemia Manor girls have finished 11th or higher at the state meet - could Osborne be the first since Elle Meyer in 2017 to join that star-studded list?