Local Athletes Perform Well At County Track Championships

By Colin Murphy

The Anne Arundel County Track and Field Championships were held at Annapolis High School on May 11, and several area schools had multiple standout performers. Old Mill took the girls team championship, with Broadneck finishing fourth and Severna Park sixth. On the boys’ side, Old Mill took fifth while Severna Park took seventh and Broadneck eighth.

Each school had several individuals achieve top finishes in their respective events. For the Severna Park girls, Ashley Hayes claimed first place in the 800 and 1600m dashes, with teammates Maddie Clouser finishing third in the 1600m and Madeline Zell fifth in the 800m. The Falcons’ Michelle Nelson took first place in the 3200m run, and teammate Suzie Horman placed sixth in the triple jump. Severna Park also took first place in the girls 4x800m relay.

The Falcon boys performed well too. Darrian Johnson took county championship honors in the 110m hurdles, and he also placed second in the 300m hurdles. Ben Pershall took second in the 3200m, Alex Greenspan took fifth in the 800m, and Christopher Morneau took fifth in discus. The boys 4x800m relay team placed second.

Broadneck also had a strong showing at the County Championships. On the girls’ side, Alexis Franklin took county championship honors with a first place finish in the 300m hurdles. Stephanie Crane took second place in both the 800m and 1600m run, and Rachel Armstrong placed fourth in the 800m dash. Ashleigh Sullivan and Ellie Smith placed fourth and fifth respectively in the 3200m run. Kayla Cook placed fourth in the 100m hurdles, Erika Landeck placed sixth in discus, Kayla Wisherd placed sixth in the 200m dash, and the Broadneck girls also finished second in the 4x800m relay.

On the boys’ side, Charles Skord took third in the 1600m run and eighth in the 800m for Broadneck. Ben Hannon took third in the 300m hurdles and sixth in high jump. Mark Bickley took third in long jump with an impressive 20’7” leap, and he also placed fifth in triple jump with teammate Robbie Fox placing sixth. Jonathan Green placed third in shot put and Joseph Campbell took eighth place in discus. Evan Uthus placed fifth in the 3200m. The Broadneck boys also placed sixth in the 4x100m relay, fifth in the 4x200m relay, fourth in the 4x800m relay, and an impressive third in the 4x400m relay.

Old Mill’s squad also had several strong finishes. On the girls’ side, Parson Taylor took home county championship honors in the 100m and 200m dashes. Alexis Franklin racked up three individual titles by finishing first in the 400m dash, 100m hurdles, and 300m hurdles. Taylor Stevenson and Kelsey Terrell took fourth and fifth, respectively, for Old Mill in the girls pole vault. Laura Jones placed fifth in shot put, and in the triple jump Jessica Garrett and Karima Hilliard placed second and third respectively. The Patriots also took the girls 4x400m relay.

On the boys’ side, the Patriots’ Glenn Metizer took county championship honors in pole vault with a vault of 12’6”, over a foot more than his closest competitor. Vernon Cody was county champion in the 1600m run, with teammate Nicholas Lafavor placing fifth. Joseph McCargo took second in high jump and Trevon Edwards took fourth. Keith Smith took fourth in both long jump and triple jump. Emmanuel Mitchell placed sixth in both shot put and discus. The Patriot boys finished fourth in the 4x100m relay.