LANDOVER — Broadneck jumper Casey Gish and Old Mill distance runner Tsedeke Jakovics were the individual standouts and lifted their schools to the girls and boys team titles, respectively, at the Anne Arundel County Indoor Track and Field Championships on Monday at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex.
Gish captured county championships in the long jump, triple jump and high jump to lead the Bruins, who dominated the field events and totaled 108 points. Gish also scored in the shot put to personally account for 32 points.
Webster described Gish as a “really versatile athlete and a true team player” for competing in multiple events and not concerning herself with setting personal bests. He also noted that Gish, who is also a standout volleyball player, has attracted other athletes to track and field because of her personality.
“Casey is a fantastic athlete and an even better person. She’s a wonderful volleyball player who came over to track and field and has become a captain and leader of the program,” he said. “She’s fallen in love with the sport and has helped other kids in the program fall in love with it, too.”
Jakovics was also a triple-winner, securing county crowns in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs as the Old Mill boys posted 95 points — just three better runner-up Crofton.
“Tsedeke has been putting in a lot of work ever since the summertime, so everything he’s achieved today he deserves. He’s been a tremendous team player and extremely coachable. He’s still learning how to race,” Old Mill coach Justin Murdock said. “Today I wanted him to be a triple crown champion, the king of distance events. I was so happy to see him accomplish that goal.”
Chancellor DeRosier won the 55-meter hurdles and finished second in the triple jump for Old Mill, which captured its first indoor county championship in at least a decade. Murdock said that was meaningful considering the school district is about to be split in half.
“Our mission was to win the team title this season. This is Old Mill’s last year as we know it. Severn Run is opening up and we’re going to lose a lot of talent, so I wanted to go out with a bang,” Murdock said. “It was a case of everyone coming together when it counts and executing in their events. I think the only events we didn’t score in were the shot put and the pole vault.”
Broadneck’s Carson Boteler won the pole vault to lead a sweep of the podium placements for Bruins girls in the event. Bruins also finished first, second and third in the long jump and high jump to score 62 points in the field events. It was the second straight indoor county championship for the Bruins.
“[Assistant coach] Jim Townsend came over to our program from Old Mill has made a huge impact and you can see that today by how well we scored in all the jumps,” Webster said.
Webster was impressed by the performance of his girls team considering the amount of early season meets that were canceled.
“We’ve had a tumultuous winter and everyone was challenged by the fact the facility was closed. I cannot tell you how proud I am of all the athletes for the resilience they showed and the way they responded,” Webster said. “Seeing the progress the kids have made despite not having many meets has been really rewarding.”
Severna Park’s Kian Williams had an impressive meet by sweeping the three jumps. Williams set a personal record in winning the long jump at a distance of 22 feet, 2 inches. He won the high jump at 6-4 and the triple jump at 46-7.
Williams posted a PR in the hih jump by clearing 6-9 at the Virginia Beach Showcase last weekend and was disappointed he could not duplicate that performance at the county championships. However, he was happy about displaying improved technique in the triple after scratching on five of six attempts at the Virginia Beach Showcase.
“I’m really happy with everything for the most part except high jump,” Williams said. “I’ve been trying to work on my consistency in the triple jump and felt good about going 46-7 in that event.”
Williams said he has not been able to practice much over the last week and a half due to the snow storms that caused school cancellations. He is hoping to ramp up the training leading into the region and state championship meets.
“That’s the goal and what my coaches are pushing me to do,” Williams said of repeating the sweep at the state championships.
Chesapeake sprinter Caleb Adams was also quite active Monday night, winning the 300-meter dash and placing second in the 55-meter dash. Adams also ran the opening leg as the Cougars were victorious in both the 4×400 and 4×200 relays. His brother Daniel Adams and Caleb Ritter also ran on both relays.
Caleb Adams is in competition with Meade’s Kayvawn Simms-Rogers for fastest man in Anne Arundel County. Simms-Rogers won the 55 and placed second in the 300.
On the girls side, Meade’s Janayis Mendoza won the 55-meter dash and was runner-up in the 300. Kathryn Murphy and Jocelyn DiAngelo were the winners as Severna Park swept both the mile and two-mile runs.
Boys team scores
1, Old Mill, 95; 2, Crofton 92; 3, Severna Park, 65.5; 4, Chesapeake, 62; 5, Meade, 51
Boys individual results
4×800 — 1, Northeast (Hieatzman, Roddy, Parks, Moore), 8:31.76; 2, Crofton, 8:31.82; 3, Old Mill, 8:32.50.
4×400 — 1, Chesapeake (C. Adams, Ritter, Noriega, D. Adams), 3:33.18; 2, Crofton, 3:34.84; 3, North County, 3:41.77.
4×200 — 1, Chesapeake (C. Adams, Seabrease, Ritter, D. Adams), 1:32.21; 2, Crofton, 1:35.33; 3, Old Mill, 1:35.48
55 hurdles — 1, Chancellor DeRosier (OM), 7.66; 2, Edwind Torres (CSP), 7.82; 3, Owen Salanik (OM), 8.58
55-meter dash — 1, Kayvawn Simms-Rogers (ME), 6.55; 2, Caleb Adams (CH), 6.59; 3, Ja’Siyuse McGirt (OM), 6.59.
300 — 1, Caleb Adams (CH), 35.78; 2, Kayvawn Simms-Rogers (ME), 36.92; 3, Matthew Calinda (ME), 36.97.
500 — 1, Matthew Calinda (ME), 1:06.95; 2, Liam Lear-Wecht (SR), 1:07.50; 3, Daniel Adams (CH), 1:07.56.
800 — 1, Tsedeke Jakovics (OM), 1:55.69; 2, Eric Penkala (SO), 1:58.10; 3, Fox Larson (BN), 1:58.37.
1,600 — 1, Tsedeke Jakovics (OM), 4:25.91; 2, Eric Penkala (SO), 4:30.48; 3, Zaiden Lane (AR), 4:31.24.
3,200 — 1, Tsedeke Jakovics (OM), 9:41.02; 2, Eric Penkala (SO), 9:55.80; 3, Zaiden Lane (AR), 10:03.85.
Long jump — Kian Williams (SP), 22-2; 2, Kofi Duro (AR), 20-4; 3, Phillip Donnelly (CR), 20-03.
High jump — Kian Williams (SP), 6-4; 2, Ty Miller (SP), 5-10; 3, Ryan Graves (SP), 5-10
Triple jump — 1, Kian Williams (SP), 46-7; 2, Chancellor DeRosier (OM), 46-1; 3, Martin Ohakah (NC), 45-10.
Pole vault — 1, Elijah Ford (NC), 12-6; 2, Chase Severtson (CR), 12-0; 3, Logan Zakour (CR), 11-6.
Shot put — 1, Joshua Rowe (ME), 43-4 ½; 2, Micah Hewick (CR), 40-07 ½; 3, Gabriel Rollins (CR), 39-2
Girls team scores
1, Broadneck, 108; 2, Severna Park, 87; 3, Arundel, 62, Crofton and Meade, 60; 5, South River, 50
Girls individual results
4×800 — 1, Southern (Derrick, Burgee, Schiavone, Bowers), 10:04.00; 2, Severna Park, 10:12.62; 3, Broadneck, 10:24.2
4×400 — 1, Severna Park (Zimmerman, Baxter, Miller, Honeywell), 4:11.64; 2, Southern-AA, 4:13.94; 3, Old Mill, 4:19.86
4×200 — 1, Arundel (Mellerson, Hickman, Gutrick, White), 1:46.78; 2, Meade, 1:48.41; 3, Old Mill, 1:50.37.
55 hurdles — 1, Jaslyn Bangoura (ME), 8.89; 2, Miyonna Wilkins (ANN), 8.95; 3, Amanda Druid (CR), 9.08
55 — 1, Janayis Mendoza (ME), 7.31; 2, Bryce Hatcher (AR), 7.36; 3, Ta’Laiya Mellerson (AR), 7.38
300 — 1, Laila Carpenter (CR), 41.49; 2, Janayis Mendoza (ME), 41.71; 3, Grace Hickman (AR), 41.78
500 — Isabelle Franklin (ME), 1:20.27; 2, Grace Hickman (AR), 1:20.57; 3, Morgan Mims (SR), 1:20.63
800 — 1, Rebecca Burgee (SO), 2:21.14; 2, Ava Zimmerman (SP), 2:28.36; 3, Colleen Creswell (SR), 2:28.69
1,600 — 1, Kathryn Murphy (SP), 5:27.16; 2, Siena Pegues (SP), 5:28.34; 3, Madison Davis (SP), 5:29.03
3,200 — 1, Jocelyn DiAngelo (SP), 11:40.22; 2, Josephine Kamas (SP), 11:57.95; 3, Lila Sandel (SP), 12:06.00
Long jump — 1, Casey Gish (BN), 16-0 ½; 2, Vannessa Duhu (GB), 15-9 ¾; 3, Charlotte DeForest (CR), 15-8 ½
High jump — 1, Casey Gish (BN), 5-3; 2, Ciara Haney (BN), 4-8; 3, Nkechi Streete (BN), 4-8.
Triple jump — 1, Casey Gish (BN), 34-8; 2 Nkechi Streete (BN), 33-6 ½; 3, Ciara Haney (BN), 33-6
Pole vault — 1, Carson Boteler (BN), 11-6; 2, Taylor Hannon (BN), 8-6; 3, Dana Doubek (BN), 8-6
Shot put — 1, Abbigail Finch (AR), 34-9 ½; 2, Janaeyah McGirt (OM), 32-6 ½; 3, Abigail Makela (CR), 31-0