One word describes the runners at the 2019 State Cross County Championships which concluded Saturday at chilly Hereford High School -- impressive! A handful of runners thrust themselves onto the list of top ten State Meet times but nothing was more noteworthy than a new course record being set and the Class 2A Boys race where the top four runners all bested the classification record. Select the links below for a State Meet results summary, race results for each gender and classification, and region meet results.
The Severna Park Boys executed a three-peat winning their sixth overall title in Class 4A while the Howard Girls won their third state crown. The Girls from Northern-Calvert successfully defended their state championship in Class 3A for a fourth straight time and the River Hill Boys handily brought home an eighth overall state crown. In Class 2A, the Oakdale Boys took home the first place hardware for the first time and the Liberty Girls posted a second overall state title. Northern-Garrett's Girls were first time state title winners in Class 1A and the Boys from Williamsport cruised to take home their third state championship. In addition, schools that were recipients of this year's Sportsmanship Awards as voted by their peers are: Gaithersburg (4A), North Hagerstown (3A), Kent Island (2A), and Brunswick (1A). Congratulations on this recognition...it is truly "a feather in the team's cap"!
There were a number of noteworthy individual performances again this year. On the girls side, Walter Johnson's Jenna Goldberg (4A) finished with the second best time ever posted for the State Meet with 17:50.47 and Oakley Olson (Northern-Calvert, 3A) won a second straight state title. For the boys, South River's Sam Keeny set a new course record and classification record smashing the old time by more than 6.5 seconds with a time of 15:34.98. Coming in second to Sam was Tanner Piotrowski (Arundel) with a top ten time of his own at 15:42.44. Finally, in the Class 2A Boys race, Kyle Lund (Oakdale) set a new class record with another top ten time of 15:47.76. The next three runners to follow him across the finish line ran times that also broke the old classification record with runner-up Finn Walsh of Kent Island posting his own top ten time of 15:48.71.
The MPSSAA would like to thank the State Cross Country Committee, led by Director Michael Sye, for their contributions toward such a successful season and event. We also cannot thank Hereford High School's administration, Athletic Director Mike Kalisz, and his staff of coaches and volunteers enough for their gracious hospitality, preparation, and planning. What a team!