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Washington County teams, athletes ready for Maryland indoor track & field championships

daniel kauffman, the herald-mail
·9 min read

The MPSSAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held Tuesday (Class 1A and Class 4A) and Wednesday (Class 2A and Class 3A) at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, beginning at 1 p.m. each day.

The Smithsburg girls team will be going for a second straight Class 1A team title Tuesday. If every athlete and relay team in all Class 1A girls events were to match their season-best performances, the Leopards would emerge victorious with 96 points, with Harford Tech (69), Largo (55) and Western Tech (47) the closest challengers.

Numerous other Washington County athletes will be gunning for medals (top-three finishes).

Here's an event-by-event preview, with all county athletes and relay teams participating and where their top season performances stand among state qualifiers entering the state meet.

Region results: Smithsburg girls dominate 1A West; North’s Stine sets county record

Bragging rights: Washington County high school indoor track and field leaders

Tuesday

Class 1A boys 55 hurdles — Smithsburg's Xavier Douge (8.67 seconds) ranks tied for 14th in the field. Western Tech's Ojigwe Olua (7.71) holds the top time in the class.

Class 1A girls 55 hurdles — Clear Spring's Cheyenne Naile (9.95) ranks 13th and Smithsburg's Emma Joyal (9.99) and Amelia Beck-Schmieder (10.08) rank 14th and 16th in the field. Cambridge-South Dorchester's Enazajah Young (8.28) enters with the top time.

Class 1A boys 55 — Clear Spring's Tyce McConnaughey (6.76) ranks tied for 14th in the field. Friendly's Donte Long (6.47) is the favorite.

Class 1A girls 55 — Smithsburg's Jenna Howe (7.53) ranks tied for ninth, and teammate Alaina Pate (7.71) is tied with Boonsboro's Kamryn Dillow for 17th in the field. CMIT North's Amirah Coward (7.19) holds the top time in the class.

Class 1A girls 4x800 relay — Smithsburg's team of Kayla Hawbecker, Ella Fisher, Rebecca Cross and Cora Gentzel clocked 10:16.38 in the Central Maryland Conference meet. That is the top time in the class by more than 15 seconds over Catoctin, which is another 15 seconds ahead of No. 3 Patterson Mill.

Class 1A boys 4x800 relay — Smithsburg (8:56.30) ranks fifth and Boonsboro (9:28.84) ranks 14th in the field. Largo (8:29.36) enters with the top time.

Class 1A girls 300 — Smithsburg's Jenna Howe (41.67) ranks fifth and Boonsboro's Kamryn Dillow (44.78) ranks 15th in the field. Friendly's Tressia Davis (39.30) is a heavy favorite, ranking in the top 20 in the event nationally.

Class 1A boys 300 — Smithsburg's Ethan Hurd (38.09) ranks 14th in the field. Friendly's Dante Long (34.16) is a heavy favorite, ranking ninth nationally.

Class 1A girls 1,600 — Smithsburg's Cora Gentzel (5:25.87) and Michaela Gross (5:29.84) rank first and second in the field, with teammate Kayla Hawbecker (5:37.59) ranking sixth. Harford Tech's Isabel Devos (5:30.74) enters as the fastest challenger to the Leopards' top duo.

Class 1A boys 1,600 — Smithsburg's Tyler Younker (4:48.59) ranks 14th and teammate Camilo Mellott (4:53.94) ranks 18th in the field. Liberty's Scott Feaga (4:35.68) has the top time, with five others clocking under 4:39 this season.

Class 1A girls 500 — Smithsburg's Grace Ellis (1:19.55) ranks second and teammate Ella Fisher (1:26.88) ranks ninth in the field. Friendly's Tressia Davis (1:16.36) is a heavy favorite, ranking in the top 25 nationally. Ellis and Carver A&T's Nadira Cantey (1:19.71) are likely to battle it out for silver, as they rank more than 3 seconds ahead of the No. 4 rank.

Class 1A boys 500 — Smithsburg's Ethan Hurd (1:14.05) ranks 16th in the field. Catoctin's Furious Trammel (1:05.64) is the favorite.

Class 1A girls 3,200 — Smithsburg's Michaela Gross (11:46.37) and Cora Gentzel (11:46.97) rank first and second in the field, just ahead of Harford Tech's Isabel Devos (11:49.76).

Class 1A boys 3,200 — Smithsburg's Michael Wynkoop (10:05.57) ranks third in the field, just behind the only two participants who have broken 10 minutes, Liberty's Gregory Schellberg (9:58.69) and Catoctin's Gabriel Riling (9:59.67). Smithsburg's Camilo Mellott (10:44.91) ranks 12th in the field.

Class 1A girls 4x200 relay — Smithsburg (1:56.20) ranks sixth, Clear Spring (1:56.78) ranks eighth and Boonsboro (1:59.56) ranks 13th in the field. Largo (1:46.41) holds the top time in the class.

Class 1A girls 800 — Smithsburg's Grace Ellis (2:25.45) has the top time in the class by more than 2 seconds. Teammates Kayla Hawbecker (2:28.18) and Ella Fisher (2:35.14) rank third and seventh.

Class 1A boys 800 — Smithsburg's Tyler Younker (2:08.80) ranks 12th in the field. Largo's Israel Wright (2:02.52) enters with the top time.

Class 1A girls 4x400 relay — Smithsburg (4:22.36) ranks fourth and Boonsboro (4:55.66) ranks 14th in the field. Largo (4:11.21) holds the top time in the class.

Class 1A boys 4x400 relay — Boonsboro (3:45.40) ranks 13th and Smithsburg (3:45.99) ranks 14th in the field. Largo (3:28.50) is the favorite.

Class 1A boys high jump — Clear Spring's Jacob Faith (6 feet, 1 inch) ranks third in the field as one of three participants to have cleared 6 feet this season, along with Western Tech's Ojigwe Olua and Kent County's Larry Steward, who share the top performance (6-2) in the class. Hancock's Logan Trumpower (5-8) ranks tied for 12th in the field.

Class 1A girls high jump — Clear Spring's Dana Hammond (4-10) ranks tied for sixth and Smithsburg's Emilia Spithaler (4-6) ranks tied for 12th in the field. Francis Scott Key's Ashleigh Porter (5-4) has the top performance in the class.

Class 1A boys pole vault — Smithsburg's John Flint (10-6) ranks tied for eighth and teammate Luke Scott (10-0) ranks tied for 13th in the field. Cambridge-South Dorchester's William Jackson (13-0) is the favorite.

Class 1A girls pole vault — Six of the 17 athletes in this field are from Washington County. Smithsburg's Alexandria Spithaler (8-6) is the highest rank of them, tied for third in the field with the top two, Liberty's Amelia Zagorski and Patterson Mill's Stefani Burns, having cleared 9 feet. Boonsboro's Breann Reed and Smithsburg's Julia Brophy rank tied for sixth, each having cleared 8 feet. Clear Spring's Dana Hammond and Boonsboro's Nicole Malasky rank tied for eighth with four others, each having cleared 7-6. Smithsburg's Lilian Hade ranks 14th, having cleared 7-5.

Class 1A boys shot put — Hancock's Waylon Leach (45-11) ranks third in the field, less than 3 feet behind Western Tech's Elijah Smith (48-6 1/2), the favorite. Clear Spring has three throwers in the field, with Nick Cullember (42-10 1/4) ranking seventh, Benjamin Myers (39-8) ranking 11th and Konnor Sarber (39-2) ranking 15th.

Class 1A girls shot put — Clear Spring's Kailyn McCauley (33-8 1/2) leads a group of four county athletes in the field, ranking third and within shouting distance of Western Tech's top-ranked Fiyinfoluwa Popoola (35-9 1/2). Boonsboro's Sidney Turner (31-6 1/2) ranks eighth, Clear Spring's Katelyn Moffitt (30-0) ranks 10th and Smithsburg's Lily Proctor (29-4) ranks 11th.

The record book: Washington County indoor track & field top performers all-time

Wednesday

Class 2A boys 55 hurdles — Williamsport's Richard Sanon (7.90) is the top-ranked hurdler in the field. There are several close contenders, with six others having run 8.20 or faster.

Class 3A boys 55 hurdles — North Hagerstown's Ryder Johnston (8.02) ranks tied for 11th and teammate Gabriel Ohaegbu (8.23) ranks 15th in the field. Digital Harbor's Jevonte Williams (7.62 and DeAndre Thomas (7.63) and Baltimore Poly's Damon Williams (7.63) are the three co-favorites.

Class 3A boys 55 — North Hagerstown's Odin Desir (6.67) ranks tied for 15th in the field. Great Mills' Zachary Braden (6.42) enters with the top time this season.

Class 3A girls 4x800 relay — North Hagerstown (10:11.56) ranks seventh in the field. River Hill (9:43.56) has the best performance this season.

Class 3A boys 4x800 relay — North Hagerstown (8:31.97) ranks eighth in the field. Chopticon (8:14.33) and Oakland Mills (8:18.53) have each run under 8:20.

Class 2A girls 3,200 — Williamsport's Evie Brauner (12:22.89) ranks 11th in the field. Hereford's top two of Rebekka Hillier (11:20.03) and Sylvia Snider (11:21.74) are the only runners who have gone under 11:45.

Class 3A girls 3,200 — North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine (10:58.60) ranks No. 1 in the class, having just set the Washington County indoor record in the event in the 3A West meet. Great Mills' Carter Brotherton (11:07.05) ranks second.

Class 3A boys 3,200 — North Hagerstown's Walker Mason (9:57.64) ranks seventh in the field and is one of nine participants to break 10 minutes this season. Howard's Joseph Ensor (9:24.82) is the favorite.

Class 3A girls 800 — North Hagerstown's Rian Johnson (2:25.59) ranks 15th in the field. Chopticon's Kathleen Schwaner (2:19.95) enters with the top time this season.

Class 3A girls high jump — North Hagerstown's Anna Chamberlin (4-10) ranks tied for eighth in the field. Blake's Sierra Swangin (5-6 1/2) is the favorite.

Class 3A boys high jump — North Hagerstown's Kalel Salifou (5-10) ranks tied for ninth in the field. Severna Park's Kian Williams (6-8) enters with the top performance.

Class 3A girls shot put — South Hagerstown's Ana Small-Simmons (31-10) ranks eighth in the field. Northern-Calvert's Gabby Cope (42-0) and Westminster's Emma Reaves (41-5) are the only throwers in the field over 36 feet.

Class 3A boys shot put — South Hagerstown's Dayvion Martin (44-3) and Jack Rhodes (41-11) rank seventh and 11th in the field. Oakdale's Grant Lohr (57-9) is the favorite.

Class 3A girls pole vault — South Hagerstown's Riley Troxell (10-5) ranks second in the field. Oakdale's Lillian Schultz (11-9) is the favorite, and Manchester Valley's Sara Moore has also cleared 10 feet.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County athletes set for Maryland indoor track & field meet