Maryland State Indoor Track Championships – 4A

Maryland High School Indoor Track State Championships 2014. Photo by author

To finish reporting on the MPSSAA Indoor Track Championship, here are some remarks from the 4A large school division. This portion of the state always excels in the sprints and track events. Only one new state record was set, but that was a great one! (see below)  The records in 4A are all very strong in that the state has been using the PG Complex indoor facility – one of the best in the USA – for the past dozen or so years. Prior to that, records from the old Baltimore Armory are difficult to make stand.

4A Boys Summary

The 4A boys meet was yet another close contest that went down to the final event. Entering the 4×400, the score was Northwest 43, Paint Branch 38, Bowie 35.  The Bowie relay would win for 10 points, Paint Branch was second with 8, while Northwest managed a fourth-place finish and 5 points to save the championship. For Northwest it was a close call, as four teams were less than two seconds behind them.

Three Northwest athletes scored the bulk of their points. Diego Zarate won the 1600 in 4:21 while also gaining six more points in the 3200 with a third-place finish. And Austin Castleberry and Antony Duruji swept to a 1-2 finish in the high jump.

The only new state record in the 4A meet was set by Ryan Forsyth in 9:16 over 3200 meters. This beat the previous all-time Maryland state mark of 9:19.74 by the incredibly-talented Solomon Haile of Sherwood in 2009. Haile was the 2008 Foot Locker Cross Country Champion and later was an All-American at the University of Arkansas.

4A Boys Team Scores

1) Northwest – 48;  2) Paint Branch – 46;  3) Bowie – 45;  4) Severna Park – 37;  5) Eleanor Roosevelt – 30;  5) North Point – 30;  7) Howard – 26;  8) Oxon Hill – 23;  9) South River – 22;  10) Henry A. Wise – 17.

4A Individual Boys State Champions

55-meter hurdles – Devon Gutrick – North Point – 7.59

55-meter dash – Brenen Garrett – Henry A. Wise – 6.37

300-meter dash – Justin Marsh – Howard – 34.88

500-meter run – Antonio Coleman – Bowie – 1:06.36

800-meter run – Ryan Leterouea – E. Roosevelt – 1:58.79

1600-meter run – Diego Zarate – Northwest – 4:21.83

3200-meter run – Ryan Forsyth – Saverna Park – 9:16.00

800-meter relay – Eleanor Roosevelt – 1:32.52

1600-meter relay – Bowie – 3:26.71

3200-meter relay – Richard Montgomery – 8:05.59

Shot Put – Devonte Johnson – Paint Branh – 50-07

High Jump – Austin Castleberry – Northwest – 6-2

Pole Vault – Danny Stringer – Saverna Park – 13-6

4A Girls Summary

In what was an evenly-contested meet with scoring from a wide variety of schools, South River High School of Edgewater, MD was able to win over Clarksburg by nine points, totaling a low championship number of 43.5 on the final card. A total of 24.5 of their points came from pole vault and high jump – the latter with Reilly Wagner taking the state title at 5’4”.

4A Girls Team Scores

1) South River – 43.5;  2) Clarksburg – 34.5;  3) James H. Blake – 34;  4) Winston Churchill – 32;  5) Walter Johnson – 27;  6) Severna Park – 26;   6) Bowie – 26;  8) North Point – 25;  9) Dulaney – 24;  10) Northwest – 22.

4A Individual Girls State Champions

55-meter hurdles – Alexus Pyles – Clarksburg – 8.32

55-meter dash – Bethany White – Magruder – 7.07

300-meter dash – Martha Sam – J.H. Blake – 40.01

500-meter run – Valencia McDowell – North Point – 1:18.02

800-meter run – Clare Severe – Walt Whitman – 2:18.83

1600-meter run – Kiernan Keller – Walter Johnson – 5:07.39

3200-meter run – Isabel Griffith – Dulaney – 11:03.04

800-meter relay – Paint Branch – 1:43.91

1600-meter relay – Paint Branch – 4:03.12

3200-meter relay – Walt Whitman – 9:39.16

Shot Put – Claudia Ababio – Clarksburg – 43-1.25

High Jump – Reilly Wagner – South River – 5-4

Pole Vault – Fionna Schoener – Severna Park – 9-0