3A North

(Ashton Tolson is an early leader in the Boys Varsity Race) 

Photo: Elijah Agurs

(Ashton Tolson is awarded the first-place prize, pictured alongside runner-up Kieran Mischke) 

Photo: Elijah Agurs

In the 2021 MPSSAA 3A North Region Championships, C. Milton Wright's Ashton Tolson took first place in the Boys Varsity Race with a time of 16:06.26. Tolson had an impressive lead of over 30 seconds. Towson boys took the next three spots going 2-3-4. Kieran Mischke led the pack, taking second with a time of 16:42.71. His teammates, Ryan Wahler (16:46.24) and Michael McShane (16:46.69), finished third and fourth, respectively. The final athlete to make the ranks was Bel Air's Shane Ivy, taking fifth with a time of 16:48.46.

For the rest of the top 10, Aberdeen took spots 6-8: Daniel Wilson (17:03.76), Kalel Duncan (17:20.36), and Donovan Peyton (17:24.22). Edgewood made an appearance in the top 10 with Ryan Buddenbohn (17:24.22) in ninth. The final finisher in the top 10 was another Bel Air athlete with Daniel Cross (17:27.41) taking tenth.

(The top 15 boys pose with their ribbons)

Photo: Carlos Buse

Overall, the boys' North regional title for 3A went to the Towson boys with a total score of 41 points, led by trio Kieran Mischke, Ryan Wahler and Michael McShane who went 2-3-4. Aberdeen, led by Wilson, Duncan and Donovan, took second with a team score of 54 points. Bel Air, led by Ivy and Cross, finished third after scoring 59 points.

For the Girls Varsity Race, Elizabeth Pickett was victorious with yet another first-place finish and a time of 18:41.54. Pickett has been tearing through the XC season and became the 3A North Region Girls Champion after her eighth first-place performance this season. Following Pickett was a Towson trio Isabel Aldana (19:49.81), Cecilia van Lierop (19:57.27), and Jillian McNulty (19:59.05) who went 2-3-4. Then, another Bel Air athlete made the ranks. Bel Air's Morgan Loewe finished fifth with a time of 20:03.16.

Towson took another team win with their girl's team coming on top with a score of 26. The second-place team spot fell in a tie between C. Milton Wright and Bel Air, but after including the 6th runner's score of both teams, Bel Air scored 2 extra points, putting them in third after C. Milton Wright who placed second as a team.

3A South

At the 2021 MPSSAA 3A South Region Championship, James M Bennett's Timothy Synowiec won the Boys Varsity Race with a winning time of 15:18.70, which granted him a lead of almost 30 seconds. This was a huge meet record. The previous record was held by Thomas Stone's Brendan Johnson with a time of 16:14.00 from the 2012 3A South Regional Championship. To add, Synowiec's impressive performance is an MD No.16 all-time and currently makes him the third-fastest athlete in Maryland (based on 5K performances). Behind Synowiec was Chopticon's Mason Hoover, finishing second with a time of 15:46.10. Hoover was followed by Huntingtown's Thomas Foulkes in third place with 15:55.70. Northern-Calvert boys took the last two spots in the top 5. Gavin Stevens was fourth with a time of 16:06.00. Synowiec, Hoover, Foulkes and Stevens all broke the previous meet record. Cameron King finished fifth with a time of 16:42.50. 

The remaining top 10 boys included Stephen Decatur's Tristan Dutton (6th, 16:48.40); Chesapeake-AA's Alex Paciello (7th, 16:53.20); Crofton's London Layton (8th, 17:00.80); Huntingtown's Brandon Stein (9th, 17:03.20); and Chopticon's John Owens (10th, 17:05.00).

For the team score, Chopticon, led by Hoover, took the South regional title for 3A with a score of 61 points. Huntingtown, led by Foulkes, came second scoring 78 points, while Chesapeake-AA, led by Paciello, scored 87 points for third.

In the Girls Varsity Race, Northern-Calvert freshman Ella Meccia came in first with a winning time of 17:59.00. Meccia's incredible race was a new meet record. Meccia broke the previous record of 18:55.70, which was held by a Northern-Calvert athlete like herself. Keely Murphy has held the record since 2005, meaning that Meccia had broken a 16-year-old record! To add, Meccia's performance is an MD No. 20 all-time and makes her the third-fastest female athlete in the state. The next two spots were both Great Mills athletes. Cooper Brotherton came in second, just 5 seconds behind Meccia, for an astonishing time of 18:04.00. Her teammate, Carter Brotherton, finished third with a time of 18:52.80. Huntingtown's Summer Herbertson finished right after in 18:54.80. Meccia, Cooper and Carter Brotherton, and Summer Herbertson all broke the previous meet record. The fifth-place finisher ended up being another Northern-Calvert athlete, Sydney Yankanich. Yankanich finished in a time of 19:00.70. 

Ultimately, the Northern-Calvert girls took the team win with an overall score of 36 points after having placed four of their girls in the top 10: Ella Meccia (1st, 17:59.60); Sydney Yankanich (5th, 19:00.70); Gentry Bowie (6th, 19:12.90); and Julia Devine (8th, 19:51.30). Meanwhile, Chopticon scored 65 points for second place after placing three of their girls within the top 10: Kathleen Schwaner (7th, 19:45.60); Blair Fowler (9th, 20:07.00), and Ava Williams (10th, 20:17.50). Chesapeake-AA placed third with a score of 78 points. 

3A East

In the 2021 MPSSAA 3A East Region Championships, Manchester Valley's Aiden Neal and Centennial's Antonio Camacho-Bucks went head to head throughout the race up, right up until the last 100 meters where Neal managed to outkick Camacho-Bucks with a 1.2-second gap. Neal placed first for the Boys Varsity Race with a time of 15:02.30, while Camacho-Bucks finished in 15:03.50. Neal broke the meet record of 15:50.00 from the 2019 MPSSAA 3A East Region Championships, which was held by River Hill's Anish Nanjappa. He and Camacho-Bucks also broke the venue record of 15:15.00 from the 2020 Howard County XC Championships, which was previously held by Oakland Mills' Baidy Ba. The third-place spot was taken by Howard's Joseph Raudabaugh in a time of 15:22.70. He was followed by Mt. Hebron's Jacob Hauf (15:28.04) and River Hill's Bryce Handa (15:49.00) in fourth and fifth, respectively. All five athletes in the top 5 broke the previous meet record. 

The rest of the top ten boys included Mt. Hebron's Alexander Barton (6th, 15:54.90); Centennial's Luke LasCasas (7th, 15:57.80), Long Reach's Christian Brower (8th, 16:03.40); Centennial's Alex White (9th, 16:03.20); and Long Reach's Alejandro Cabrera (10th, 16:10.40).

(The River Hill boys pose with their first-place plaque)

The team score resulted in the River Hill team becoming the 3A East Regional Champions with Handa's leadership and a score of 87 points. The Centennial boys, led by Camacho-Bucks, LasCasas and White, came in second with a score of 93 points. The Mt. Hebron boys, led by Hauf and Barton, followed closely taking third with a score of 95 points. 

The girls' side took a different turn with a massive sweep from the Howard team who was favored to win. The Lions went 1-2-3-4-5, winning the 3A East Regional title with a perfect score of 15. The pack included Nimrit Ahuja (18:13.30), Kiley Mann (18:24.40), Elizabeth Holcombe (18:30.50), Hannah Schwab (18:33.50), and Jasmine Wilson (18:36.10). Most notably, senior Nimrit Ahuja set yet another course record and meet record after her previous win (18:21.80) at Centennial for the 2021 Howard County XC Championships.

The remaining top 10 girls included River Hill's Chloe McGeehan (6th, 19:06.80), Manchester Valley's Rubie Goffena (7th, 19:23.10), Reservoir's Leilah Clark (8th, 19:58.40), Mt. Hebron's Gabby Teachey (9th, 19:59.80), and Wilde Lake's Eva Dimitrova (10th, 20:09.00).

Following Howard's winning team score of 15 was Reservoir, led by Clark, in second with a score of 74 points and Atholton in third with a score of 117 points. 

3A West

In the 2021 MPSSAA 3A West Region Championships, Linganore senior Jack Sears finished first in the Boys Varsity Race with a winning time of 16:36.40, which granted him a lead of 12 seconds. This was Sears' third first-place win of the season. Oakdale's Abhishek Mudireddy placed second in 16:48.21, followed by Springbrook's Jeriel Williams (17:01.08) in third. In fourth was North Hagerstown's Alex Duncan with a time of 17:16.71. The final athlete to make it into the ranks was Frederick's Gavin Legge who finished fifth with a time of 17:22.97.

The rest of the top ten went as follows: Springbrook's Sofiane Compaorg (6th, 17:26.02); Gov. Thomas Johnson's James Partlow (7th, 17:28.32); Col. Zadok Magruder's Joshua Lopez (8th,17:40.64); North Hagerstown's Finn McGreevy (9th, 17:47.19); and Oakdale's Reed Fliegel (10th, 17:51.77).

Springbrook boys, led by Williams and Compaorg, took the 3A West regional title with a winning score of 62 points. Following in second place was Linganore, led by Sears, with a team score of 74 points, while Oakdale, led by Mudireddy and Fliegel, finished in third with 93 points.

In the Girls Varsity race, Caroline Gregory from Fredrick placed first with a winning time of 18:44.98, which granted her a lead of almost 30 seconds. According to a tweet from Frederick High School Cadet Athletics, Gregory became the first athlete to win a conference, county, and regional title in the same season since 1988. To add, this was Gregory's sixth first-place win this XC season. Gregory was then followed by two Linganore athletes. Linganore's Caroline Perrone (19:13.60) and Mikayla Moxley (19:26.68) went 2-3 in the race. Then, another Frederick athlete made it within the ranks. This time it was freshman Juliana Brawner in fourth with a time of 20:07.35. The fifth-place finisher was Oakdale's Hailey Hallenberg not much behind Brawner with a time of 20:14.57.

The overall team scores landed Linganore, led by Perrone and Moxley, in first with a total score of 48 points. The team was followed by Frederick, led by Gregory and Brawner, in second with a score of 54 points. Oakdale, led by Hallenberg, finished in third with a score of 85 points.

(The Linganore girls pose with their first-place plaque)

Photo: Patrick McKinney