Severna Park’s girls used their considerable distance strength to capture the Class 3A Central Region championship Thursday night at Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex.
Ava Zimmerman won the 800-meter run and was part of two championship relay teams as the Falcons amassed 109 points, 39 better than runner-up Arundel.
“I’m very happy for the girls. They tend to be in the shadow of the boys, but are showing this season they are pretty strong in their own right,” Severna Park coach Josh Alcombright said.
Zimmerman, a junior in her first season of track and field, won the 800 in 2 minutes, 25.38 seconds. She also ran the leadoff leg of Severna Park’s victorious 4×400 and 4×800 relays.
“Ava had an outstanding meet. I’m really proud of the way she performed,” Alcombright said.
Jocelyn DiAngelo captured the region crown in the 3,200, an event in which Severna Park swept the top three spots. Siena Pegues and Lila Sandel placed second and third as the Falcons scored 24 points in the two-mile.
Kathryn Murphy, Josephine Kamas and Madison Davis placed second, third and fourth in the 1,600 as the Falcons scored 19 points in that event. Ella Baxter, Sallie Honeywell and Kaitlyn Miller were the other members of Severna Park’s 4×400 relay. Ellie Ballard, Natalie Bowman and Pegues rounded out the 4×800 foursome.
Severna Park scored points in eight of the 11 events contested. Alcombright was pleased with the number of Falcons girls that qualified for the state meet. However, he believes it will be difficult for Severna Park to contend for the team title at the 3A championships.
“All the distance races are pretty loaded at the state level. We won’t be able to score as many points in those events as we did at regions,” Alcombright said.
Bryce Hatcher, Grace Hickman and Abbigail Finch all captured region championship to lead the Arundel girls. Hatcher won the 55-meter dash in 7.31 seconds, Hickman placed first in the 500 with a time of 1:18.39, while Finch topped the field in the shot put with a throw of 33 feet, 11 inches.
Hickman also ran a leg on Arundel’s victorious 4×200 relay, which also included Calise White, Aiyana Gutrick and Ta’Laiya Mellerson.
Kian Williams and John McLain claimed region championships to lead the Severna Park boys to a fourth place finish with 61.33 points. Williams won the high jump clearing 6-6, while McLain topped the pole vault at 12 feet.
Severna Park swept the high jump with Ryan Graves the runner-up and Ty Miller taking third. The Falcons scored big points in the pole vault as well with Luke Tyler placing second.
Caden Lazzor and Cooper Alahverdian finished second and third in the 3,200, but Severna Park did not have anyone finish better than seventh in either the 800 or 1,600 runs.
“We’re in kind of a rebuilding mode with our boys distance runners,” Alcombright admitted.
Zaiden Lane came away with a region championship in the mile run to lead Arundel, which finished in the team standings. Lane won with a time of 4:25.34.
Gunnar Williams was runner-up in the 55-meter dash and took third in the 300-meter dash to lead Arundel to a fifth-place finish.
Girls team results
1, Severna Park, 109; 2, Arundel 70; 3, City, 69 ½; 4, South River 62 ½
Girls individual results (Anne Arundel athletes only)
55-meter hurdles — Justine Buchanan, South River, third, 9.53; Sallie Honeywell, Severna Park, fourth, 9.58
55-meter dash — Bryce Hatcher, Arundel, champ, 7.31; Calise White, Arundel, fourth, 7.46
300-meter dash — Morgan Mims, South River, second, 41.62; Bryce Hatcher, Arundel, 42.25
500-meter run — Grace Hickman, Arundel, champ, 1:18.39; Morgan Mims, South River, second, 1:20.07
800-meter run — Ava Zimmerman, Severna Park, champ, 2:25.38; Natalie Bowman, Severna Park, fourth, 2:30.15
1,600-meter run — Kathryn Murphy, Severna Park, second, 5:29.18; Josephine Kamas, Severna Park, third, 5:29.69; Madison Davis, fourth, Severna Park, 5:30.62
3,200-meter run — Jocelyn DiAngelo, Severna Park, champ, 11:27.74; Siena Pegues, Severna Park, second, 12:04.57; 3, Lila Sandel, Severna Park, third, 12:07.77
4×200-meter relay — Arundel (White, Gutrick, Mellerson, Hickman), champ, 1:45.39
4×400-meter relay — Severna Park (Zimmerman, Baxter, Honeywell, Miller), champ, 4:11.95
4×800-meter relay — Severna Park (Zimmerman, Ballard, Pegues, Bowman), champ, 9:57.63; South River, second, 10:26.30; Chesapeake, 10:30.88
High jump — Eden Githens, Chesapeake, second, 4-8; Camryn Carr, Severna Park, third, 4-6; Poppy Campbell, South River, fourth, 4-6
Shot put — Abbigail Finch, Arundel, champ, 33-11; Caleese Wardlaw, Arundel, third, 30-11
Pole vault — Regan Zetter, South River, champ, 7-8; Alexa Holt, Severna Park, second, 7-0; Cassidy DiSalvo, Chesapeake, 6-0
Boys Team Results
1, Digital Harbor 89; 2, Towson 70; 3, Poly 63 ½; 4, Severna Park 61.33; 5, Arundel 44 ½; 6, Chesapeake-AA 40.33.
Boys Individual Results (Anne Arundel athletes only)
55-meter dash — Gunnar Williams, Arundel, second, 6.56
300-meter dash — Caleb Adams, Chesapeake, second, 35.77; Gunnar Williams, Arundel, third, 35.87
500-meter run — Liam Lear-Wecht, second, South River, 1:07.55; Caleb Ritter, Chesapeake, fourth, 1:08.71
800-meter run — Rohan Moore, Northeast, 2:02.85
1,600-meter run — Zaiden Lane, Arundel, champ, 4:25.34
3,200-meter run — Caden Lazzor, Severna Park, second, 9:55.47; Cooper Alahverdian, Severna Park, third, 10:06.02
4×200-meter relay — Chesapeake, second, 1:31.88; Arundel, third, 1:33.34
4×800-meter relay — Northeast, second, 8:41.76; Chesapeake, fourth, 8:49.23
High jump — Kian Williams, Severna Park, champ, 6-6; Ryan Graves, Severna Park, second, 6-0; Ty Miller, Severna Park, third, 6-0
Pole vault — John McLain, Severna Park, champ, 12-0; Luke Tyler, Severna Park, second, 11-6; Chase Gage, Chesapeake, fourth, 11-6
Class 2A West: Eric Penkala captured championships in three individual events, while Rebecca Burgee scored considerable points to lead Southern’s performance at the Class 2A West Region championships.
Penkala won the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, which is quite a feat. He posted times of 1:58.86 (800), 4:20.79 (1,600) and 9:39.06 (3,200) to score 30 of Southern’s 32 points.
Burgee placed third in both the 500- and 800-meter runs then ran the anchor leg of Southern’s 4×400-meter relay team that was region champ. Maggie Schiavone, Marley Shaw and EmmaKate Derrick were the other members of the winning relay.
Shaw also took third in the 300-meter dash with a personal-best time of 42.97 seconds, while Derrick finished fourth in the 500 in 1:21.79, which was a PR.
Burgee and Schiavone were both part of Southern’s 4×800 relay that placed second in 10:10.53. Michela Hughes ran the opening leg and Cecila Bowers ran the anchor leg for the Bulldogs, who finished fifth in the girls team standings with 46 points.