Emily Snyder woke up for Tuesday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference track and field meet at Leonardtown High School feeling sick, but that didn’t stop the Leonardtown junior from earning first-place finishes in the 400- and 800-meter dashes.
“I ran the 400 and I didn’t know how it was going to go because I wasn’t feeling great today and I was sick this morning,” Snyder said. “But, it went pretty well and I got pretty average times. I am definitely just hoping to improve more this season.”
Snyder won the 400 finishing with a time of 1 minute 4 seconds, just edging out senior teammate Kristina Kowalik by three tenths of a second. In the 800, Snyder took home first-place honors with a time of 2:37.2
“In the 800, I wasn’t feeling good at all,” Snyder said. “So, I was just trying to stay in front and practice front running a little bit more because it always helps with confidence and everything.”
All of Leonardtown’s girls appeared confident on the track as the Raiders swept the season-opening meet with three wins notching team scores of over 100 points in each one.
The Raiders (3-0 overall) topped Westlake 116-17, La Plata 110-25 and Lackey 103-34. Lackey (2-1) squeaked out a win over Westlake 54-46 and topped La Plata 67-49, while the Wolverines (1-2) earned its lone victory with a tight margin over La Plata (0-3), 55-48.
On the boys side, the results were markedly closer, with La Plata (3-0) coming out on top 72-60 over Westlake, 77-58 against Leonardtown and 79-53 over Lackey. Leonardtown edged Westlake 62-61, the Wolverines defeated Lackey 63-51 and the Chargers topped the Raiders 68-57 as all three teams finished 1-2 on the day.
Thirteen of the 17 girls events were won by the hosts. In addition to Snyder, Raiders senior Emma Vezzosi was a double winner in the 100 (12.6 seconds) and the 200 (26.4).
Leonardtown freshman Parker O’Brien won the 1,600 (5:30.5) and Raiders sophomore Nelle Ray took the 3,200 (11:48.1). The hosts swept all four relays.
“I am hoping to make it to states in the open 8 this year and the 4 by 8,” Snyder said. “We have one more chance to make it to Penn Relays, so we are trying to push ourselves there.”
Also winning for the Raiders were junior Megan St. Laurent (300 hurdles, 50.2), sophomore Rebecca Vezzosi (long jump, 15 feet 6 1/2 inches) junior Ella Muja (triple jump, 31-9).
Lackey won two events with senior Taylor Williams in the 100 hurdles (15.6), and junior Mya Johnson in the discus (84-5).
“The kids, both boys and girls, had a good first showing,” said Chargers head coach Jimari Jones, who will begin as the head football coach at Lackey in the fall. “[Tuesday] was the first track meet many of them have ever run in. I was pleased with their effort and the results.”
The Wolverines won one event on the girls side courtesy of senior Nadjia Haskins in the shot put (34-9) and La Plata junior Eyana Dixon earned a first-place finish in the high jump by clearing 4-8.
“Today was the first meet. I wish I could have done more events, but right now I am injured,” Dixon said. “I have plantar fasciitis in my right foot, so it hurts.”
Dixon was pleased with her win in the high jump despite battling her injury and has her goals set for states in her junior campaign.
“I won high jump with one jump at 4-8, so I was pretty content with that,” Dixon said. “I want to go to states for three events. For the past two seasons, I have gone for two events. Now, I want to bump it up to three.”
For the boys, Westlake was victorious in six events. Senior Andre Jackson prevailed in the 100 (11.2) and senior Luquay Washington won the 200 (23). The Wolverines won the 800 relay (1:33.0) and 1,600 relay (3:48.1). Senior Carlos Eldridge claimed the long jump (18-11) and senior Caleb Caine won in the triple jump (42-4 1/2).
Lackey senior Linn Jordan earned a first-place finish in the 400 (52.2), senior Shamod Hatton tied for first in the 110 hurdles with La Plata’s David Strong (16.0) and Chargers junior Dominic Hawkins took the shot put (47-6). Lackey senior Montez Berry earned second-place finishes in the 800 (2:09.00) and the 1,600 (4:58.8).
The Raiders had strong showings from a handful of runners on the boys side. Senior Matt Kosten was a double winner for the hosts in the 800 (2:04.5) and the 1,600 (4:43.6). Leonardtown sophomore AJ Argobright earned the top spot in the 3,200 (11:07.3) and in the 3,200 relay (9:00.0), while sophomore Nick Grooms notched a couple personal-best times ,including a third-place finish in the 800.
“Today I ended up getting a PR in the 4 by 8 with a 2:14, so that was pretty outstanding for an open meet,” Grooms said. “I ended up getting another PR in the 800 with a 2:10.2. I was able to find the inner drive in me to push harder than before. These were great accomplishments for today. I am looking forward to improving in the mile and getting faster in the 800 and trying to advance our relay teams as far as possible.”
La Plata’s Strong, a sophomore, won the 300 hurdles (43.4) in addition to tying for the top spot in the 110 hurdles. Other winners for the Warriors were sophomore Damani Brown in the high jump (6-0), senior Edwin Santos in the discus (126-4) and La Plata won the 400 relay (48.4).
“As a team, I am pretty content with how we did as a team in the first meet,” La Plata junior Stephen Cobb said. “We got a lot of first-time kids and they showed out for real in the first couple events and we all did pretty good.”
Cobb earned a second-place finish in the 400 in posting a time of 53.5.
“As a team, I am hoping we can win SMAC and regionals and keep growing week in and week out,” Cobb said. “For me personally, I want to win SMAC, regionals, and states for the [400]. I definitely want to hit 48 this year and keep growing every single week.”
Twitter: @johnniswander2
