The Smithsburg girls and North Hagerstown boys continued their winning streaks at the Washington County Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday at North.
The Hubs won their fourth straight county boys team title, while the Leopards three-peated as county champions on the girls' side.
Here's how it happened:
Jenna Howe lights up the track
Led again by sprinter Jenna Howe, the Smithsburg girls racked up 229 points. South Hagerstown finished second (138) and North placed third (125).
Howe, a junior, won four events for the second straight year.
"I'm working for it," she said. "I want to get scholarships and try to run in college."
Howe won individual titles in the 100 (12.65), 200 (25.67) and 400 (1:00.58) and teamed with Taylor King, Melyssa Bard and Alaina Pate to win the 4x100 relay (50.25).
"I'm really happy with how it went," Howe said. "I knew coming into it that we had to compete really hard. But we work really hard in practice as a team, and we can do really good things.
"We had a really hard practice on Monday, and (coach Adam Rudy) even said coming into this meet that our legs were going to be tired, but I pushed myself. I just tried really hard and got what I wanted."
The Smithsburg girls also got individual wins from Michaela Gross in the 3,200 (11:52.33), King in the 300 hurdles (50.04), Alyiah Wygant in the discus (101-6) and Alexandria Spithaler in the pole vault (9-0).
They also placed first in the other three relays, getting wins from Grace Ellis, Ella Fisher, Adalynne Shifler and Caylee Oliva in the 4x800 (11:10.78), Lilian Hade, King, Bard and Shifler in the 4x200 (1:50.60) and Cora Gentzel, King, Pate and Kayla Hawbecker in the 4x400 (4:18.12).
"We did what we needed to do today. I liked how we competed," Rudy said. "I don't think we're quite sharp yet, which I'm OK with. We have regionals next week and then states, so we're really just trying to check all the boxes to time that fitness perfect for next week and the week after. I'm actually glad that we weren't 100% on it today.
"There are a lot of good things to be excited about. Jenna ran great. The girls 4x100 set a school record. That's fantastic. We competed hard in the distance events. Alyiah Wygant won the discus for her first county championship, which is awesome. That's not something we expected, so I'm super proud of her."
The Smithsburg girls, who are the two-time reigning Class 1A state champions indoors, are aiming to win their first outdoor state title since 2015. They finished second last spring after placing third the previous year.
"Hopefully, we can right that ship this year," Rudy said. "I like where we're at, and I like our chances. I think we're sitting in a good place, compared to some of our competition. I like our kids. They're competitors, and I think they're ready for the moment. It'll be exciting."
Ryder Johnston leads the Hubs
The North boys, led by senior Ryder Johnston, accumulated 201 points. South was the runner-up (145) and Smithsburg finished third (136).
Johnston placed first in the 300 hurdles (38.97) and second in the 110 hurdles (15.12), setting personal records in both events, and he added a victory in the long jump (21-2 1/4).
"I'm very happy," he said. "Me and Coach (Jon) Witmer -- he's new this year -- we've been working on some new strategy with the 300 hurdles, just basically all-out sprinting. It's really changed my mindset on the race itself. And he's been helping me with the long jump, working on staying tall and running through. I'm just very happy that he's here to support me. He's been my right-hand man."
Other individual winners for the North boys included Odin Desir in the 100 (11.03), Adam Mustafa in the 800 (2:02.08), Walker Mason in the 1,600 (4:29.02) and Bradley Helman in the 3,200 (10:15.12).
The Hubs also placed first in a pair of relays, getting wins from Landon Kelly, Carson Wilt, Nicholas Smallwood and Josh Montgomery in the 4x800 (8:58.60) and Nathan Silla, Donovan Baldwin, Dishaan Patel and Sullivan McGreevy in the 4x400 (3:36.92).
"Everybody did their job," North coach Ethan Miller said. "They did what they're expected to. … Hopefully, there's momentum here going into the postseason."
"We definitely have bigger goals now," Johnston said. "We're hoping to make a run at regionals. Everybody's working hard, everybody's great, everybody is supporting each other, pushing each other at practice, all of it. Can't beat it, man."
More standout boys
Deontae Blake, a senior, had a career day for the South boys, placing first in the 200 (22.25) and 400 (50.45) and second in the 100 (11.11), setting personal records in all three.
The South boys also got wins from Wisdom Moses in the triple jump (43-5 1/2) and Bryce Harbaugh, Cassius Freeman, Felix Annan and Cahauri Alford in the 4x200 (1:34.07).
For the Williamsport boys, Richard Sanon won the 110 hurdles (14.76) and teamed with Kaleb Long, Masiah Martin and Byron Snyder to win the 4x100 (43.65).
The Clear Spring boys had two winners -- Jacob Faith in the high jump (6-2) and Nick Cullember in the discus (136-11).
Other boys champs included Hancock's Waylon Leach in the shot put (43-1 1/4) and Smithsburg's John Flint in the pole vault (11-6).
Other girls champions
The North girls had three champs -- Rian Johnson in the 800 (2:19.14), Lauren Stine in the 1,600 (5:03.60) and Anna Chamberlin in the high jump (5-0).
The South girls got victories from Rhianna Ignasiak in the 100 hurdles (17.11) and Trinity Savage in the long jump (17-1 1/2).
Williamsport's Olivia Smith won the triple jump (34-2), and Clear Spring's Kailyn McCauley won the shot put (33-11 1/4).
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Smithsburg girls, North Hagerstown boys continue reigns at county track championships
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