LANDOVER — Overlea’s Temi Ariyo spent a great deal of the fall cross country season trying to catch up to Hereford sisters Estelle and Sylvia Snider. It took until the winter, but she finally caught them.

Ariyo won two gold medals Tuesday at the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state indoor track and field meet, winning both the Class 2A 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

“It’s my first individual state championship,” Ariyo said. “I was coming in, I wanted to win. This is my first time qualifying at individual states too, so I wanted to make the first time the first I won too.”

Ariyo finished the 1,600 in 5 minutes, 18.63 seconds, and the 3,200 in 11:34.49. In both races she beat her county rivals.

Sylvia Snider finished second in the 1,600 and Estelle third. The sisters flipped spots in the 3,200.

“During cross country all my finishes with them were really tight,” Ariyo said. “I was always disappointed, like, ‘Oh, I could’ve won that if I put in a little more effort.’

“After the state meet when I got fourth, I was like, ‘I have to win states in track and field.’ Luckily, I’m stronger in track than I am in cross country. I worked pretty hard these last couple months and decided I wanted to do it.”

Ariyo was the only girl in 2A to win multiple individual gold medals Tuesday, while only two accomplished that feat on the boys’ side. Oakland Mills’ Abdur Hassan won the 55-meter hurdles and the high jump, while Liberty’s Tyler Edson won the 500 and 800 and also ran on Liberty’s winning 4x800 relay.

“It feels amazing. I smashed my [personal record] by like three seconds,” Edson said after his 500 win, the second of his three gold medals. “I don’t know what happened that race, but it felt really good.”

While Oakland Mills swept the 2A team titles, Edson’s efforts helped Liberty’s boys take second overall, a loftier finish than what the Lions were planning on getting.

“We’re hoping for top five, but top two — if we’re on that trajectory, it’s really nice,” he said.

Edson opened the day teaming with Greg Schellberg, Logan Cyford and Ben Smith to win the 4x800 relay in 8:17.08, more than 18 seconds ahead of the second-place team.

In the 2A girls standings, Oakland Mills edged Century on the last event. Still, the Knights got a great day from Alayna Gifford, who won the 800 (2:20.66) and teamed with Allison Leimkuhler, Elizabeth Mitroka and Emily Mitroka to win the 4x800 (9;55.46).

Oakland Mills sweeps 2A

After seven hours of fierce competition, chants of “Rosalie, Rosalie, Rosalie” echoed throughout the building.

Oakland Mills girls trailed Century by a half-point for the Class 2A state team championship with only the pole vault remaining. Rosalie Rosenberg knew she could deliver her team a state championship.

She cleared a personal-best 10 feet, 6 inches, finishing second but giving Oakland Mills enough points to earn the team title with 61.5 to Century’s 58.5. Herford and Middletown tied for third place with 42.5 points.

“My brain has not stopped this whole time,” Rosenberg said. “Everyone was saying don’t look at the team score, don’t say it out loud. I just do anyway, so even though I knew I’d be fine I was watching everyone and doing the math in my head.”

Falling just short at both counties and regionals, the Scorpions girls stepped up when it mattered most to win a state title. They secured that feat without the injured Frankie Moore, who was their only individual state champion last season.

“For those girls, they’ve come together so much as a team this year, winning and running for each other. They feed off each other,” Oakland Mills girls coach Renato Gonzales said. “They’re so happy for somebody when they do really well, and if someone doesn’t do as well they’re picking up and making sure they’re going forward.”

Both the 4x200 meter and 4x400 meter relay teams captured state titles, finishing in 1:46.15 and 4:09.44, respectively. Aliya Murray, Fisayo Sule, Boluwatito Ogundairo and Nkechi Okpowasili made up the winning 4x400 team, while Murray, Ogundairo, Olakunle and Saniya Curtis won the 4x200.

Meanwhile, the Scorpions boys knew they were the presumptive favorites entering Tuesday’s meet. That target on their back didn’t matter as Oakland Mills finished with 110 points, one point better than last year’s state championship team, winning by a sizable 61-point margin over second-place Liberty.

New Town (33), Century (29.5) and Parkside (25) rounded out the top five.

“It just shows their character,” Oakland Mills boys coach Christopher Brewington said. “These kids care. They have been working for this moment from the summer to fall workouts to Nov. 15, since the first day of practice. This is what the goal has been.”

Senior Trevin McHargh has been an integral member of the Scorpions for several seasons but was still searching for his individual state gold medal. Motivated by that throughout the year, McHargh didn’t miss out on the opportunity at his final state championships.

The senior won the 55 dash in 6.39 seconds, securing that elusive gold medal while also breaking a 2A classification record, outpacing Gwynn Parks’ Ricardo Griggs’ 6.42-second record time set in 2013.

“I feel so happy,” McHargh said. “I’ve been waiting since outdoor season for this, since last year’s states for this.

“I have a screenshot on my phone showing last season’s third-place finish and how mad I was. Now I have another screenshot saying No. 1.”

However, he wasn’t the only Scorpion to set a state classification record.

Senior Oluwasemilore Olakunle is in her first year running track, but you wouldn’t know that watching her. Entering states with the second-fastest qualifying time in the 55, Olakunle blazed by the competition, finished in 7.07 seconds and was quickly mobbed by her coaches and teammates once her time appeared on the screen.

She broke the previous 2A state record set by Edmondson’s Cierra Layne in 2003.

“It didn’t feel real. I couldn’t feel anything,” Olakunle said. “At first when I looked up at the board I said, ‘That’s not my name, that’s not me.’ Then I saw my coach and it came to me like two seconds later, and then I realized it was me.

“I did not expect this at all.”

Several other Scorpions claimed multiple state titles. However, none was more unique than Hassan, a former wrestler in his first year on the indoor track.

An experienced high jumper both from this indoor season and the outdoor season, Hassan completed the county, regional and state title sweep, clearing 6 feet to capture one of his two state titles on the day.

Shane King won the 300 dash, finishing in 35.50 seconds and just ahead of teammate Xavier Doctor, securing what he coveted most in his final indoor state meet. Senior Ethan Aidam repeated as a state champion in the 3,200 and also finished third in both the 800 and 1,600, capping off a memorable final states performance.

KeMarco Monger, Doctor, Mife Osinubi and Anthony Thompson Jr. also combined to win the 4x400 in 3:31.70.

Heartbreak and redemption

South Carroll’s girls had a roller coaster of a day. It opened with Lauren Chesney setting a personal record to win the 1A 300 (42.29).

Later in the day Chesney, AJ Dassoulas, Catherine Yankle and Ella Boyce looked to have won the 4x200 in the most dramatic race of the day, a victory by one-hundredth of a second. However, the Cavaliers were disqualified because a runner was ruled to have left the exchange zone too early.

While the events were still getting sorted out, Chesney, Dassoulas, Boyce and Brooke Pribulick were getting set to run the 4x400. Any residual anger on the decision was taken out on the track, as the Cavaliers earned the 4x400 gold medal.

“With three of four us in the 4x4 were in the 4x2, we knew right before we went out we could be disqualified and they said it right before we ran, it kind of made us really mad,” Chesney said. “We know we worked really hard and won that in our hearts, but we came back and won the 4x4 as well.

“Obviously, being disqualified in the 4x2 is unfortunate, but we came back in the 4x4 and we finished it off strong.”

South Carroll got one more gold medal on the day. In the final event Delany Freed won the pole vault by clearing 10 feet.

Surprise win

Francis Scott Key’s Ashleigh Porter won the 1A high jump at both last year’s indoor and outdoor state meets, but tendinitis in her right knee kept her sidelined most of this season. Still, she was one of two left standing in this year’s high jump.

After Porter’s leap, she was all ready to do a jump-off for the gold. Only one problem: She didn’t realize she actually cleared the bar at 5-2 on her final attempt.

“I could’ve sworn I hit it,” she said.

She went over to her coach and realized that she, in fact, had cleared the bar and won the state championship.

Other firsts

New Town’s Denver Shields was hoping for a win in the 55. He actually tied the 2A state record of 6.42 seconds, but it wasn’t fast enough to catch Oakland Mills’ McHargh.

However, Shields came back and led the Titans to victory in the 4x200 along with Amir Wright, Antoine Berry and Landen Perry.

“After the 55, I was like, I got to get back to the 4x2,” Shields said. “After I got the handoff, I just took off. I just assumed he was right behind me. It kept me pushing to the end of the line.”

Southern’s Eric Penkala did what few 2A distance runners have been able to do the last four years: chase down Oakland Mills’ Aidam. Penkala overtook Aidam in the final lap of the 1,600 to win in 4:26.46.

“Just whatever I had, just use it all,” Penkala said. “Throughout the race I was thinking, I didn’t know what was going to happen, But whatever I had left, I used it.”

Hammond ended the day with two winners. Morgan Lane earned gold in the 2A 55 hurdles, winning in a personal-best 8.37 seconds.

“I’m just really proud of myself,” Lane said. “I feel so relieved. I finally ran my own race rather than worrying about what everyone else is doing.”

Also, Chloe Williams won the 300 in 41.77 seconds.

“Honestly, when I saw myself passing the girl on the curve, I told myself, ‘Hold it. Don’t let anyone get in front of you,’” she said. “As I crossed the line, I was staring at the clock the whole time. It was so exciting.”

Team scores

Class 1A boys

1. Catoctin, 79; 2. Cambridge-South Dorchester, 51; 3. Largo, 46; 4. Snow Hill, 41; 5. Smithsburg, 41; 6. Perryville, 39; 7. Brunswick, 35; T8. Mountain Ridge, 25; T8. Washington, 25; 10. Francis Scott Key, 19.

Class 1A girls

1. Smithsburg, 98.5; 2. Largo, 58; 3. Boonsboro, 55.5; 4. Western Tech, 44; 5. South Carroll, 43; 6. Snow Hill, 32; 7. Cambridge-South Dorchester, 23; 8. Mountain Ridge, 20; 9. Brunswick, 19; 10. Catoctin, 17.

Class 2A boys

1. Oakland Mills, 110; 2. Liberty, 49; 3. New Town, 33; 4. Century, 29.5; 5. Parkside, 25; 6. Calvert, 24; T7. Hereford, 23; T7. Winters Mill, 23; 9. Dunbar, 20; 10. Southern-AA, 18.

Class 2A girls

1. Oakland Mills, 61.5; 2. Century, 58.5; T3. Hereford, 42.5; T3. Middletown, 42.5; 5. Kent Island, 42; 6. Hammond, 37.5; 7. Overlea, 24; 8. Glenelg, 21; 9. Patuxent, 20; 10. Southern-AA, 17.