Maryland Cross Country Begins at the Interstate Classic
Interstate Classic – Clear Spring, MD – 9/6/14. Author’s Photo
While Maryland State high school football kicked off the beginning of the fall sports season in the land of pleasant living, other sports began play on Saturday, including cross country.
One of the largest Maryland cross country meets of the year is the inaugural event for dozens of schools from all over Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is hosted by one of the very smallest schools in all of Maryland—Clear Spring in Washington County, at the point of the state where PA and WV squeezes MD into a narrow sliver of land.
Coaches annually descend upon this Western Maryland high school that has expansive grounds, in spite of the diminutive size of the student body. The course climbs around ponds and woods of the Washington County Public Schools’ outdoor educational facility, reaching a pinnacle at the halfway point on the side of a forested mountain. Nature trails return the runners back to a final half-mile finish on the athletic fields of the school.
A widely-spread course like Clear Spring illustrates how cross country is the only sport where the spectators also need to be in shape!
While the list of teams provides Maryland schools an often rare opportunity of competing against opponents from outside the state, it also establishes a first look at who appears to have strong teams for championships at meets throughout the season. In looking back over my coaching records, my Williamsport teams won the Interstate Classic five times – in those years we finished 1st in the state once, 2nd on three occasions, and 4th in the other season.
This year a total of 24 teams and 673 runners competed in four varsity divisions – large and small schools, both boys and girls – and combined boys and girls JV exhibitions. All varsity runners for each gender ran in the same race, with the large/small division calculated in the results.
The overall winner in the girls varsity race was junior Haley Wright of Boonsboro who set a new course record in the outstanding time of 18:12. The previous record was set just last year by teammate Meggan Grams in 18:29. Grams and Wright finished first and second in the Maryland 2A State Championships last year. Grams, who is a senior now, was sitting out this opening race due to a foot injury, opening the door for Wright to shine.
Haley Wright of Boonsboro High School breaks away from the field at the Interstate Classic, 9/6/14. Author’s Photo
Wright moved to the front in the first mile with Jefferson (WV) junior Abby Colbert. “We went back and forth – kinda cat and mouse for the middle of the race,” Wright said. “And I felt really strong in the last mile and pulled away at about two-and-a-half miles and brought it home.”
“I’m really pretty satisfied with how I performed today, in the heat and humidity, and glad to start off my first meet on a good note.”
Colbert finished second overall at 18:30, which itself would also be good enough to almost equal Gram’s record from 2013.
Haley Wright has some high aspirations for the season. “We have three races on our course at Boonsboro, and I’d like to take down Hannah Oneda’s course record and break 17 minutes.”
Hannah Oneda is the collegiate All-American at John Hopkins who competed in high school for Winters Mill (Westminster, MD). In October 2011, she won the MVAL Antietam Conference Championship on the Boonsboro course in 16:58.9.
The girls small school division was won by Julianna Butcher of Frankfort (WV) in 20:43, with Smithsburg taking the girls team title. Centennial won the large school girls team title by just three points over River Hill.
The overall boys winner was senior Daniel Green of James Buchanan High School in Mercersburg, PA in 16:05, winning also the boys small school division. The large school race was taken by senior James Rigsby of Musselman (WV) in 16:41. The large school team winner was River Hill, while the small schools division was claimed by Archbishop Spalding.
Boys Small Division
1 Archbishop Spalding 81
2 Southern Garrett 85
3 Smithsburg 112
4 Frankfort 114
5 Saint James 123
6 Mount Airy Christian 144
7 Northern Garrett 148
8 Allegany 158
9 James Buchanan 200
10 Paw Paw 215
11 Hancock 336
Boys Large Division
1 River Hill 51
2 Mount Hebron 72
3 Oakdale 87
4 Musselman 131
5 Centennial 139
6 Jefferson 144
7 Glenelg 149
8 Boonsboro 154
9 Mountain Ridge 241
10 Williamsport 246
Girls Small Division
1 Smithsburg 33
2 Frankfort 60
3 James Buchanan 84
4 Allegany 96
5 Mount Airy Christian 121
6 Clear Spring 135
Girls Large Division
1 Centennial 50
2 River Hill 53
3 Glenelg 88
4 Mount Hebron 111
5 Mountain Ridge 138
6 Jefferson 149
7 Boonsboro 176
8 Musselman 203
9 Williamsport 217