The Oakland Mills Sam Singleton Scorpion Classic will go down as one of the most elite track meets in the 2023 Outdoor Season. In attendance, we saw Overleas Temi Ariyo, Catoctins Brody Buffington and Furious Trammel, Oakland Mills Ethan Aidam and Xavier Doctor, and Archbishop Spalding Jalaia Creary, to name a few performers. However, countless performers shook the MD Ranking with elite times and distances hit today. 

Men

Sprints

    On the Men's side, The day started off with the preliminary rounds for the 110 m hurdles. We saw Justin DeVaughn of MerVo take the win in the preliminary round at 14.93, but it would be Howards Christian Do taking the win in the finals with a time of 14.58, only .01 second away from Do's personal best of 14.57 which sits at the MD #4 ranking currently. Howard HS is currently signed up for the Park Invite next Friday/ Saturday, thus it is certainly possible to see this time go down further especially as the season progresses. 2nd place went to Tele Abe of Wilde Lake with a time of 15.02, placing him at the MD #9 ranking for the 110m hurdles, Fredericks Joseph Poleate took 3rd place with a time of 15.18 and a new MD # 13. 

    However, during the 100m dash prelims, everyone had their eyes set on Brody Buffington of Catoctin, the UGA commit would run away with the prelim win with an easy 10.40 to dominate his heat and set a new meet record. Later on, it's almost as if time froze with the entire venue going completely silent during the 100m finals, featuring Buffington, Oakland Mills Trevin Mchargh, and Daysen Shell of Milford Mill. Buffington would go on to win the event in a time of 10.49. While the future bulldog already sits at the top of the Maryland rankings AND 13th nationally at 10.31, Buffington's winning time in both the prelims and finals would still keep him at the MD #1 spot by .09 seconds. Shell took 2nd with a time of 10.68 (MD#5) and McHargh, the Mt. St. Marys commit, took third with a time of 10.88, tying his own MD #8 time currently.

(Video by Zack Dickerson, Brody Buffington runs 10.49 in the 100m finals)

 With an outstanding indoor season under his belt (2nd at the New Balance National Meet and Season best of 6.19 for the 55m dash) and a 10.40 showcasing (without a block start!) There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Buffington is THE top sprinter to watch in Maryland this season.

    Later on in the day, the Mount St. Joseph boys would go on to win the 4x200m relay with a time of 1:32.12, exactly one second behind was Dunbar (MD) at 1:33.12 and Oakland Mills at 1:33.49. The boy's 400m dash was another event to watch as we saw Furious Trammel of Catoctin go nearly neck to neck with Oakland Mills Xavier Doctor. Ultimately, Trammel got the edge on Doctor in the last 50m to take home the win with a time of 48.98. Trammel, the 1A mid-distance star, broke the 1A state record in the 500m dash at the 2023 Indoor state meet, making him one of the top stars to watch this season. 

    The day ended with the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Frederick took home the 4x100 win at 42.78 which is a new MD #2 currently. The Oakland Mills relay squad proved to be dominant in the 4x400m relay, winning with a time of 3:26.69 and a new MD #3. 

Distance

    After the sprint preliminaries, the first distance event of the day took place, the 4x800m relay. On the men's side, we saw Ethan Aidam slide into first after 1 lap and put a gap between himself and the rest of the field with a blazing 1:57 split. However, it would be Liberty's Tyler Edson that would anchor the 4x800 and take home the win after an impressive 3rd leg by Ben Smith, who took the lead with approximately 250m to go (In the 3rd leg). Liberty placed themselves at the MD #4 ranking with a time of 8:15.37. 

    CJ Johnson of Mount Saint Joseph took home the 1600m win with a time of 4:29.75, outlasting Ryan Obyrne of Howard (4:31.34) and Kyle Walker of Linganore (Who we saw later on in the 800). However, the boy's 3200m run was the highlighted distance event to watch on the men's side. The field was led by Howard County's elite distance runners, Henry Hopper (Wilde Lake), Kidus Zeleke (Reservoir), Christian Brower (Long Reach), and Ethan Aidam (Oakland Mills), as well as Alexander Contreras of Catoctin. Hopper led the group through the first half of the race, coming through at 4:49 for the first 1600, Brower began to challenge the 3A state champion approximately 1900 meters. With Hopper, Brower, and Aidam already well ahead of the rest of the pack, Aidam took the lead with little more than 800 meters left and did not look back once separating himself comfortably and showcasing a strong kick to win the event in 9:26.22 (New Meet Record and MD#3). Brower wasn't too far behind at 9:30.38 and right behind Aidam in the MD Rankings, Hopper finished in 3rd with a time of 9:40.52.

    The 800m was another race to watch with Tyler Edson of Liberty shortly taking the lead after the opening 200m and not letting up with Linganore's Kyle Walker (2:00.89), Howards Joey Ensor, and Ryan Obyrne, and Atholtons Ethan Mulcahy right behind him. Edson pulled away with 200m to go, winning with a time of 1:58.12

Field

    Oakland Mills Abdur Hassan continues his undefeated streak in the Long Jump, winning the event with a jump of 23 feet and 1.5 inches, setting a new MD #2 in the process. Hassan also placed 4th in the High Jump (5-10), the event was won by Davian Pryor of Frederick at 6 feet, tying with Phillip Kaiser (Hammond) and Brendan Johnson (Calvert Hall). Pyors teammate Callum Boye took home the gold in the triple jump with a jump of 44 feet and 6.25 inches. We saw John Toohey (Calvert Hall) and Christian Bingley (Southern AA) reach the same height of 11 feet and 6 inches, Toohey took the win home. Darius Grimes of Frederick Douglass took home the shot put win with a new MD #2 of 55 feet and 6.25 inches, beating out Oakland Mills's Kaiden Lee (46 feet and 3.75 inches) and Alexander Brown of Mergenthaler (45 feet and 4 inches). Grimes took 2nd in the discus to Linganores Logan Rich who threw 138 feet and 3 inches to win the event with a new MD #8. 

Women

Sprints

    On the girl's side, the day started with the 100m dash and hurdle preliminaries. Archbishop Spalding's Jalaia Creary easily won the 100m preliminary rounds with a new MD #5 of 12.06, she later won the finals with a time of 12.12. Howards Sydney Rhodes finished 3rd in the Prelims (12.65) then took 2nd place in the finals at 12.58. Creary is one of the top private school sprint stars, ranked 3rd in Maryland's private school division, making her one of the top athletes to watch. Rhodes cannot be counted out as well, with a 2nd place finish in the 55m dash at the indoor state meet (In her first season of HS track) Rhodes is one of the most promising athletes this outdoor season. 

    Hammonds Morgan Lane won the 100m hurdle prelims in 15.59, but in the finals, she lowered her time down to 15.08 to take home the win over Oakland Mills Oluwasemilori Olakunle (15.09) and Eleanor Roosevelt's Lauryn Djaouga (15.77). Lane (who also won the 300m hurdles with a new MD #4 of 46.00) is certainly another competitor to watch at this Friday's Park Invite located at Severna Park High School.

    Later on the day, the 4x200m relay and 400m dash were held. It would be Dunbar (DC) absolutely dusting the field by approximately 5 seconds to run a 1:42.95. Eleanor Roosevelt would run a new MD #3 of 1:47.04 to take second and James Hubert Blake took 3rd with 1:47.96 (MD #9). The Eleanor Roosevelt squad is headed up to Lorton, Virginia for the South County Stallion Invite, no doubt that they will perform well and tug further at the MD rankings. In the 400, MerVo went 2-3 with Toni Benton-Hunter (58.48) and Dominique DeVaughn (59.65) scoring 14 points for MerVo. However, the 400m win went to Isabella Shanley of Old Mill at 57.42, setting a new MD #2. We saw Shanley pull away a little after the 200m mark to take the win over MerVo. Shanley has proved to be one of the top sprinters in Maryland, winning the Hispanic Game 55m dash in February and competing at the Nike indoor national meet for the 200m dash.

    The girl's sprint events capped off the day with the 4x400m relay, in which the Oakland Mills girls took home the win at 4:03 and snatched the MD #2 spot. 2nd went to James Hubert Blake (4:08.27) and 3rd to Old Mill (4:18.02). 

Distance

    Distance started off with the 4x800m relay, which was won by Frederick at 10:11.88 (MD #11). For the majority of the race, there were a number of lead exchanges between Frederick and Archbishop Spalding. Just when Spalding pulled away, Frederick's anchor Caroline Gregory came from nowhere to bring it home for Frederick.

    Overlea's Temi Ariyo was on top in the distance events. In the 1600m, the race started off conservatively with Ariyo comfortably behind the leaders. With 1200 to go, Ariyo took the lead and did not look back, she won the event in a time of 5:14.53 which is a new MD #5, chasing her down the whole way through was Emilie Creighton of James Hubert Blake (5:21.59) and St. Timothys Genevieve Cowan (5:21.62). In the 3200m, Storrie Kulynych-Irvin led with a gap for the first mile, however, Ariyo and Howards Kiley Mann would catch up and it would be a battle between the two for the remainder of the race. Ariyo, who has gone undefeated so far this season, pulled away for the win at 11:17.15, barely missing her own season best of 11:17.13 (MD #4). Mann wasn't too far behind, finishing with a time of 11:24.27 and a new MD #5. Ariyo had a nearly undefeated indoor season, she placed 15th at the Nike Indoor National meet 1500m (4:58.44) no doubt that she is one of the most prominent athletes in the 2A region as well as the state of Maryland. 

    During the 800m, Rebecca Burgee of Southern AA, Emilie Creighton of James Hubert Blake (2:23.22), and Old Mills Isabella Shanley (2:23.67) were quick to take the lead. Burgee managed to outkick her competitors to take home the 800 wins in 2:22.10. 

Field

    In the Shot Put, MerVo's Cierra Gray set a new MD #1 with a throw of 39 feet and 5 inches, not too far behind sitting at the MD #4 spot was Jamaya McDowell of Baltimore Poly (36 feet and 2 inches). Atholtons Katherine Wood was in 3rd at 35 feet and 5.25 inches. Wood got 2nd in Discus only to Liberty Annelise Riordan who took home the double win in both Discus (93 feet and 6 inches) and Pole Vault (9 feet). Gray took third in Discus at 88 feet and 9 inches. Long Reach's Ciara Amon-Nicholls won the High Jump by nearly 1 foot, which ties for the MD #9 rank. Long Jump went to Archbishop Spalding's Athena Stith at 18 feet and 1.75 inches while Triple Jump went to Dunbars (DC) Kymia Bridgett at 37 feet and 8.5 inches.

    The Oakland Mills boys dominated at their home turf with 110.5 points over Mount Saint Joseph and Howard. On the girl's side it was Dunbar (DC) taking home the team win with 74 points, close behind was James Hubert Blake with 60 points. 

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