The Eleanor Roosevelt girls put on a dominating performance today at
the Maryland state meet, and were rewarded the next morning with an
all-expenses-paid invitation to Nike Team Nationals next month in
Portland. They are the NTN top-ranked team for the Southeast region
and today easily won the 4A Maryland girls\' state championship by
61-93 over Dulaney. CM Wright, who earned an NTN bid last year and
were competing in 4A for the first time, was third with 102 points.
Running in bright, windless sunshine on a warm (55 degree) autumn
morning, the Roosevelt girls asserted themselves immediately. With
Leonardtown\'s Katlyn Dillow taking the early pacing duties,
Roosevelt\'s top three runners shook off two-time defending champ
Halsey Sinclair (Montgomery Blair) and all other pursuers within the
first mile. Coming through the mile in 6:06, the Roosevelt trio were
clear of the pack by the time they descended into the Dip and toward
the back of the course.
At the two-mile mark, Marika Walker held a slender lead (12:57;
second mile 6:51) which over the next half mile she efficiently
stretched out to more than twenty meters. She turned a final mile of
6:21 to close out her victory in 19:19. Teammate Teshika Rivers was
second in 19:33. As if to remind the assembled spectators how
challenging the Hereford course is, and how hard the runners have to
work on its hills, Dominique Lockhart, who was third coming out of
the Dip, just a few meters behind RIvers. faded to tenth in the final
portion of the race. Louise Hannallah (Churchill), Emma Eckerstrom
(Northwest), and Tait Woodward (Broadneck) were the immediate
beneficiaries, nailing down the 3-4-5 spots on the podium.
The fastest time of the day belonged to 3A champion Katie Hursey of
North Carroll in a fine 19:12.5, in a race in which Severna Park was
the team champion by 68-96 over River Hill. Atholton\'s Allison Smith
also ran a terrific race, winning the 2A championship by 68 seconds,
in 19:24. In that race, the Hereford H.S. girls dominated on their
home course, tallying a mere 37 points to win the state championship
by 68 points. (Lots of 68s!)
The boys\' 4A race featured a rematch between Broadneck junior Matt
Centrowitz Jr., the defending champion, and Eleanor Roosevelt senior
Mikias Gelagle, who was third here last year and who poured on the
summer miles (topping out at over a hundred per week) to build
strength for this season. The race was a near repeat of last year,
only faster, as Centrowitz ran patiently in Gelagle\'s shadow for
nearly two and a half miles before taking command of the pace on the
curving downhill portion leading back down into the Dip. Still
looking strong and fresh on the final straight, and with a coach
admonishing \"don\'t worry about the time\", Centrowitz came oh-so-close
to breaking sixteen minutes, stopping the clock at 16:00.3. Gelagle,
who with Centrowitz was running out of view of the remaining
competitors over the final mile, was second in 16:14. Both runners
sliced an eye-popping 40 seconds off their state-meet times from last fall. Montgomery
County champion Ryan Janes of Gaithersburg claimed third in 16:50,
while early leader Matt Llano (5:07 first mile) of Broadneck was
fourth in 16:55. Gelagle led through two miles in 10:47 (5:40 second
mile) with Centrowitz just behind, while Centrowitz ran his final
mile in 5:13.
Broadneck\'s two front-runners helped them eke out a narrow victory
over Sherwood, 69-72, with Quince Orchard third with 125. In the 3A
race, the winner was Kyle Ryan of Linganore, with Bethesda-Chevy
Chase\'s Christopher Bowie giving chase nine seconds back in 16:45.
Wilde Lake won the 3A team title 82-104 over Urbana, with River Hill
just behind in 107. In the 2A race Atholton\'s tongue-twister pair of
Andrew Revelle and Graham Bazell finished 1-2 in 16:45 and 17:10,
helping Atholton to a second-place finish in the team race by 71-62,
with Liberty notching the win to become Maryland\'s 2A state champions.
In the 1A races, Alleghany\'s Lauryn MacFawn won the girls\'
championship by 30 seconds, in 20:16 (Laura Rupprecht, Brunswick;
20:46) while Williamsport recorded the lowest team score of the day,
with just 30 points, for a 61 point margin of victory. On the boys\'
side it was Fort Hill\'s Mohamed Khelalfa by five seconds over James
Carney of Beall, 17:22-17:27, while in the team race Clear Spring (32
for first place) and Beall (54) put themselves nearly 80 points up
on the rest of the field.
...Pictures soon...