LANDOVER — With one day of competition wrapped up, Harford Tech’s girls track and field team came into Saturday’s finals at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex a distant third place in the Class 2A team standings.
Two races into the day — two Winter Evans wins — the Cobras were in the lead, and they never looked back.
It wasn’t just Evans’ victories in the 100 hurdles and the 100-meter dash that set the tone, it was the fact that she had teammates finish second to her in each race: Madisen Morgan in the 100, and Madisyn Bobb in the 100 hurdles.
“That should help by a lot,” Evans said after her 100 win. “Top two in both the first events of the day? That should really bring us to first by now.”
The wins and points just kept coming all day long, as Harford Tech finished with 109 points, 23 clear of second-place Hereford (86). This title goes with the 1A indoor state championship the team won.
Bobb, who won the 200 on Saturday, said this is something the whole program can be proud of.
“Especially for the people coming into the program, they have a standard to look up to and a title to still hold,” she said. “As I leave, this is my senior year, I’m going to be very proud of my team, my coaches, my staff, the whole program and kinda flex that I was a part of that.”
She acknowledged that as the day went on, an eye was kept on the running point total as the team had a strong desire to win it all.
“That’s always a goal in our minds when we come to any meet,” Bobb said.
Destiny Baker added a win in the 300 hurdles. Isabel DeVos picked up a fifth-place finish in the 3,200, as did London Youngblood in the discus.
Evans came back and took second in the high jump.
“I’m just blessed, I’m happy I was able to come out and execute the way that I did,” she said. “My teammates did good jobs too, I’m just happy to be here right now.”
She said having so many strong teammates, especially in her own events, makes her a better competitor.
“It helps me get out harder,” she said. “We all just want to win at the end of the day. But I prayed for me and my teammates that we’d be able to place good and it worked out. … I’m just really proud of everything we came out and here and done. From the work over the season, I’m proud of all of us.”
Harford Tech’s boys ended up as 2A runner-up with 54 points behind only Westlake’s 81. Leading the way were three-time gold medalist Khory Reevey and 800 state champion Alexander Wockenfuss.
Khory Reevey finished a fantastic career with a special weekend. He added gold medals in the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles to the one he won the long jump on Thursday’s first day of competition.
His 110 hurdles win left him so excited he sprinted another 100 meters down the field in celebration.
“At first I had to make sure I got it,” he said. “After I found out I got it, I had to do something I was so excited.”
It’s easy to see where the excitement came from. Reevey said the 110 hurdles is his race, and losing in a photo finish last year gave him extra motivation.
“This one is the most monumental to me. The 110, that’s my baby,” he said. “The long jump was just of a side thing, finally being able to get this one after losing by .01 [seconds] is definitely a blessing.”
Liberty boys top 1A
Liberty’s boys are blessed with a dominant distance runner in Gregory Schellberg and an exceptional pole vaulter in now two-time state champion Ryan Vollmer, but that’s about it when it comes to gold medal athletes.
But what the Lions do have is strength up and down their lineup, balance in nearly every event, and now a Class 1A state team championship.
“We’ve all been really hard for the past couple years,” David Akinboye said. “We’ve had good people on the team, individuals, but we’ve never really had the depth we’ve had this year. I think we scored in every thing but maybe three events. We have a complete team this year.”
The win is special for the seniors who have accomplished a lot at Liberty through cross country state championships and now an outdoor track title. It’s the perfect to close a high school career.
“Especially as a senior, trying to send all the other seniors out with a state championship, it means a lot,” Schellberg said. “Just happy to get it done. We’ve been second many times recently at states, so to win it is really good.”
Even the juniors like Vollmer wanted to send them out on a high note.
“This year we’re losing a lot of seniors and it’s also our last year in 1A,” he said. “So we wanted to go big or go home basically. The entire team has been working hard in their events … I’m proud to see how this team has grown.
Schellberg added to his gold medal stack — he won the 3,200 and anchored the winning 4×800 relay Thursday — with a win in the 1,600. Neal Sanchez was a silver medalist in the 800 and the 4×100 team of Jordan Seay, Tyson Puckett, Austen Veach and Akinboye finished third.
And then there’s Vollmer.
As a sophomore last season, he won the state pole vault title at 13 feet but soon after found out that he had a fractured back. Fast forward to indoor track season, and Vollmer suffered a fractured foot.
“I came into this full track season during indoor and I learned I had a fracture in my right foot. I spent a lot of time in PT and basically missed all of indoor season, which really hurt,” he said. “When I came back, I was kind of scared to get into vaulting. Once I eventually came back, I did repetitive three-steps, which is our shortest steps, just to build that strength again. Once I got back to big steps, I found myself getting higher and higher heights more consistently.”
On Saturday, he was back and better than ever, clearing a personal-best 14 feet to repeat as state champion.
“I’ve basically be riddled with injuries for the last year, so just coming back and being able to win states is just a dream come true,” he said.
While the seniors celebrate the end of special careers, on the Liberty girls side, another special career is just beginning.
Freshman Ava Snyder, the indoor state champion in the 1,600, backed up that gold medal with an outdoor one, winning Saturday’s 1,600 in 5:04.68.
“It was very, very difficult, especially on the last lap,” Snyder said. “I was pushed to I think my limit, where I thought my legs would give out. But its perserverance, power through. I always remember that, ‘You can do this.’”
‘Finally’
Southern’s Rebecca Burgee has quite an impressive medal collection: Four state silver medals and a couple third-place medals as well. But before Saturday, she had yet to win a gold.
Now she has three.
“I finally did it,” she exclaimed shortly after winning the 2A 400 in 56.57 seconds. “My senior, I’m so glad.”
Burgee said it came down to pure desire to get the job done.
“Just wanting it and knowing this was my last time trying,” she said. “I finally had the courage to keep going.”
But that excitement level was topped a few hours later when she doubled up, winning the 800 (2:19.17). To her, that was the big one.
“This one is the one I’ve been wanting since sophomore year. I’m so glad to do it,” she said.
She raced as well as she did this weekend through some tears. With her being a senior, it’s the final time she’ll race in the Southern blue and yellow.
“I’m very sad. I cried on the first day of states,” she said. “I’ve been trying to hold it together, let’s hope I can get through today.”
To close things out, Burgee teamed with Katherine DiPietro, Maya Voorhees and Marley Shaw to win the 4×400 in 3:56.52. For the boys, distance specialist Eric Penkala also won gold. After winning two titles on Thursday, he picked up one more in the 1,600 on Saturday.
A strong showing for Western Tech
Western Tech closed the 1A meet with three gold medalists and a state runner-up finish for the girls.
One of the highlights for the Wolverines was having a first- and third-place finisher in the shot put. Senior Fiyinfoluwa Popoola won the event with a throw of 36 feet, 8 inches on her last attempt.
“I feel great,” I never really thought about this. I was thinking maybe second or third, not going to lie. But first, I’ll take it.”
Her teammate, Olivia Onwubuariri, took third.
“I love that,” Popoola said of having another strong teammate in her event. “She throws, I throw, we go back-and-forth. She’s my only competition. The only person I see eye-to-eye with. She pushes me, I push her.”
Ogechi Uzoukwu won the girls long jump (17-7) and was second in the 100. On the boys side, Ojigwe Olua was state champion in the 110 hurdles.
“Not the time I wanted, but I thank God for getting me through the race,” Olua said. “I’ve had bad luck at this meet, but finally looking for a good one.”
Eastern Tech also produced a state champion with Ameer Mowad winning the 2A 100 (10.47).
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