Track and field
McDonogh girls, Gilman win
Maryvale, Mount Saint Joseph thwarted in bids to extend championship runs
The Maryvale girls and Mount Saint Joseph boys were looking to extend their streaks of team championships at the IAAM-MIAA track and field championships Monday at McDonogh.
Instead, the No. 9 McDonogh girls and top-ranked Gilman ended the runs of Maryvale (five straight seasons with titles) and the Gaels (three in a row), respectively, as the host Eagles and Greyhounds pulled out dramatic victories of their own.
For the girls, No. 10 Maryvale had won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland title meet in cross country and indoor track this year and all three seasons last year. The Lions and McDonogh battled back and forth throughout the afternoon Monday — the second day of the meet — before the Eagles pulled out a 186-179 victory.
This went right to the final event, when McDonogh held a five-point lead. The Eagles then won that last race, the 1,600-meter relay, in 4 minutes, 5.65 seconds with Maryvale finishing second, and McDonogh locked up the title.
“We’ve been working hard this spring to come out and win on our home track,” McDonogh sophomore Jada Seaman said. “That meant a lot to us.”
Seaman led the way. She won the 100 (11.87, meet record), 200 (25.87) and the long jump (19 feet, 1.75 inches, also a meet record), and took third in the 400. She scored 36 of her team’s points.
McDonogh actually had won the outdoor title for 12 straight seasons before Maryvale snatched it away last year. First-year coach Devin Robinson, a former Eagle, said she pushed the team to work hard all spring.
“They’re a young team and [I had] to get them to believe in themselves,” Robinson said. “I’m so proud of them.”
AJ Davis was the other multiple winner for McDonogh, taking the shot put (41-7.75) and discus (118-7).
Maryvale got wins from top distance runners Emily Craig in the 3,200 (11.08.82) plus Paige Adams (100 hurdles, 15.83), Sydney King (high jump, 5-0) and Bethany Wheeler (pole vault, 8-6), but the Lions came up short.
For the boys, Gilman trailed No. 3 Mount Saint Joseph by one-half point headed into the final event of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association competition, the 1,600 relay, before rallying to win. The Greyhounds finished with 155.5 points while the Gaels had 151.
In that race, Alton Machen, Nichi Pandey, Adero Mandala and anchor Tory Young won the race in 3:26.12. Young ran a blistering 48.61 in the final 400 meters (one lap) to help Gilman pull away.
Young, who also won the 400 (49.09) and anchored the winning 3,200 relay (7:54.62), said the Greyhounds had been pointing to this all season after narrowly losing to the Gaels in the indoor championships.
“They stole it from us indoors,” Young said. “It’s time for us to get the [trophy] back. That’s all our coaches talked this season. We finally did it.”
Gilman also got a win from Ayende Watson in the triple jump (47-5).
One of the top individual performances of the meet came from McDonogh’s Dalton Hengst, who swept the 800 (1:56.82), 1,600 (4:21.25) and 3,200 (9:31.32).