On Saturday, the Falcons came away with team titles in the varsity boys, varsity girls, open boys and JV girls races at the Barnhart Invitational at the Baltimore County Agriculture Center in Cockeysville. Severna Park also produced three individual champions: Nathan Vandemeulebroecke was champion of the boys open race, Caroline Gage won the girls JV race, and Chloe Salked won the girls open race.
Following Severna Park’s commanding wins at the Seahawk Invitational and Howard County Invitational over the season’s first two weeks, the Falcons’ powerful display in Baltimore County on Saturday came against some of the best teams in the state, including rival contenders Dulaney, Hereford and Towson High Schools, as well as a slew of elite private schools.
Severna Park head coach Josh Alcombright said the Falcons have worked hard and supported each other through the season’s first weeks, enabling the program’s high levels of success.
“We have talent that is willing to put in the work required to be successful,” said Alcombright. “They trust in each other, their coaches and their training. If they can keep doing that, they’ll keep being successful.”
He added that the boys and girls programs have grown closer to elevate the program as a whole, saying, “I’m really proud of how both teams are coming together as not just single-gender teams, but one complete team and program.”
In the boys varsity race, won by McDonogh’s Dalton Hengst in 15:10.01, Severna Park’s Garrison Clark (third), Hugh O’Connor (eighth), Samuel Martin (ninth), Jonah Lane (11th) and Nicholas Plummer gave the Falcons a winning score of 44, well clear of runner-up Dulaney High School. Jacob Martin finished 19th for the Falcons, and Jack Finnerin was 44th in the field of 195 runners.
Dulaney’s boys have won two straight 4A state championships (Severna Park was runner-up both times), and the Lions had a four-year streak of winning the Barnhart Invitational title before Saturday.
“I’m proud of how focused the boys are this season,” said Alcombright.
On the girls side, Archbishop Spalding’s Lacey Eden won the varsity race in 19:20.70 ahead of teammate runner-up Alyssa Combs.
From there, the top of the chart was stacked with Falcons, and all seven runners placed in the top 31 in the field of 175 runners. Kamryn Eveleth placed third in 19:49.7, and Catie Cambon was fourth. Eveleth, Cambon, Cameron Zaniker (11th), Lindsey Brooks (13th) and Sophia Zell gave Severna Park a winning score of 45. Even adding the finished of Falcons Brenna Mullaney (28th) and Izzy Kintzley (31st) would have still not been enough to prevent Severna Park from defeating runner-up Hereford High School (119 points).
Showing the depth of the program, the Falcons completely owned the boys open race, placing seven runners in the top eight. Nathan Vandemeulebroecke won the race in 16:39.30, a time better than 181 of the 195 runners who ran the same course in the varsity race. Vandemeulebroecke (first), Nick Engleman (second), Sean Engelfried (third), Alexander Chaisson (fourth) and William Reed (fifth) gave the Falcons a perfect team score of 15, while Matthew Bateman (sixth) and Isaac Roe (eighth) gave Severna Park a full roster in the top eight.
In the girls JV race, Caroline Gage won the race in 21:09.9, which would have been good for 19th place in the varsity race. Teammates Abby Weist (second), Cara Vandemeulebroecke (third), Grace Cambon (fourth) and Ashley Siebenhaar (sixth) gave the Falcons a winning score of 16. T... Click here to read full article
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