Cross Country Contenders Likely To Include Familiar Teams

Rich Get Richer: SP Girls Reload For Fifth Straight XC Title Run

The common joke shared about cross country is that the sport is essentially every other sport’s punishment: running.

At Severna Park, though, athletes are forgoing other sports to participate.

“Success breeds success, and folks want to be a part of something special,” Severna Park coach Josh Alcombright said. “Those guys that are coming over are doing it to help themselves for track, and they’re all in and are really excited about this. They want to better themselves and their team.”

Joining Severna Park cross country is not without merit: The Falcons have won four straight girls state titles, and they are primed for a run at a fifth successive crown. The boys are building toward a finish near the top of the 3A classification as well, with a young clutch of runners.

Both boys and girls teams have absorbed players from other sports who have realized that running is their future.

While the Falcon girls return last year’s third-place finisher Josie Kamas and seventh-place finisher Mari Matthews, they also have Lexi Fitzsimmons and Siena Pegues set to feature prominently. Both were key parts of their indoor track championship earlier in 2026, and Pegues has joined the program after playing soccer last fall.

With a strong freshman class, barring injury, the Falcons look formidable among their championship contenders.

On the boys side, they are leaning on track-heavy experience to pay dividends. Collin Denton was on the track team’s 4x800-meter state championship relay team, and like Pegues, he has transitioned from playing soccer. Jacon Bradley, a sprinter, has shifted from playing football. Daniel Haase-Lyons, also a one-time track runner for Severna Park, moved back to the area after a year away to give the Falcons yet another quality runner.

Alcombright hinted at a deep, talented freshman class that will push those runners and supplement established distance runner Brenden Woods, who finished 13th last season and helped lead Severan Park to a fourth-place finish at the state meet.

Bruins XC Program Hopes To Rebuild Quickly

At Broadneck, the Bruins are retooling after losing a handful of top runners to graduation, headlined by Max Marinello, Jeannette Manseau and Annabelle Hall.

On the boys side, senior Evan Whitford returns to help lead a talented group of runners who are primarily either young or returning from injury. Among those are senior Alex Fiedler and junior Alexander Mancus, as well as sophomore Evan Johnson, who lit up the track as a freshman last year. Juniors Will Konopka and Matthew Parker, as well as senior Emery Arnold, also figure to compete for a spot in the scoring seven.

On the girls side, youth will be served as many of the top returners are sophomores, including Audrey Fleishman, Mia Funk and Harper Johnson. Fleishman was an all-county honoree last year, while Funk also turned heads a year ago. Junior Jessica Herdich and senior Alexa Johnson will provide veteran leadership and round out the group of runners.

For both boys and girls, Broadneck will look to develop and support through a large class of freshman runners.