Spartans compete at 3A South meet
Boys place eighth, girls finish sixth
The Southern Maryland Athletic Conference was well represented at the Class 3A South Region cross country championships held at Oak Ridge Park in Hughesville on Thursday.
The SMAC schools competing in the 3A meet were Huntingtown, Northern, St. Charles, Chopticon and Great Mills.
Chopticon sophomore Zachary Wedding won the boys race with a time of 16 minutes 39.97 seconds. His twin brother Jeffrey Wedding earned a second-place finish in 17:06.14.
“I am really happy. I knew I could win it, but I had some good guys here pushing me,” Zachary Wedding said. “I wanted a better time. I wanted to break 16:10 to get a new personal record, but I am pleased with it.”
SMAC had runners finish in eight of the top 10 positions and 15 of the top 20 positions in the boys race.
Huntingtown junior Conor McGirr was third (17:18.29) and Chopticon senior Tyler Modrzejewski finished fourth (17:32.37). Northern had runners take fifth and sixth, respectively, with senior Jack Lehnhardt (17:37.42) and junior Gabe Amisano (17:47.89). Great Mills senior Kevin McDanal finished eighth (17:54.51), while Northern sophomore Jaylin Ruckman finished 10th (18:01.63).
With three of the top four finishers, the Chopticon’s boys won the team title with a score of 34 points.
Northern finished second with a score of 51, followed by Huntingtown in third (78), Great Mills in fifth (138) and St. Charles in eighth (214).
The girls race was dominated with SMAC schools representing 19 of the top 20 finishers.
Northern’s girls continued their outstanding season with three girls finishing in the top four. Senior Claudia Dolan won the race in 19:22.81.
“Today it was a little hot, but overall I am really happy with it,” Dolan said. “I wasn’t expecting to come out with a win because Oakley [Olson] is really tough competition and we are always neck and neck.”
Northern sophomore Hannah Mack earned third in 19:54.74 followed by freshman Sydney Yankanich in fourth in 20:12.70.
“Throughout the season, I think the team has been doing really well,” Dolan said. “We have progressed really well and our training is really benefiting us a lot and I think everything is really coming together and it gives me high hopes for our state meet.”
Huntingtown sophomore Oakley Olson earned a second-place finish with a time of 19:28.43. Two other Hurricanes finished in the top 10 as freshman Kirsten Doty finished eighth (21:06.20) and sophomore Jane Gorman was (21:28.19).
Great Mills had two runners finish in the top 10 with freshman Sophie Chan in fifth (20:36.83) and freshman Cooper Brotherton taking sixth (20:48.30).
Northern’s girls captured the team title, their fourth straight, with a score of 27 points.
Huntingtown earned second with a score of 55 points, followed by Great Mills in third (75), Chopticon in fourth (87) and St. Charles in sixth (166).
“Overall, I am very happy performance wise with both sides,” Northern head coach Josh Dawson said. “The girls were first and the guys were second, so I am very happy with the performances from today.”
The state meet is scheduled to be at Hereford High School in Baltimore County on Saturday.
“I am looking forward to states. I think I can get top three,” Zachary Wedding said.