Here are The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro boys cross country teams for the 2023 season.
Runner of the Year
Cameron Davis, Calvert Hall, senior
Davis entered 2023 with one Runner of the Year award and a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship already under his belt. But this year’s goals went beyond simply doing it all again.
Davis and his Calvert Hall teammates had their sights set high.
“Into the summer I worked a lot harder than I did last year and the goals were a lot bigger,” he said. “This year my goals were beyond MIAA and in-state competition. I wanted to become one of the best in the country.”
Coach Scott Baker put together a schedule that took the Cardinals far and wide to find some of the best national competition.
There was the Adidas XC Invitational outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, at the WakeMed Soccer Park course, which Davis called his favorite of the year. There was the South Jersey Shootout and the MileStat.com Invitational in Virginia, among others.
“We were just trying to find the best competition in the region,” Davis said. “There were some great opportunities. This year, especially with a lot of seniors, getting to experience all those trips with the team was really special.”
Through it all, Davis ran some astonishing times. That WakeMed course he loved so much? He ran it twice, each time breaking 15 minutes. His personal best was 14:56.7.
Davis and the Cardinals wanted to see how they stacked up against the Mid-Atlantic’s top runners. It turned out well.
Davis is competing during the indoor track and field season and next year will head to Virginia Tech to run for the Hokies while majoring in exercise science.
Coach of the Year
Gil Stange, Towson
Towson’s boys won the 2022 Class 3A state championship and had a strong group returning for another run at the title. But the path to a second straight crown wasn’t that simple.
The new season brought a new Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association reclassification cycle, loading up Class 3A with new challengers, including reigning 4A state champion Severna Park. Thomas Wottoon also dropped to 3A, and perennial power Howard stuck around.
But Stange built a team capable of not only hanging with the new heavy hitters but running right past them.
Towson claimed its second straight state title, powered by individual champion Kieran Mischke. Evan Cline gave Stange two top-five state finishers and all five scorers at the state meet finished in the top 30.
The Generals nearly had a perfect score at the Baltimore County championships with five of the top six finishers.
First team
Joey Ensor, Howard, senior
The Howard County champion pushed Towson’s Kieran Mischke to the end of the Class 3A state title race before finishing second in 16:00.4.
Ryan Hartranft, Century, junior
The Carroll County champion finished fourth at the Class 2A state championships. He won the 2A West Region title in a personal-best time of 15:47.
Henry Hopper, Wilde Lake, senior
Hopper’s year was highlighted by winning the Elite Division race at Bull Run. He finished third at the Class 2A state meet and was second at the Howard County championships.
Tsedeke Jakovics, Old Mill, junior
Jakovics had the fastest time of any Baltimore-area runner at the state championships, finishing in 15:44.95 to place second in Class 4A.
Kieran Mischke, Towson, senior
Mischke was the Class 3A state champion, winning the race in 15:50.1. He also won county and regional titles, as well as the Barnhart Invitational.
Eric Penkala, Southern, junior
Penkala was the Class 2A state champion in a personal-best 15:47.8. He was second at the Anne Arundel County championships and won his divisions at the Bull Run and the Maryland XC Invitational.
Gregory Schellberg, Liberty, senior
The top runner for the state champion Lions also won the Class 1A individual crown, winning the race by more than 25 seconds (16:35).
Cort Schroder, Calvert Hall, senior
Schroder was second to his teammate Davis at the MIAA championships, finishing in 15:39. He broke 16 minutes in all five invitational or championship races he competed in.
Second team
Charlie Butler, Mount Saint Joseph, senior
Evan Cline, Towson, senior
Ryan Collins, Gilman, senior
David Herzberger, Centennial, junior
Taylor Jarvis, Severna Park, senior
Zaiden Lane, Arundel, senior
Caden Lazzor, Severna Park, junior
Sean Wilson, Loyola Blakefield, senior