Storylines and top players to watch
McDonogh, Woodlawn, Spalding return some of area’s best talent
Here’s what you need to know for the 2024 high school girls outdoor track and field season in the Baltimore area.
Storylines to watch How will extra outdoor events shuffle the indoor standings?
While several area programs earned state championships during the winter indoor season, it’s not as easy as saying they should be able to do it again outdoors. Outdoor track and field features an extra sprint relay and hurdle event, two extra jumping events and another throwing event. Teams fortunate with a deep pool of sprinters, who often double up in jumping events, can take advantage of the extra events and surpass a team that beat them indoors whose strengths were in indoor events.
Oakland Mills and River Hill set to clash in Howard County — and Class 3A
Howard County produced two state team champions a year ago: Oakland Mills in 2A and River Hill in 3A. This year, the Scorpions are moving up to join the Hawks in then bigger classification. Each team won their respective title with several underclassmen producing big point totals. While Oakland Mills handily won the Howard County meet over the Hawks last year, the two will face off again, likely for the county title, and will be two of the favorites to make a run at the state crown.
How low can Elise Cooper go?
When McDonogh junior Elise Cooper takes off from the starting line, it’s getting less about whether will she win her race and more about how fat she will run. She’s won Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland titles and national titles. It seems nearly every time she runs she sets a personal or season best. Only a junior, there’s still two more years to catch this special talent, though not many can catch her.
Can Harford Tech continue its ascent?
The Cobras track and field program has been on an upward trajectory despite jumping between classes. They finished sixth in Class 2A last spring with no seniors scoring a point at the state meet. In the indoor season, they dropped to 1A and finished as state runner-up. Harford Tech is still in Class 2A for outdoors and is a legitimate championship contender. The extra events play into the heart of the team.
began soon after the conclusion of last year’s title game comes to fruition.
“You work all year for that day, for the MIAA season to start up. And you know that every MIAA team is hungry, so there’s a special vibe that comes with it,” Boys’ Latin coach Brian Farrell said. “You know that now they all count, so there’s a different focus and it’s pretty cool.”
While an opening-day win is what every team looks for, it’s only the start of a 10-game league schedule. St. Mary’s coach Victor Lilly says it provides a vital measuring stick with how prepared the team is and what may be needed to grow into a playoff contender. He noted that his Saints opened with a 13-3 win over Calvert Hall last year and the Cardinals ended up in the championship game.
“The outcome is the outcome,” Lilly said. “We get 10 opportunities and hope to get at least six wins to try to get to the playoffs. But after that first game, you kind of know if you’re prepared.”
St. Mary’s grinding to get up to speed
With nine new starters, St. Mary’s hit the road with a challenging nonconference slate to get needed game experience for the newcomers.
The Saints (3-3) are closing with three games in six days covering three states. After falling to Pennsylvania-power La Salle, 4-2, on Friday, they took on another Pennsylvania foe, Springdale Chestnut Hill, Monday in College Park before one final test at Delaware-power Salesianum on Wednesday.
“[These games] are important to win, but more important to compete,” Lilly said. “We need to play games to get game experience as close to the MIAA competition as we can get. So we will have been challenged at a very high level going into Calvert Hall and that’s something we couldn’t get just in practice, so we took to the road.”
New coaches on the scene
Three programs have new leaders with Will Haus taking over at Loyola Blakefield, Gunnar Waldt guiding John Carroll and Evan Hockel in place at Archbishop Spalding.
While Waldt and Hockel have official ties to the league — Waldt was a standout goalie at St. Paul’s and Hockel enjoyed a stellar playing career at Spalding — Haus’ connection comes through his father, John, who is a 1979 Loyola graduate and was a longtime assistant coach under for Dons’ coach Joe McFadden.
Keep an eye on … Luke Bair, St. Paul’s:
Picking up from his outstanding sophomore season, the explosive midfielder has a team-high 20 points in the Crusaders’ 3-1 start.
Jackson Barroll, Severn: The versatile senior who can play on attack and midfield has a team-high 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) for the Admirals, who have scored 90 goals in their 4-2 start.
Joe Kim, Gilman: The junior faceoff specialist has consistently been getting the Greyhounds the ball in their 3-2 start, which includes wins over nationally ranked
Georgetown Prep and Washington’s St. John’s.
Andrew Kasten, McDonogh: The senior captain has been the defending champion’s early-season glue with strong play at defensive midfield, pushing up on attack and quality wing play on faceoffs.
Jackson Mitchell, Calvert Hall:
The junior midfielder has proven a versatile offensive threat in nonconference play, totaling 10 goals and eight assists in the Cardinals’ first five games.
Nathaniel Souza, St. Mary’s:
With the largely new cast, the Saints are looking for leaders and the junior midfielder has stepped up with solid two-way play and a team-first approach.
Schedule
Here’s a look at the opening-day afternoon slate next Tuesday. Gilman starts league play on April 5.
Next Tuesday
St. Mary’s at Calvert Hall, 4 Loyola Blakefield at Mount Saint Joseph, 4
Boys’ Latin at Archbishop Spalding, 4
John Carroll at Severn, 4:15
St. Paul’s at McDonogh, 4:30
April 5
John Carroll at Gilman, 4:15
Editor’s note: This is the first bi-weekly notebook highlighting MIAA A Conference lacrosse. To submit stats and scores, email reporter Glenn Graham at ggraham@baltsun.com. The next notebook will be published on April 9.*