Area super sophomores are expected to dominate

Fenn, Albergo, Goffena, Freymann, Whittaker look to build on breakthroughs

The freshman runners who dominated the 2018 girls cross country season are expected to be among those who shine the brightest again this year as sophomores.

At the 4A state meet, Broadneck’s Mollie Fenn finished in ninth place, a sign of things to come as she ended her freshman year with a state championship in the 3,200 meters outdoors, running the fastest 3,200 in the state all year (10 minutes, 59.35 seconds).

Dulaney’s Anna Albergo finished just two spots behind Fenn at the state meet and followed that performance with a third-place finish at the Nike Southeast Regionals in Cary, North Carolina, in the Rising Stars race.

In the 3A state meet, Manchester Valley’s Rubie Goffena finished fifth after winning the Carroll County championship and the 3A West Region title, while Elizabeth Pickett of Bel Air finished 18th in 3A, sixth best among freshman runners in the race.

At the IAAM championships, Elizabeth Freymann of Mount de Sales finished eighth and Maryvale’s Anna Atticks placed ninth.

All of these results are impressive, but they pale in comparison with what Mount de Sales’ Juliette Whittaker achieved in her debut season.

Whittaker started her career with a fourth-place finish at the Seahawk Invita

tional, just ahead of host and eventual state champion Bronwyn Patterson of South River, who will miss the 2019 season while she recovers from an injury.

Whittaker showed she was for real by finishing fourth at the Bull Run Invitational (won by Patterson) and second at both the Barnhart Memorial Invitational and the Scorpion Crawl, hosted by Oakland Mills.

“She did have some middle school running background,” Mount de Sales coach Steve Weber said. “Not so extensive, but some, so she did have a background. She quickly rose to the top of our team and then the top of the IAAM league. The strength was already there. She’s a pretty strong runner with a lot of speed, too. She’s just a great runner with a great endurance combination.”

At the IAAM championships, Whittaker edged teammate Samantha Facius, who beat Whittaker at the Scorpion Crawl, by 2 seconds to win in 19:37.71, over a minute faster than their next closest competitors as they led the team to the title.

Whittaker won the Maryland Private School championships two weeks later at McDaniel by 15 seconds over Facius and 75 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher, coming in at 18:59.39, the eighth-fastest time in the state that season for 5,000 meters.

She closed her running season by winning IAAM outdoor track championships in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relays to help the Sailors win the team championship. She ran the season’s best 800 time in the state by 6 seconds, finishing second at the New Balance Outdoor Championship in 2:05.25.

In the 1,600, she ran a 4:48.12 at the Pikesville Track Classic in April. No one else in the state broke the 5-minute mark all season.

As she enters her sophomore cross country season, the goal for Weber and his staff is to balance her abilities on the track as well as the course.

“It’s really trying to keep her versatile at this point,” Weber said. “She’s really effective between the 400 meters all the way up to 5,000.

“The goal now for cross country is to extend those performances and just really produce some great times. Overall, we don’t want to close doors. We want to keep her range. We have set up our cross country season with big invitationals really so she will have a chance to shine.”

Whittaker will start again at the Seahawk Invitational and hit the ground running in the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg, Virginia, and the Bull Run at Hereford.