Not necessarily in rank order. 14 on the list but close enough to 10. Any omissions: please email Louis at chasingthestandard@gmail.com
Vince Ciattei
Formerly of Perry Hall High School, Vince finished 4th overall and was the 1st American at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile running 3:50. He is a gamer and continues to chase his goals.
Baidy Ba
Formerly of Oakland Mills and now at Kent State, Baidy Ba broke 4 in the mile this past February. He also finished 162nd at NCAA XC Nationals this past November.
Baidy Ba, current Golden Flash and former Scorpion joins the Sub 4 Mile Club
Thea LaFond
Formerly of Kennedy High School, Thea finished 5th in the triple jump at World Championships, while also setting a National Record for Dominica. Thea has finished 5th in back to back years on the world stage.
Ryan Willie
Formerly of North County and Bullis, Ryan help guide the Gators to a narrow victory at the NCAA Outdoor championships. He was second in the 400, and he was on the winning 4×1 and 4×4 teams.
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/81300/m/NCAA_Division_I_Outdoor_Track__Field_Championships
Caleb Dean
Formerly of Dematha, Caleb finished 11th overall in the 110 Hurdles and 4th overall in the 400 hurdles at the NCAA Championships.
Einstein Boys XC
An upset surprise at the state meet in 4A.
Chimdy Onoh
Chimdy from Dundalk convincingly won the discus and shot put at the state meet this year in 174/57. While his PRs are 175/61, those are distances often not seen in this state, particularly in discus.
James Partlow
James Partlow had a tremendous season for Thomas Johnson. He won the 4A boys state championship in XC, and he punched his bid to Nationals where he finished 16th overall in 14:47 for All-American status.
Tanise Thorton-Fillyaw
Tanise represented Goucher at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Div III Nationals and qualified for Under 20s in Oregon this past summer.
Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw of Goucher to Compete at U20 Outdoor Championships
Hopkins Men (14th) and Women (12th) at NCAAs
While this was probably considered a down year for the Blue Jays, the program continues to rise. A nationals bid is now the expectation for both sides. Local heroines of Carter Brotheron (Great Mills) and Elena Blodnikar (Leonardtown) join the Jays this coming year.
Brody Buffington
Full of glitz and glamour, Brody made track popular in Maryland. He was infamously DQed at regionals back in February and then was…infamously DQed at the state meet in May. He won several state championships this year and now holds several 1A records. He now runs for perennial power Georgia.
https://georgiadogs.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/brody-buffington/7715
Leah Stephens (Good Counsel)-Runs as NC State #4 as NC State takes NCAA XC Title
While it was a late decision to go to NC State, Leah finished fourth on her team and 43rd overall at NCAAs to help guide the Wolfpack to a third consecutive national championship.
Freddie Hendricks/Al Smith
This is not something to be celebrated, but history is an art that is becoming more lost every year. Both men were important figures in different ways, and their contributions should not be forgotten. Freddie Hendricks was a bastion in the track and field community. He was a youth track and field coach, and he was the longtime head coach at Mervo.
Al Smith was considered the voice of Maryland Track and Field. He was beyond knowledgable, and he was strict with record keeping and history. The current double regionals format for indoor track should be attributed to him, as he proposed, with research, the initial format. A quip of Al: At the 2022 Scorpion Invite, near the end of the meet, a triple jumper came up to Al and asked if Al could make an announcement that he and his buddy were still competing and going for 45 and 46 plus in triple. Al was completely unimpressed and seemingly shocked at the audacity of the kid to ask him to make an announcement. He turned to me and said, “Doesn’t he know that in 1979 at a dual meet at Westminster High School [Jack and Larry] jumped 48 and 49 feet into the wind? 45 isn’t even that good.”
Long Time Mervo Mustangs Coach Freddie Hendricks passes away
Tinoda Matsatsa
Tinoda Matsatsa of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School became the 19th High School Athlete to break 4 in the Mile. Not the video here, but he won the Elite mile at Severna Park back in April.
https://chasingthestandard.com/2023/01/chasing-the-standards-top-10-moments-of-track-and-field-in-2022/