Westminster’s Prodoehl sprints toward finals

Owls senior anchors relay, qualifies for 100, 200 finals at Class 3A state meet

Cole Prodoehl said he didn’t expect to be competing at the Class 3A state championship meet when the season first started.

The Westminster senior had his junior outdoor track season cut short because of ineligibility but returned to make this year a memorable one.

Prodoehl qualified for the 100- and 200-meter dash finals on the second day of the Class 3A state meet at Morgan State University on Friday. He will compete in the finals today, the meet’s final day.

Prodoehl also anchored the Owls’ 4x200 relay that took second in 1:28.76.

Owls coach Desmond Wars had to shift athletes around after senior sprinter Zane Lewis got injured on the second day of the 3A West meet at Watkins Mill on Monday. Lewis normally ran the anchor leg on the Owls’ relays, but Prodoehl stepped up to the challenge.

“It’s just another race,” Prodoehl said. “I’m usually the second leg in the 4x200 so I’m starting from the other corner but other than that, it’s no different.”

Lewis, along with former Owls’ sprinter Terrance McAllister, influenced Prodoehl to try out for track as a junior, he said. Prodoehl said Tavian Montgomery, another Owls sprinter, pushed him to return for his senior year.

“At practice one day, we were just running and Coach Wars put me in one of the sprints and I guess I did well at one of our home meets,” Prodoehl said. “Before that, I was jumping more, long jump, high jump. I was still sprinting but I didn’t expect to be here.”

Prodoehl, a county champion in the 100 dash, also raced to second place in the same event at the region meet, good for a personal record time of 11.03. He also took second in the 200 at the region meet to qualify for states.

Westminster’s 4x100 and 4x200 relays took first in the county, and Prodoehl ran legs on each of those races to help the Owls take second as a team with 146.50 points.

The 3A West meet was originally scheduled for May 16 and 17, but inclement weather postponed the meet to one full day on the following Monday. It wasn’t ideal, Prodoehl said, and practice time was limited between the two meets.

The meet’s second day kicked off with the 3A girls 4x800 relay, and Westminster’s girls finished 14th of 15 teams in the race. Lydia Houle ran the first leg, followed by Olivia Asbury, Cora Richardson and Julia Wawrzynski on the anchor.

The Owls’ boys 4x800 relay of Brandon Arbaugh, JP Neubert, Kyle Cotoia and Kyle Funka finished 15th of 16 teams in 8:33.46.

Erin McGrath and Noah Griffin represented the Owls on the distance end; McGrath placed 12th of 15 runners in 12:36.78 and Griffin finished 11th of 15 runners in 10:16.46.

Manchester Valley saw representation in the field events from juniors Evan Bare and Katelynd Manno. Bare, the 3A West shot put champion threw 46-05, good for fifth place. Manno took fifth in pole vault with a height of 8 feet.