Boonsboro Trio Piles Up Maryland State Track Championships
Meggan Grams in the lead with teammate Haley Wright close behind in the Maryland State Championships – 5/24/14 – photo by Wayne Dutrow
The 2013-2014 school year was a terrific nine months of running competition for junior Meggan Grams. She compiled an impressive number of big wins in cross country, capping it off with the 2A Maryland State Championship.
Though the end of the indoor track season did not go as hoped, the outdoor season could not have been much better. Locally in Washington County of Western Maryland she broke all of the county records in the 1600 and 3200. Grams was the first local girl scholastic runner to go under 5:00 in the 1600 – doing so in the middle of the season. Her winning time at the Maryland State Meet was 4:56.97 – the top time over all four classifications.
“I wanted to break 5:00 in the 1600 this year, but at the same time I was afraid I might not,” she said. And though she has excelled at longer distances, “The 1600 is my baby.”
After dealing with nagging and frustrating injuries over much of her first two years of high school running, Grams has seen the sport from both the bottom of the pile as well as the top of the heap. It has given her a humble perspective on it all, knowing that winning can evaporate quickly. “I’ve been on the bottom and not even qualified for states,” she said, “But I believe if you work, you can achieve anything.”
Meggan will be running in the 1600 at Nike Nationals, along with a host of other races and relays under the Boonsboro Track Club affiliation. And she believes she still has a bit more in the tank for this 1600 distance. “But I was really spent and really empty after that 3200 race!” she said.
Grams was actually most proud of her open 800 race at the state championships where she took fourth place in 2:18 in a strong field.
By way of full disclosure, I coached Meggan in cross country for two years before her school transfer, and she was one of the most enjoyable kids ever. So there is a lot of personal gratification to see her success. This is one tough little girl! And there will be more successes – another year of high school … and already there have been 48 collegiate communications.