High school cross country roundup

North Point shines at Seahawk Invite, Northern girls take top spot

The high school cross country invitational season got started on Saturday and the Patriots girls are off to an outstanding beginning after taking the varsity A girls division title at the Seahawk Cross Country Invitational at South River High School in Edgewater.

Four Northern runners finished in the top 12 as the team scored 53 points to win the team title, 15 better than second-place River Hill of Howard County.

Senior Molly Barrick took second in 18 minutes 43 seconds, junior Abby Sweeney followed in fifth (18:50.7) with sophomore Claudia Dolan in sixth (19:02.1) and junior Sarah Deresky finished 12th (19:47.9). Middletown senior Reilly Caldwell was the champion, completing the course in 18:25.3.

Calvert finished eighth on the girls side with 248 points, while Huntingtown was 15th with 350.

Southern Maryland Athletic Conference schools added two more runners in the top 10 in North Point senior Rachel Nueslein (eighth, 19:08.4) and Calvert’s Sydney Friedel (10th, 19:29.4). The Eagles did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score.

Junior Savanna Ligsay finished 53rd (21:48.5) to be the Hurricanes’ top runner of the day.

On the Varsity A boys side, runners from three SMAC schools finished in the top 12 as Gonzaga of Washington, D.C. won the team title with 91 points, 12 better than host South River of Anne Arundel County.

Calvert sophomore Justin Diehl finished second in 15:41.5, behind Mount St. Joseph junior Hunter Petrik’s 15:38.2. Northern senior Charlie Sweeney was eighth (16:01.3) and Huntingtown senior Colin Flynn finished 12th (16:24.4).

Diehl and a 19th-place finish from senior John Dodsworth (16:33.6) helped the Cavaliers place sixth as a team with 206 points. Northern was 13th with 349 points and Huntingtown placed 17th with 433.

North Point finished 22nd with 598 points. Senior Daniel Walsh took 85th (17:56.6) to be the Eagles’ top finisher of the day. Hall wins at Brunswick invite

Westlake junior Jay Hall won the large schools varsity boys race at the Brunswick High School Invitational in Frederick County.

Hall finished the course in 15:53.21, almost two seconds ahead of Linganore sophomore Michael Belmaggio.

Junior Jett Hall took 21st in 17:27.96 as the Wolverines placed 11th as a team with 289 points. Liberty of Carroll County was the team champion with 48 points.

Urbana was the winner in the large schools varsity girls division with 46 points as freshman Sara Jarman won the race in 19:56.99, the only runner to complete the course in less than 20 minutes.

Westlake did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score. Senior Katie Rahill was 82nd (28:01.5) and junior Jour’dan Haynes finished 85th (28:22.57).