Here are 68 Washington County girls to watch in 2024 spring high school sports

The Washington County high school spring sports season soon will be in full swing with lacrosse, softball, tennis and track and field.

The Smithsburg girls track and field team will be aiming for its first Class 1A outdoor state title since 2015 after winning its second straight indoor state crown last month. The Leopards were state runners-up last spring. The state meet will be held May 21 and 23 at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex.

In lacrosse, Washington County has been represented in the 1A girls state semifinals each of the past two years, with Smithsburg reaching the final four last year after Boonsboro got there in 2022. The playoffs begin May 8 with region quarterfinals.

Boonsboro's tennis team finished second in the Class 1A state tournament a year ago. (At the state level, all boys and girls points earned count toward one overall team title.) This year's region tournaments will be played between May 10-18, with the state tournament planned for May 23-25 at Wilde Lake Tennis Club.

For the first time, the county is guaranteed to have a region softball champion as the five teams in Class 1A West Region II are Boonsboro, Clear Spring, Hancock, Smithsburg and Williamsport. The playoffs begin May 9 with region quarterfinals.

The first official play date for Maryland public school spring sports is Thursday.

Here are 68 girls to watch:

Softball

Juliette Bragunier, Sr., Williamsport — Bragunier batted .321 with 14 RBIs last season.

Brooke Buhrman, Sr., South Hagerstown — Buhrman batted .327 with two home runs and nine RBIs last season.

Adianna Dudley, So., Smithsburg — Dudley batted .400 last season and led the Leopards in homers (two) and RBIs (12).

Kaydence Gaither, So., Hancock — Gaither batted .392 last season and led the Panthers in extra-base hits (nine) and RBIs (23).

Mac Griffith, Jr., Saint James — Griffith batted .537 with five home runs, two triples, six doubles and 22 RBIs last season.

Sage Haller, Sr., Boonsboro — Haller batted .308 last season with nine extra-base hits and drew a team-high 14 walks.

Sydney Hartle, Sr., Boonsboro — Hartle batted .545 with three homers, a triple, 12 doubles and a county-high 43 RBIs last season.

Haylee Hartman, Sr., Boonsboro — Hartman batted .508 with five home runs, a triple, three doubles and 40 RBIs last season.

Julia Hayes, So., Clear Spring — Hayes batted .328 with three homers, four doubles and 15 RBIs last season.

Kimberly Hebert, So., Smithsburg — Hebert batted .475 with eight doubles, 10 RBIs and 10 stolen bases last season.

Kendal Hoover, Jr., Clear Spring — Hoover batted .468 with eight doubles, a triple and 23 RBIs last season.

Kalyn Lawrence, So., Boonsboro — Lawrence led the county in batting (.591), hits (39), runs (40) and stolen bases (21) last season.

Brooklyn McCusker, So., Hancock — McCusker batted a team-high .422 last spring and drove in 19 runs.

Grace McMahon, Sr., Saint James — McMahon batted .421 with six extra-base hits last year.

Natalie Melby, Sr., Williamsport — Melby batted .324 with seven extra-base hits and 18 RBIs last spring.

Ava Nelson, Sr., Boonsboro — Nelson went 15-4 in the circle last season, leading the county in wins and ERA (1.58). She batted .375 with seven extra-base hits.

Lily Schlotterbeck, So., Saint James — Schlotterbeck was limited to only four games last spring due to injury and batted .455. As an eighth-grader for the Saints, she batted .486 with 12 extra-base hits and 21 RBIs and went 8-2 in the circle with a 1.71 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 62 innings.

Alexa Snyder, Jr., Clear Spring — Snyder batted .373 and drove in 12 runs last year.

Bailey Summers, So., St. Maria Goretti — Summers led the Gaels in batting average (.582) and RBIs (13) last spring.

Madi Wade, Sr., South Hagerstown — Wade was The Herald-Mail’s Washington County player of the year last season. She batted .544 with county highs in extra-base hits (21), home runs (six), walks (16) and OPS (1.793) to go with 32 RBIs. In the circle, she went 12-5 with a county-high 151 strikeouts in 108 innings.

Payton Weaver, Sr., Williamsport — Weaver led the Wildcats in batting (.366) and RBIs (20) last season. She had three doubles, three triples and a home run.

Terri Williams, Sr., North Hagerstown — Williams batted .347 last spring with three homers, two triples, five doubles and 13 RBIs.

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Lacrosse

Avery Byard, Sr., North Hagerstown — Byard had 38 goals, 11 assists, 54 draw controls, 33 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers last season.

Grace Ellis, Jr., Smithsburg — Ellis was a standout defender last year, recording 29 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers to go with three goals.

Sydney Emerson, Sr., North Hagerstown — Emerson had 21 goals, five assists, 22 ground balls and 17 draw controls last season.

Sabrina Harman, So., Saint James — Harman had 22 goals, eight assists, 14 ground balls and 13 draw controls last season.

Savannah Hoffman, Sr., North Hagerstown — Hoffman was a standout on defense for the Hubs last season.

Jordan Hughes, Jr., Saint James — Hughes stopped 85 of 160 shots on goal she faced for a 53.1 save percentage last season.

Riley Lutz, Sr., North Hagerstown — Lutz led the Hubs with 39 goals and 25 assists, and added 35 ground balls, 33 draw controls and 12 caused turnovers last season.

Nicole Malasky, Jr., Boonsboro — Malasky had 22 goals, eight assists, 46 ground balls, 37 draw controls and 11 caused turnovers last season.

Emma McKinley, Sr., Boonsboro — McKinley made 90 saves with a 39.3 save percentage last season for the Warriors.

Rebekah Meiklejohn, Jr., Boonsboro — Meiklejohn had 19 goals, eight assists, 53 ground balls, 42 draw controls and 13 caused turnovers last season.

Taeler Stouffer, Jr., Boonsboro — Stouffer had 22 goals, nine assists, 34 draw controls and 26 ground balls for the Warriors.

Renee Sullivan, Jr., Saint James — Sullivan had 58 goals, six assists, 76 draw controls and 16 ground balls last season.

Kendra Wilkinson, Jr., Smithsburg — Wilkinson stopped 171 of 332 shots on goal she faced for a 51.5 save percentage last season.

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Track & Field

Anthonette Bantamoi, Sr., North Hagerstown — Bantamoi ranked third in the county last spring in the 300 hurdles (50.84).

Evie Brauner, Sr., Williamsport — Brauner was a 2A state qualifier in the 3,200 both indoors this year and outdoors last spring.

Anna Chamberlin, So., North Hagerstown — Chamberlin placed first in the county and third in 3A West in the high jump indoors this year. She also placed third in the county cross country championships last fall.

Grace Ellis, Jr., Smithsburg — Ellis won 1A indoor state titles in the 800 and 4x800 relay this year after capturing state gold in the 4x400 and 4x800 and bronze in the 800 last spring.

Jessica Franklin, Sr., South Hagerstown — Franklin was the county runner-up in both the 55 indoors this year and the 100 outdoors last spring.

Cora Gentzel, Jr., Smithsburg — Gentzel has captured a pair of individual 1A state titles this school year — cross country in the fall and the 1,600 indoors this winter.

Michaela Gross, Sr., Smithsburg — Gross earned a gold medal in the 4x800, silver in the 3,200 and bronze in the 1,600 at the 1A indoor state championships this year.

Dana Hammond, Sr., Clear Spring — Hammond was the county runner-up in the high jump indoors this year.

Kayla Hawbecker, Jr., Smithsburg — Hawbecker, who won a 1A indoor state title in the 4x800 relay this year, ranked No. 1 in the county in the 800 (2:21.05) last spring.

Jenna Howe, Jr., Smithsburg — Howe ranked No. 1 in the county indoors this year in the 55 (7.46) and 300 (41.55) and No. 1 outdoors last spring in the 400 (59.02).

Leah Howe, Sr., Smithsburg — Howe was the county runner-up in the 55 hurdles indoor this year and ranked No. 3 in the county in the 100 hurdles (18.18) last spring.

Rian Johnson, Jr., North Hagerstown — Johnson tied for the county’s No. 1 ranking in the 800 (2:25.10) indoors this year with her performance at the 3A state championships.

Emma Joyal, Jr., Smithsburg — Joyal was the county champ in the 55 hurdles indoors this year and the county runner-up in the 100 hurdles last spring.

Taylor King, Jr., Smithsburg — King ranked No. 1 in the county in the 300 hurdles (48.73) last spring.

Caroline Matthews, Sr., Boonsboro — Matthews was the overall CMC champion and 1A state runner-up in the 3,200 last spring. She didn’t compete indoors this year due to injury.

Kailyn McCauley, Jr., Clear Spring — McCauley won county and 1A West region titles in the shot put indoors this year.

Malea Moore, So., South Hagerstown — Moore was the county runner-up in the long jump last spring.

Ana Small-Simmons, Sr., South Hagerstown — Small-Simmons placed second in the county and third in 3A West in the shot put indoors this year.

Olivia Smith, So., Williamsport — Smith ranked No. 2 in the county in the triple jump (34-1) and tied for No. 2 in the long jump (15-10) last spring.

Alexandria Spithaler, Jr., Smithsburg — Spithaler captured the 1A indoor state title in the pole vault this year.

Lauren Stine, Jr., North Hagerstown — Stine set the county record in the indoor 3,200 (10:58.60) this year after running 10:54.42 for the No. 2 all-time performance in the event outdoors last spring. She’s a two-time 3A state champ in the 3,200.

Riley Troxell, Sr., South Hagerstown — Troxell placed second at the 3A state indoor championships this year in the pole vault after finishing fifth at states outdoors last spring.

Sidney Turner, So., Boonsboro — Turner placed third in the shot put at both the county and 1A West indoor championships this year.

Alyiah Wygant, Jr., Smithsburg — Wygant placed third in the discus at the county championships last spring.

Tennis

Larissa Blair, Jr., Boonsboro — Blair teamed with Cami Row to go 16-2 in doubles last season, winning Class 1A state and West Region II titles.

Ellie Finn, Sr., North Hagerstown — Finn went 4-2 at No. 1 doubles last spring with Annie Smith, and she had five wins at No. 1 singles.

Lauran Finn, Fr., Saint James — Finn went 10-0 in singles matches and 4-0 in doubles as an eighth-grader last season and was The Herald-Mail’s Washington County Player of the Year.

Sofia Galvan, Sr., and Emily Gasaway, Sr., North Hagerstown — Galvan and Gasaway teamed up to go 13-3 at No. 2 doubles last year.

Lillia Mills, Sr., and Lindsay Rasco, Jr., South Hagerstown — Mills and Rasco teamed up to go 10-1 at No. 2 doubles last year.

Saumya Padha, Sr., Boonsboro — Padha had eight wins at No. 1 singles last year.

Lauren Toms, Sr., Williamsport — Toms went 24-1 in singles last year, repeating as the county and 1A West Region II champion before finishing third in the state tournament.

Riley Troxell, Sr., South Hagerstown — Troxell teamed with Amanda Frushour to go 20-2 in doubles last year, winning county and 3A West Region I titles.

Elizabeth Warren, Jr., Williamsport — Warren went 7-2 at No. 2 singles and had a pair of wins at No. 1 doubles last year.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County high school spring sports girls athletes to watch