Talent and togetherness take TJ boys to second straight 4A track title

LANDOVER — Stretching the outer limits of a cellphone picture frame, the Thomas Johnson High boys track team, a squad defined by depth of talent and togetherness, squeezed in for one final photo as twilight set in Thursday evening.

The TJ boys brought 18 athletes to the state track and field championships this week at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex.

And by the time the three-day meet had concluded, the Patriots had won five events, scored points in 13 of the 18 events, placed in the top three in nine and came away with the Class 4A team championship trophy for the second consecutive outdoor season and third straight overall, counting their state indoor team title in February.

As a result, many of the athletes in that final team photo were wearing medals — some multiple medals — around their necks.

Photos: 2024 State Track & Field

“The amount of diversity we have,” said one of them, senior Luke Freimanis, who won the Class 4A boys high jump (6 feet, 6 inches) Tuesday before returning Thursday to place second in the 110-meter hurdles (14.29 seconds) and fourth in the pole vault behind teammate and event winner Gilberto Ramos (14-6).

“If one person doesn’t do that great,” Freimanis continued, “we can cover for it in other events.”

Gov. Thomas Johnson Boys Track State Title

Bobby Humphries, the Gov. Thomas Johnson boys track coach, is doused with water after his team won the Class 4A state title Thursday in Landover.

It’s the kind of stuff that puts the TJ boys squarely in the conversation of best track teams ever in Frederick County. The only team to reach these kind of heights locally in recent years were the Urbana girls.

“The team culture, the way everyone supports one another, it definitely was not that way my freshman year,” said senior James Partlow, the top distance runner in Maryland for high school boys who won the 4A 1,600-meter run in a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 8.63 seconds, finally pulling away from Old Mill’s talented Tsedeke Jakovics (4:09.53) over the final 200 meters.

Video: Partlow dominates field, wins 2024 4A Boys 1600 meter state title

It marked the first time that Partlow, who is bound for the Naval Academy near the end of June, had swept both the 1,600 and the 3,200, which he won Tuesday in 9:16.29, at the state meet.

“Having it be that way my senior year,” Partlow said of the improved team camaraderie, “it’s an awesome way to go out. I love this team. We all support each other. No one really cares if you are a sprinter, a distance runner or a thrower.”

Of course, the TJ boys were not the only Frederick County athletes to shine on the final day of the state meet.

Catoctin senior Furious Trammel capped his remarkable high school career in typically impressive fashion with victories in the 1A boys 400-meter dash (48.34 seconds) and triple jump (44-2½), all while dealing with a balky back this week.

State Track - Class 1A Boys 400

Catoctin’s Furious Trammel crosses the finish line to win the Class 1A boys 400-meter dash Thursday.

It followed his one-jump, state-record victory in the long jump (23-9¾) Wednesday and helped the Catoctin boys finish second in the 1A team standings with 72 points, not far behind champion Cambridge South Dorchester (80.5 points).

Urbana junior Divine Bamgboye won her favorite event, the 300-meter hurdles, in a personal-best 42.96 seconds, ran a leg for the Hawks’ second-place 4x200 relay team and placed sixth in the 100-meter dash, helping the Urbana girls finish second in the 4A team standings to Woodlawn (82.5 points) with 70 points.

Additionally, Oakdale sophomore Jonas Sparks won the 3A boys pole vault when he cleared 14 feet on his second attempt.

Video: Oakdale's Jonas Sparks wins the 3A boys pole vault

“I really dug deep, and I got it,” said Sparks, who finished second at states last spring and at the state indoor meet in February.

Other standout performances at the state meet were turned in by Tuscarora’s Justin Banks, who finished second in the 3A boys 800 (1:53.53), 1,600 (4:15.80) and 3,200 (9:38.49), and Oakdale’s Grant Lohr, who successfully defended his state title in the 3A boys shot put (55-1¾) Tuesday before placing second in the discus Thursday with a personal-best throw of 172 feet, 10 inches.

“Not even mad with second place,” said Lohr, who surrendered his discus crown from last season to Glenelg’s Ruichen He (181-2). “It’s one of the deepest competitions that Maryland discus has seen in a long time, if not ever.”

Mount Hebron’s Logan Ruehl settled for third after hitting a mark of 170-4, and Chopticon’s William Mandis was fourth after his discus sailed 169-9.

Lohr’s winning mark in the 3A discus at states last spring was 158-6, a personal-best at the time.

The TJ boys’ victory in the 4A teams standings was aided by a win from the 4x100 relay team of Christopher Hall, Angelo Palileo, Kalani Pu’Uloa and Leonard Taylor (41.83 seconds).

The Patriots finished with 92 points, 24 clear of second-place Paint Branch.

And, naturally, the team trophy was front and center in that final team photo, a lifetime keepsake.

“It’s the way they push each other,” coach Bobby Humphries said. “They really do buy into the family aspect of it. They set high expectations and goals and work hard to get those. If they maintain that mentality in life, it’s going to get them where they want to go.”