Arundel runners able to set the pace
Distance runners thrive on adversity, whether it be overcoming mental obstacles or dealing with physical pain.
At Tuesday’s Anne Arundel County Cross Country championships held at South River, the dreadful weather added an extra element of adversity, with the wind and rain seemingly reaching a crescendo in the middle of each race.
While both races were close throughout, it was a pair of Arundel runners, Tanner Piotrowski and Niya Torres, who separated themselves to win individual titles for the Wildcats. The Severna Park boys and girls teams persevered to sweep the team championships, the ninth consecutive title for the boys team.
Severna Park’s boys won 26-78 ahead of Broadneck, while the girls won 35-49 over the Bruins.
“This is our first step and we have pretty big goals this year, so we are just doing what we can to open up the championship season and get everybody across healthy and ready to move on to the next step,” Severna Park coach Josh Alcombright said. “Anytime you have adversity it’s good to challenge yourself against that and see how the kids respond, and I think both teams did great.
“The boys had pretty good conditions and then it deteriorated quickly, and the girls handled it like rock stars. They have grown so much in the last year.”
The boys race went off first and started fast until the rain and wind picked up, causing Arundel’s Piotrowski to sit just behind South River’s Sam Keeny, the pair hitting the 2-mile mark in just over 10 minutes.
Piotrowski made the move and kept putting distance, barely missing breaking the 15-minute mark, coming in at 15:01.61, nearly 10 seconds ahead of Keeny.
Severna Park’s Jake Gelfand (third), Carson Sloat (fourth), James Dennison (fifth) and Nick Engelman (sixth) finished next to help the Falcons’ cause, while Nick Benedict was eighth and James Glebocki 10th. Broadneck’s Spencer Tate finished seventh to help the Bruins finish second and Annapolis’ Luke Coffin finished ninth.
The weather had gone from bad to worse by the time the girls race started and the pack stuck close from the outset. At the 2-mile mark, there were seven runners in the lead pack, including Arundel’s Torres.
By the time the group had left the woods for the final time, Torres had created separation, winning in 18:27.15, over nine seconds ahead of Severna Park’s Sophia Zell.
Girls volleyball
No. 1 Westminster 3, Winters Mill 0: Sabina Rinda had 10 kills and Emily Stauder had 10 assists to lead the visiting Owls (13-0) past the Falcons (6-7). Westminster won 25-19, 25-4, 25-18.
No. 3 Mount de Sales 3, John Carroll 0: The Sailors (16-2) swept the Patriots (1-18) in an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference quarterfinal. Mount de Sales won 25-17, 25-16 and 25-10 to advance to Thursday’s semifinal against Notre Dame Prep.
No. 6 Century 3, No. 14 Dulaney 1: Caroline Mastria had 15 kills and Ali Whitworth had 20 assists to lead the host Knights (11-2) over the Lions (9-3). Century won 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15.
No. 9Maryvale 3, Annapolis Area Christian 0: Sophie Savick had 27 assists, Caitlin
Shaffrey had 10 kills and Claire Neff had 15 kills to lead the Lions (15-2) past the Eagles (2-15) in an IAAM A Conference quarterfinal. Maryvale won 25-20, 25-18, 25-17.
St. Paul’s d. McDonogh, 3-0: Abbey Snyder had 35 assists and Jalen Dickerson had 18 kills to lead the Gators (12-4) past the Eagles (9-9) in an IAAM A Conference quarterfinal. St. Paul’s won 25-20, 25-14, 26-24. Howard 3, Long Reach 0: Marisa Moore had seven kills and Emma Marthins had six kills to led the Lions (10-3) over the Lightning (1-12). Howard won 25-11, 25-7, 25-7.
C. Milton Wright 3, Edgewood 0: Kia Donovan had three kills and six digs, but the host Rams (3-9) fell to the Mustangs (12-2). C.M. Wright won 25-20, 25-23, 25-17.
Girls soccer
Severn 2, Friends 1: Zoee Stencil made five saves and Alina Valencia made two assists to lead the host Admirals (9-4, 7-1 IAAM B Conference) over the Quakers (10-5-1, 4-4).
All the goals were scored in the second half.
Annapolis Area Christian 3, Catholic 0: The host Eagles (12-2-1, 10-2-1 IAAM C Conference) shut out the Cubs (9-7-1, 9-3-1). Goal scorers included Zoe Lemke, Jess McBride and Emily Powers.
Bryn Mawr 3, Gerstell 2: An own goal was the deciding goal in the match. Emily and Lauren Messinese each scored for the host Falcons.
Field hockey
No. 9 Notre Dame Prep 1, Maryvale 0, OT: Liza Regan scored the game-winner to lift the host Blazers (8-8-2, 4-4-1 IAAM A Conference) over the Lions (5-12, 0-8) in overtime.
Football
Northeast forfeit: The Northeast High School football team must forfeit its victory over Mount Hebron for using an ineligible player.
In a press release issued by Anne Arundel County Public Schools on Tuesday, the school system imposed the penalty after investigating the matter, which was brought forth by Northeast High School officials earlier this month. The investigation determined that the player was ineligible to take part in the team’s Sept. 6, Sept. 13 and Sept. 20 games.
Northeast won the first of those three games but lost the other two to North County and Dover (Del.).
The release went on to say the player in question is also, by state law, ineligible to participate in athletics for a period of 60 days.
Due to the forfeit, Northeast’s record now stands at 2-5. The Eagles are in seventh place in the Class 3A South Region standings with games remaining with Southern and the annual Dena Bowl meeting with Pasadena rival Chesapeake.
Under the new playoff format, the top eight teams in each region will qualify for the postseason.
County teams North County, Annapolis and Old Mill have defeated Northeast this year. Those teams receive seven points toward their playoff seeding for the victory over the Eagles but also earn bonus points for any other games won by Northeast throughout the year. Those teams’ bonus points have been adjusted to account for the forfeit.
All three remain in contention for postseason berths in the Class 4A East Region.
When reached for a comment, Northeast athletic director Ken Miller referred to the press release due to confidentially matters regarding student-athletes.
The forfeit moves Mount Hebron’s record to 1-6. The Vikings are in ninth place in the Class 3A East Region.
The adjustment also benefits those six teams which have defeated Mount Hebron in the form of a bonus point.