10 things to know about the county track & field championships
Here are 10 things to know about the Washington County Public Schools Track & Field Championships, held Wednesday at Clear Spring:
1. Howe wins four events again for Leopards girls
Smithsburg sophomore Jenna Howe is the unquestioned sprint queen of county public school girls track and field in 2023.
After winning county titles in the 55, 300, 4x200 and 4x400 indoors, Howe claimed four more county championships Wednesday. She dashed to victory in the 100 in 12.98 seconds, the 200 in 26.75 and the 400 in 1:00.37. For an encore, she ran a leg in Smithsburg's 4x100 (also including Trenity Green, Amanda Hawbecker and Kylie Snyder), which won in 50.54.
The Leopards, who rolled to county and Class 1A state team titles indoors, easily claimed the county team title outdoors with 191.5 points, well ahead of runner-up North Hagerstown (133).
"I'm just really proud of my team. We work well together and they push me hard," Howe said. "We just want to win. That's it."
Entering the county meet, Howe ranked second in the Class 1A state rankings in the 400, third in the 200 and fifth in the 100.
"Coach (Adam) Rudy pushes me hard," Howe said. "He's a great coach. He stays on us to be good."
2. Sprinters spark Hubs' boys to team title
North Hagerstown's boys ran away with the county team title, scoring 248 points to easily outdistance runner-up South Hagerstown (127.5).
There were no shortage of stars for the Hubs, who won nine of the 18 boys events, including two each by Jake Scallion, Ryder Johnston, Caleb Owusu-Ayim and Royce Naylor.
Nothing underscored North's dominance as much as the 100 and 200. The Hubs took the top three places in both events.
In the 100, Owusu-Ayim won in a personal-record 11.23, Johnston was second in a PR of 11.30, and Mahamane Toure was third in 11.61.
In the 200, Naylor took the victory in 23.19, Toure was second in 23.42 and Ghe Hori Echols placed third in 23.48.
"Every day at practice, we're all pushing each other," Johnston said. "Somebody is always holding you accountable. We're all good friends and we're all rooting for each other."
3. Scallion doubles up in boys 400 and 800
Scallion, a senior leader for the Hubs, claimed titles in the 400, clocking 51.17, and the 800 in a personal-record 2:03.32.
He entered Wednesday as the county leader in the 400, and his performance in the 800 gave him the county's top time in that event, too.
"The 400, I kind of felt neutral. I didn't feel that great, to be honest," Scallion said. "But then my legs loosened up a little and I got into a rhythm."
Scallion echoed Johnston's thoughts on North's team chemistry.
"We all come to practice and give it our all," Scallion said. "Our depth grows every day because we are all pushing each other past our limits, and it shows on days like today."
4. Johnston a double winner in boys 300 hurdles, long jump
Johnston, a Hubs junior, participated in track and field for the first time last spring and won the county 300 hurdles title while placing second in the long jump and third in the 200.
On Wednesday, Johnston was even better. In addition to his runner-up effort in the 100, he dominated the 300 hurdles, defending his title in 41.43, and edged Scallion by an inch to win the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 3 1/4 inches.
The 300 hurdles remains his top event. His personal record of 39.26 seconds, set earlier this season, ranks fourth in Maryland Class 3A.
"Last year, my coach just talked me into trying the 300 hurdles. I'm an athlete, so I tried it and had some success with it," said Johnston, who's also a standout receiver on the football team. "The coaches got my stamina and speed up and I'm doing better and better."
Johnston also ranks fifth in 3A in the long jump with a top performance of 22-2.
5. Hancock's Faith jumps to two wins and a second
Hancock senior Aidan Faith won the girls long jump and triple jump in the county meet for the second straight year, and added a runner-up finish in the high jump, an event she just started doing this school year.
Faith leapt 15-9 in the long jump, taking the victory by more than a foot, and cleared 33-3 in the triple jump, winning that event by almost 3 feet. She also cleared 5 feet in the high jump for the first time ever, matching Smithsburg's Kylie Snyder, although Snyder won the event with fewer misses.
"I've been waiting a long time to get 5 feet. I've been hanging at 4-10 for a long time," said Faith, who cleared 4-10 to place third in Class 1A at the indoor state meet. "Today was a good confidence-booster and I'm feeling good heading into regionals."
Last year outdoors, Faith placed second in the state in the long jump and was fifth in the triple jump.
6. Boonsboro's Matthews lowers 3,200 PR again
Boonsboro junior Caroline Matthews keeps getting closer to breaking the 11-minute barrier in the girls 3,200.
On Wednesday, Matthews pulled away from her biggest county rival — North Hagerstown sophomore Lauren Stine, who won the 1,600 in 5:15.69 earlier in the meet — to lower her personal record to 11:06.75.
"Usually, what I do is go all-out the whole race because I want to leave everything out there," said Matthews. "I was running for a PR today and I did it."
Matthews is undefeated in the event this season. She ran a then-PR of 11:18.52 in the county meet indoors, and lowered that mark to 11:10.65 at last week's Central Maryland Conference championships before going even faster Wednesday.
7. Fisher finding his form for Smithsburg's boys
Smithsburg senior Liam Fisher notched two victories and a runner-up finish Wednesday, producing personal records in both of his individual events.
He won the 1,600 in 4:39.16, and needed that PR to beat North Hagerstown's Walker Mason (4:43.63) and Smithsburg's Tyler Younker (4:45.40), who also each ran a PR.
"Last week (in the CMC meet) I ran a 4:41, and I was just trying to get around that," said Fisher. "A PR is always great to have. There were a lot of good runners in there so I knew it would be fast."
Fisher also anchored the Leopards' 4x400, including Garrett Mastronardi, Ethan Hurd and Tyler Younker, to victory in 3:38.83. He finished second in the 800 in 2:04.07.
8. Sanon siblings clear their hurdles
Williamsport senior Becca Sanon won the girls 100 hurdles in a personal-record 17.63, then watched her younger brother, sophomore Richard Sanon, win the boys 110 hurdles in 15.78.
The girls race was closer, as Becca Sanon had to overcome a slow start to rally past Smithsburg's Emma Joyal for the victory.
"I just felt I needed to go faster," said Becca Sanon. "I was neck and neck with Emma, so I pushed a little harder because I knew I could go faster."
"She didn't think she was going to PR today, so it feels nice that she did it," said Richard Sanon, who pulled away to the boys victory by more than a second. He also lowered his PR to 15.45 in the prelims, which ranks fifth in Maryland Class 2A.
"I just try to PR every single meet," he said.
"My brother has so much potential, and I'm just trying to match him," said Becca Sanon.
9. Roll call of champions
Other individual county champions Wednesday were:
Ethan VanMeter, South Hagerstown, boys shot put (48-8 1/2) and discus (130-4).
Rishi Bhat, North Hagerstown, boys 3,200 (10:26.93).
Mio Desclous, North Hagerstown, boys pole vault (11-6).
Wisdom Moses, South Hagerstown, boys triple jump (40-1 3/4).
Jacob Faith, Clear Spring, boys high jump (5-10).
Kayla Hawbecker, Smithsburg, girls 800 (2:25.73).
Taylor King, Smithsburg, girls 300 hurdles (49.18).
Joslyn Foltz, Hancock, girls shot put (33-4 1/2).
Kaitlyn Queen, Boonsboro, girls discus (92-10).
Michaela Carney, Boonsboro, girls pole vault (9-0).
Other county relay champions were:
North Hagerstown boys 4x100 (Owusu-Ayim, Echols, Naylor and Toure), 44.71.
Williamsport boys 4x200 (Kaleb Long, Richard Sanon, Byron Snyder and Patrick Rhoades), 1:35.55.
South Hagerstown boys 4x800 (Kevin Addeh, Santino DiFranco, Ulrich Kwela and Lorenzo Decastro), 9:07.99.
North Hagerstown girls 4x200 (Kyla Best, Marie Kouadio, Victoria Bowman and Jodiy Kay Hibbert), 1:47.45.
Smithsburg girls 4x400 (Grace Ellis, Taylor King, Kayla Hawbecker and Amanda Hawbecker), 4:22.12.
Smithsburg girls 4x800 (Ella Fisher, Jordyn Davidson, Cora Gentzel and Kayla Hawbecker), 10:49.73.
10. Rejonis, Stoner on the mend
A pair of senior stars, Smithsburg's Cameron Rejonis and South Hagerstown's Jacob Stoner, missed Wednesday's meet.
Rejonis, an eight-time state champion, is nursing an injured hamstring and hopes to return for next week's regionals.
Stoner, who has the county's top times in the 100 and 200 this season and ranks third in the 400, missed the meet due to illness.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 10 things to know about the county track & field championships
