Championship chase
5 area individuals and 5 area teams bring home cross country state titles on warm, slippery day
On an uncharacteristically warm but slippery day, several local runners and teams excelled at the 2022 Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association cross country state championships at Hereford High School.
Known for its challenging hills and terrain, many Baltimore-area runners and teams still thrived on the course.
Severna Park and Towson headlined the start of the day sweeping the Class 4A and Class 3A boys and girls team titles, respectively. Hereford girls defended their home turf, winning their seventh title in the past nine seasons.
Dulaney senior Tyler Dailey (4A), Wilde Lake junior Henry Hopper (3A), Oakland Mills senior Ethan Aidam (2A) won boys races, while Westminster senior Hannah Toth (3A) and Hereford senior Estelle Snider (2A) won girls races in their classifications.
The day began with the Class 4A girls race. The Falcons girls placed five runners in the top 31, headlined by Cameron Glebocki, who placed ninth in 20 minutes, 7.5 seconds. Freshman Kathryn Murphy (22nd), sophomore Rebecca Jimeno (23rd), junior Madison Davis (29th) and junior Sarah Kelly (31st) rounded out a strong performance from the Severna Park girls, whose 100 points captured the state crown.
Walter Johnson (117), Thomas Wootton (125), Dulaney (132) and Bethesda-Chevy Case (146) rounded out the top five teams.
Then it was the Falcons boys turn to display their talents, capturing a fifth straight 4A title. The 101-point effort
was spearheaded by senior Chris Nunn who placed fourth (17:06.1 seconds) and junior Taylor Jarvis (17:13.9) who finished sixth. Senior Alex Lecouras also cemented a top-15 finish, as Severna Park showcased its depth among both teams.
“We were coming in looking for two podium spots and to get top on both is indescribable,” Severna Park coach Josh Alcombright said. “Pulling off the big upset on the girls side and the boys just grinding one out for their fifth straight [title], just unbelievable. I’m so happy for the kids.”
While Severna Park’s boys showed their depth in the 4A race, Dailey capped off his high school career as a state champion. A 4A North regional champion less than two weeks ago, Dailey once again excelled in a big moment. Emerging from the woods on the home stretch all alone, Dailey’s family and team gave him a rousing ovation as the senior closed in on the finish line. He finished in 16:25.2, 22 seconds faster than the runner-up.
“I was really confident, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Dailey said. “This race, it’s good for people who are patient. I stayed really patient through the first mile and after that I knew what it would take and I knew it would be difficult. Today was really just a big mental game for me. Everything just came from the confidence I had from all the training.”
In the 3A girls race, Carroll County and Class 3A East champion, Toth entered Saturday as one of the presumptive favorites in the field. She won the prestigious Bull Run Invitational on the same course in September. With ample experience, she finished in 19:08, building a sizable lead over the rest of the competition, winning by nearly 48 seconds. Her first-place finish displayed large improvement from her junior season where Toth placed 19th.
“I’ve been putting in a lot more miles over the summer and gaining more confidence, especially during last year’s track season,” Toth said. “I feel like I was dealing with a lot of anxiety just in general during workouts and racing. So, working through that and putting in the miles is something I feel like that was very helpful to me. Every runner is different, some people work better with less miles and some people work better with more. I was just lucky enough to figure out that I work better with more.”
As Toth dominated individually, Towson’s girls showcased their depth with three top 15-finishers. Sophomore Cecilia Van Lierop (20:42.2) placed seventh, while senior Isabel Aldana (20:49.6) finished 10th. Both strong performances, along with senior Anna Wendt’s 12th-place finish helped the Generals secure the team title with 81 points, five better than Frederick.
C. Milton Wright (124), Westminster (152) and Northern-Calvert (191) rounded out the top five.
As Severna Park did earlier in the day, Towson had an opportunity to sweep the boys and girls titles among a stacked 3A field. The Generals completed the double with junior Kieran Mischke playing an integral part in that effort. The junior placed second, finishing in 16:17.7, as the Generals girls team excitedly cheered him on over the last stretch.
Mischke’s strong race was complemented by sophomore Evan Cline, who placed eighth. Along with Ryan Wahler placing 14th, the Generals boys cemented a first-time accomplishment for the program, sweeping both the boys and girls titles after the girls finished third in 2021 and the boys finished eighth.
“Last year after the state meet at our team get-together, we talked about, ‘This is what we want to do for next year,’ ” Towson coach Gil Stange said. “They put in the work over the summer and it paid off. In cross country, all that aerobic training that you do over the summer pays off very slowly. You may not have good races in August or September, but when late October starts coming around you start to see the improvement. If you’re patient and don’t get frustrated with it, then you can build the mentality and speed that you need to have a really good championship season. That’s exactly what they did. They put in the work over the summer and they were patient with their growth.”
Wilde Lake’s only participant in the state championships, Hopper faced a challenging task in the 3A boys field with defending state champion Antonio Camacho-Bucks and Howard County champion Sebastian Martinez, both of Centennial. Finishing fifth at regionals and the Howard County championships, Hopper saved his best for when it mattered most.
After not leading during the early stretch of the race, Hopper turned it on late. He emerged from the woods for the final stretch, firmly ahead of Mischke, Martinez, Christian Brower and Camacho-Bucks, cementing the state title with a time of 16:11.7 seconds, the fastest time day in all races.
Four races in and four to go, host Hereford got its chance to excel on their home course, with the girls racing first.
Winning the girls team title in 2021, the Bulls narrowly missed out on individual titles with Estelle Snider finishing second and her sister Sylvia finishing fifth. The Bulls once again won the girls 2A title with 34 points, highlighted by top 10 finishes from both Snider sisters, including Estelle’s state championship.
“They take so much pride in that success, the girls who ran before them, the alumni that come back to see them and wish them well,” Hereford coach Adam Hittner said. “It is a continuous chain of people who are passionate about what is going on, make every member of the team feel involved from top to bottom and everyone is just really excited to be part of that program. The success comes from great kids that are drawn to our program, with great kids that want to be a part of it.”
Beyond the Bulls’ team success, Snider captured that elusive individual title, overtaking last year’s champion Daisy Dastrup of Poolesville. She finished in 19:29.8, beating out Dastrup and her sister, for the first time in a race all season.
“I really wanted to see what I could do and support my team,” Snider said. “It was really fun, I really enjoyed it.”
Aidam looked to defend his state title in the 2A boys race. Competing against familiar opponents in Century’s Peyton Dill and Poolesville’s Caleb Dastrup, Aidam knew it would be a challenge. Executing his pre-race plan, Aidam didn’t lead at all in the opening two miles, with Dill headlining the field for most of that stretch. However, that changed on the third mile, as Aidam knew it was time to make his move. The senior did exactly that in his final state championship placing first (16:45.7) capturing both state and regional titles in his two final high school races, excitedly lifting his arms in celebration as he crossed the finish line one final time.
“I was just trying to give glory to God because it’s never guaranteed to win again once you’ve won before,” Aidam said of his emotions as he crossed the finish line. “I knew that I had a title to defend, so it was really important for me to win.
“I’ve been praying about it and working really hard, so it felt really relieving to receive that blessing.”