Severna Park boys hold on to Class 4A state title
LANDOVER — It was the most exciting race Severna Park boys indoor track and field had ever been a part of. And the Falcons didn’t even have anybody running in it.
Severna Park held a 9.5-point lead over Montgomery Blair in the Class 4A team standings at Wednesday’s Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association state indoor track and field meet with one event left.
Montgomery Blair was running the 4x400 meter relay finals; Severna Park was on the sidelines. If Blair finished anywhere but first, Severna Park would win the state title.
“I don’t think we’ve ever cheered for anybody else that much, it was wild,” Severna Park’s Chris Nunn said.
Blair’s anchor runner took the baton in fourth place. He moved up to second in the final lap. But with a strong finish, DuVal held off Blair and Severna Park repeated as state champions.
The Falcons finished with 46.5 points, beating out Blair’s 45. Northwest (35), Wise (30) and Seneca Valley (28) rounded out the top five.
“We had no idea we were even close to having a shot at states,” Nunn said of an early-season mindset. “This shows, if you put in the hard work, good things are going happen.”
In a race that close, every point was critical. Alex Lecouras didn’t have the most graceful ending to the 4A 800. A close threeway battle at the finish saw Dulaney’s Tyler Dailey come out of nowhere to outkick everyone in 1 minute, 58.47 seconds. Lecouras stumbled to the ground, but crossed the line second in 1:58.66, one-hundredth of a second ahead of a Blair runner. One-hundredth of a second decided the state championship.
“I’m so happy for the team,” Lecouras said. “I don’t think any of us really, even at the start of the season, and as we were going through the season, I don’t think any of us thought we’d even have a chance of winning states. It’s great to hear that we pulled it off.”
Lecouras did get a gold medal Wednesday, anchoring the 4x800 team to a win in 8:09.99. Brooks Steppe, Liam Hagerty and Cody Smith joined him.
Severna Park also posted a one-two finish in the 3,200 with Hagerty (9:35.7) edging Nunn (9:35.98) for gold.
“Counties, regions, I took it out, I didn’t like the outcome,” Hagerty said. “I realized I need to be tactical, sit back, I need to see what the other guys are going to do. I was patient, then I make my moves. It paid off.”
But more important than the gold was the team points he and Nunn provided.
“That’s all I care about today is our team,” Hagerty said. “We were doubted coming into preseason, cross country, track, since we lost such good guys. To be even mentioned to win it, means a lot.”
Sean Sullivan followed Haggery and Nunn, finishing sixth in the race (10:03.25).
Also, John Mclain was fifth in the pole vault (10-6), Steppe finished seventh in the 800 (2:02.7) and Taylor Jarvis was seventh in the 1,600 (4:35.83).
For the Severna Park girls, Lexi Ensor won the 800 (2:19.53).
“It was pretty rough. I ran the 4x8 earlier, [earned a personal record] by 4 seconds in that,” Ensor said. “So, I was really nervous about this one. But that kick at the end helped me pull through.”
Ensor teamed with Sarah Kelly, Cameron Glebocki and Kaylee Jenish to finish second in the 4x800 (9:44.74). Also for the Falcons,
Jillian Zukley was third in the shot put, throwing 35-½.
The 4x400 team of Katie Griffith, Rylan McDonald, Ella Baxter and Kate Griner finished fifth in 4:11.24, and Glebocki (11:43.26) and Audrey Denton (11:52.81) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 3,200.