Runners from across the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference had one last chance to shine this season in the Maryland State Cross Country Championships at Hereford High School, and several of them performed admirably.
Northern High School freshman Ella Meccia finished second in the 3A state girls meet on Nov. 13 and propelled the Patriots to a second-place finish in the team chase behind Howard. Chopticon High finished ninth among 3A girls, while Huntingtown was 17th and Great Mills was 18th. Northern’s Sydney Yankanich was 16th to assist the Patriots runner-up showing.
Great Mills sisters Cooper Brothern and Carter Brotherton both performed well at the state meet. Cooper Brotherton, the SMAC girls champion, was eighth (19:38.8), while Carter Brotherton took 15th (20:18.2). Chopticon was ninth among 3A girls with Kathleen Schwaner in 24th and Blair Fowler in 45th.
On the boys side in 3A, Chopticon placed 10th, while Huntingtown finished 14th and Northern was 16th. Huntingtown senior Thomas Foulkes took 10th (16:50.9), while Northern’s Gavin Stevens was 20th (17:09.2) and the Patriots’ Cameron King was 36th (17:37.3). Great Mills’ Alexander Sleskar was 39th, while Chopticon’s Dominic Longobardi was 56th and Braves’ John Owens and James Owens were 66th and 67th, respectively.
“Going into it I knew 10th was probably going to be the best that I could do,” Foulkes said. “So, for me to finish 10th and come in under 17 minutes was great for me. I really can’t think of a better way to end my high school cross country career.”
Calvert senior Kristen Prince finished third in the 2A State girls meet (20:07.0) while teammate Madison McCurry was seventh (20:34.7), Victoria Vo took 26th, Riley Haller was 48th and Hayleigh Spicknall placed 50th. Patuxent’s Savannah Hall was 53rd, while La Plata’s Karley Nichol and Savannah Trice were 64th and 65th, respectively.
“I was really happy with where I finished,” Prince said. “I just felt amazing the whole race. I passed several other runners on the course and I never got passed. This whole senior season was amazing. My teammates were incredible and they all ran very well at the meet.”
On the boys’ side, Calvert’s Jack Hartsig finished eighth (17:36.9) to lead the Cavaliers to a third-place finish overall. Calvert runners Aidan Lundberg was 12th (17:48.1) and Cavaliers’ David Rodenhaver was 13th (17:48.1). Thomas Stone’s James Westbrooks was 53rd, Lackey’s Timothy Warren placed 60th, McDonough’s Joseph Witten and Maciah Turner took 77th and 90th, respectively, while La Plata’s Griffin Fitzpatrick and Grant Winkler were 91st and 92nd, respectively.
Leonardtown was the lone SMAC team competing in the 4A meet and several girls performed well as did one boy. Elena Blondnikar placed 11th overall (19:50.9) while senior teammate Parker O’Brien was 31st (21:00.4). Raiders’ Peter Imhof took 42nd (17:54.2) overall in the boys’ division.
