Westlake boys track and field sweeps meet
Westlake boys track and field sweeps Northern, St. Charles to improve to 5-0
Through the first two Southern Maryland Athletic Conference outdoor regular season track and field meets the Westlake boys and Northern girls teams have shown how much depth they possess.
And for the second straight week both teams used their deep and balanced unit to score points in every point, securing another sweep in Tuesday’s tri-meet at St. Charles High School.
Westlake (5-0 overall/SMAC) cruised to 95-37 and 98-34 wins over Northern and St. Charles, respectively, in the boys race. The Patriots (3-2) picked up a 8547 win over the Spartans (1-3).
The Northern girls (5-0) rolled to a 92-43 win over St. Charles and 91-36 over Westlake. The Wolverines (2-3) defeated 68-58 over the Spartans (2-2).
“I think the only reason we’ve been able to do as well as we have is because of the depth,” Northern head coach Josh Dawson said. “I’m able to move everyone around to different events or focus on different relays and still have enough
athletes to do well in all of the other events. I just hope that the depth we have is strong enough come the end of the season so all of their hard work pays off in their opinion.”
The Westlake boys, the two-time defending Class 2A state outdoor champions, won 11 of 17 events, swept all the sprint and field events and won three of the four relays (400, 800, 1,600).
“We do have a deep team this year, which has made it nice to allow some of our boys heal from injuries that happened during the indoor season,” Westlake head coach Beth Shook said. “The distance team and field events are really coming along and we as a staff are very pleased with all their hard work.
Westlake senior Thomas Alcorn, a University of Houston commit, won the 200- (21.4 seconds) and 400-meter dashes (49.1). Alcorn won the 2A state title state last spring in the 400.
“Towards the end of the race I felt tight and didn’t get any knee lift like I was supposed to,” Alcorn said. “I wanted to run a low 47or 48-second time, but I have to work on pushing more.”
Senior Kyle Nottage took first in the shot put (47 feet 8 1/2 inches) and discus (141-9 1/2). Senior Will Moten, the defending state outdoor champion in the 100 and 200, took first in the 100 (10.6), outlasting Alcorn by one tenth of a second. Senior John Williams (high jump, 5-6) and Ratez McLaurin (long jump, 19-9 1/2) also added victories for Westlake.
“We use the regular season meets to see who will be running in the championship meets,” Shook said. “The young ones are really hungry and running great times. That pushes the top kids to do better as they don’t want to get beat by their own teammate.”
Northern was led by senior Charlie Sweeney with first-place finishes in the 1,600 (4 minutes 35.1 seconds) and the 3,200 (9:51.0). The Patriots also won the 3,200 relay (8:36.7).
St. Charles won three events on the day as senior Jordan Adams earned top spots in the 110 (16.4) and 300 (42.5) hurdles. In his first season running outdoor, senior Kieran Booker took first in the 800 (2:06.1).
“The 800 helps boost my stamina for the 400 and gives me that extra lift,” said Booker, who also placed third in the 400.
Over in girls, Northern won 11 events, including all four relay events. It was led by junior Ashlynne Raby with victories in the 100 (12.3) and 200 (25.9). Senior Molly Barrick won the 800 (2:29.0) and the 3,200 (11:08.9). Sophomore Jasmine Holland added wins in the long jump (17-2) and the triple jump (362). Sophomore Claudia Dolan also took first in the 1,600 run (5:38.6).
“It was exciting to win the 800 and the 3,200,” Barrick said. “I felt strong in both races. This meet prepares me for big meets this season as well as the postseason.”
Westlake junior Jordan Davis won the 100 (17.4) and the 300 (48.4) hurdles events. Senior Mikayla Hinnant (shot put, 30 1 1/2), sophomore Nadjia Haskins (discus, 69-1 1/2) and junior Le’Anna Thomas (400, 1:00.8) won their respective events.
St. Charles junior Madisyn Clark won the high jump with a leap of 4-8.
“We have a young team and getting in good day of racing against quality opponents that compete in the state helps us a lot,” Spartans head coach Chris McAllister said. “I have strong score of 400 and 800 runners this season.”