The History
2021 Top 3 Teams: Hebron, River Hill, Centennial
2022 Top 3 Teams: Towson, Chopticon, Centennial
2023 Top 3 Teams: Towson, Severna Park, Howard
2021 Top 5 Runners: Antonio Camacho-Bucks, Tim Synowiec, Aiden Neal, Joseph Raudabaugh
2022 Top 5 Runners: Henry Hopper, Kieran Mischke, Sebastian Martinez, Christian Brower, Antonio Camacho-Bucks
2023 Top 5 Individuals: Kieran Mischke (Towson), Joey Ensor (Howard), Taylor Jarvis (Severna, Sean Gravell (Sherwood), Evan Cline (Towson)
The Course
The State Meet course is run on the infamous Bull Run Course. The dip defines the course and it’s universally known throughout the running community. The course is certainly challenging, but it rewards toughness and durability. Depending upon one’s definition of a hill, there are at least eleven hills on the course-some more challenging than others. The second mile is by far the most challenging mile in the course with two steep, challenging hills. The second hill after the soccer field, which demarcates the half way point, is arguably the most challenging part of the course.
One is advised to commit to the race early on, but to be advised a faster than average first mile will result in a very long second mile. The final mile is actually a net downhill with a set of rolling hills on the back side of the course. This leads to the return to the dip.
One factor with racing this course in November versus September is that the weather is significantly different. One doesn’t need to contend with a scorching sun, but precipitation may not evaporate, which can lead to certain areas being slick, in particular the ninety degree turn leading to the return to the dip. Another nuance in the change of seasons is that one can see up the dip from a distance away, and one can also see the runners make their way to the dip following the second mile.
A full course preview is below.
The Teams
Severna Park
Severna Park enters this meet as the team to beat. They’ve been ahead of the curve all season, and based on their forty second 1-5 differential at the 3A East regionals, it is going to be a tall task to challenge the Falcons. They started the season with a dominant victory at Seahawk, and with no slip ups this season, they rolled through their county and regional championship. Looking to Saturday, Head Coach Josh Alcombright says, “We are looking to execute our race plan and run up to our capabilities. If we can do that we feel that will put us in a good position to bring the trophy back to SP.”
North Hagerstown
A team looking to make a statement is North Hagerstown. They’ve had a great season, and they are looking to put it all on the line Saturday. They started off the season as the top 3A school at the Hood College Invite, and the Hubs have only gotten stronger as the season has progressed. They were competitive at MDXC, but their best race was either at CMC champs where they made a statement against a top 4A school in Urbana, or the 4A West Champs, where they ran right up against Wooton.
Wooton
Wooton is a tough contender coming into Saturday. They started the season off well finishing second at Seahawk, though they were a bit behind Severna Park. A couple weeks later, they were the top 3A team in the elite division at Bull Run. In the post season, the Patriots were the top 3A Team at MOCO Champs and they won the 3A West Region.
Wooton got the best of North Hagerstown in their matchups at MDXC and the 3A West Region Championship.
Towson
Towson is the two-time defending 3A Champ, but a three peat is going to take a special effort. They are a high quality team, but they will need all engines firing Saturday. They dominated the Baltimore County championships, and they walked through the 3A North region. From Barnhart to MDXC to the post-season, they have been the second best 3A team. On their chances going into Saturday, Head Coach Gil Stange says, “We’re not really into expectations. We’ve got a nice blend of experience and new energy on [our top] seven, and if it works out that we improve our 1-5 total, 1-5 average, or 1-5 gap from Bull Run, that’s great, but it’s really not why we’re there. We’re there to have fun and run our race on a course where we’ve had some success. We want to enjoy the ride.”
The Individuals
Tsedeke Jakovics (Old Mill), Aidan Petraglia (Chesapeake), Theo Brown (Towson), Oliver Katz (Dulaney), Logan Amis (Man Valley), Evan Cline (Towson), Semir Kemal (Hubie Blake), Walker Mason (North Hagerstown), Edward Sun (Wooton), Jefferson Regitz (Rockville), Rayyan Dheini (Howard), Nick Bader (Poly), Lucas Chiang (River Hill), Frankie Kelly (Severn Run)