Huntingtown senior Anthony Smith, left, this winter’s All-County Athlete of the Year for boys indoor track and field, set records in the 55 and 300-meter dashes at the Class 3A state championships in February.
Northern junior Oakley Olson, pictured running during the cross country season this past fall, won the 1,600 and finished second in the 800 at the 3A state indoor track and field championships in February and is this winter’s All-County Athlete of the Year for girls indoor track and field.
Huntingtown senior Anthony Smith, left, this winter’s All-County Athlete of the Year for boys indoor track and field, set records in the 55 and 300-meter dashes at the Class 3A state championships in February.
Staff photo by ANDY STATES
Northern junior Oakley Olson, pictured running during the cross country season this past fall, won the 1,600 and finished second in the 800 at the 3A state indoor track and field championships in February and is this winter’s All-County Athlete of the Year for girls indoor track and field.
Having won the Class 3A state outdoor track and field championship last spring and several key contributors ready to go indoors this past winter season, the goals were always high for Huntingtown’s boys indoor track and field team. But while head coach Valerie Harrington knew she had a good group, she also knows full well how much goes into winning state championships.
“You hear them talking sometimes about wanting to win,” Harrington said, reflecting on the season on Wednesday afternoon. “Winning SMAC and region and states, and I tend to be the one that says, ‘Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.’ We have to make sure of injuries and sickness and things like that, and we did have several kids during the indoor season, especially around SMAC and regions, that were sick.”
Ultimately, the Hurricanes’ performance at the 3A state meet left no doubt. Led by Anthony Smith’s record-breaking night, the Hurricanes’ 55 points earned the team the state championship, clearing runner-up North Point by eight points.
Smith, this winter’s All-County Athlete of the Year for boys indoor track and field, had a part in 38 of the 55 points, setting new meet records in the 55- and 300-meter dashes while also running the anchor leg on the Hurricanes’ state championship 800 relay team and delivering a runner-up finish in the high jump.
“Anthony, obviously, had a tremendous meet,” Harrington said. “You look at that, 38 points out of our 55. He definitely went into that meet very focused and ready. He has a lot of drive internally. Somebody asked me, ‘Were you surprised that he set two 3A records?’ I was. I would have possibly thought maybe one, but I also knew the state records were good times, so it did surprise me. He had a great day.”
Of course, 38 points was not enough to win the state title alone. Huntingtown picked up points in a variety of other spots, with Ky’Ree Kirkman delivering a third-place effort in the 55, while throwers Kenneth King (fourth) and Connor Howlin (seventh) both earned points in the shot put. Distance runners Thomas Foulkes (sixth) and Conor McGirr (eighth) both scored in the 1,600, while Cameron Dalrymple, Evan Couvillion and Kirkman joined Smith on the championship relay team.
“It takes every little point,” Harrington said, citing her 2014 state championship girls indoor squad which won its title by the narrowest of margins. “Don’t think if you’re in eighth place it’s just one point. My girls team, when they won states years ago, they won by half a point. We had a tie for eighth place in the high jump and got half a point, and that half a point we won the meet by. ... You fight for every place. Don’t ever give up. Don’t think ‘I don’t matter.’ Every single point does matter. It takes all those little points for the team points.”
The winter objective realized, the Hurricanes would have seemed to have been in position to make a good run at repeating during the outdoor season before the coronavirus pandemic arrived to seemingly snatch that opportunity.
“It was definitely very exciting. Coming off last year, you’re hoping you can put it together and they accomplished that,” Harrington said. “I know they were definitely looking forward to outdoor and getting a few more guys back out, like Josh Stokes from wrestling. I know they were excited about outdoor season and hoping to repeat. ... How quickly things can change.”
Also 3A state champions last spring, the Northern’s girls indoor team had its collective eye on repeating as the state indoor champions this winter. The Patriots came close, but finished 4 1/2 points behind Hereford of Baltimore County, which scored 24 points in the pole vault, an event Southern Maryland Athletic Conference teams do not compete in.
But this year’s runner-up finish marked the third straight season and fourth in the last five that Northern’s girls finished either first or second at the state meet. The Patriots won the state title in 2015 prior to last season’s triumph.
Oakley Olson, this winter’s All-County Athlete of the Year for girls indoor track and field, took first in the 1,600 and second in the 800, Hannah Mack was also second in the 3,200, while the Patriots took the top spot in the 3,200 relay and received their typical strong showing from all of their distance runners.
Northern head coach Josh Dawson was looking forward not only to seeing how the girls might progress this spring, but also to watching the boys team start to raise its profile, as well.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “The group of girls that kind of started the winning pattern kind of showed the incoming class what to expect and how to perform and every year, the expectation is, ‘We’re going to go win’ whatever it is. The group of girls is willing to do what is needed to get there.
“The boys are coming around. I thought we were going to have a really good outdoor season. I think individually on the boys side, they’re young. Young boys in high school do not compete against seniors as well as young girls in high school do. I think the boys have the mindset and the ability to get to where the girls are in a couple years.”
