Dons win their 14th MIAA A Conference crown; Calvert Hall’s Davis wins individual title; Severn and Friends also win conference championships; complete team and individual results here
With last year’s MIAA cross country season voided by COVID-19, no one knew what to expect for the 2021 campaign, but if history is a guide, Loyola Blakefield figured to be in the mix.
Ultimately, Loyola proved to be the center of the mix, going 7-0 in league dual meets and winning their 14th conference title at Monday’s MIAA A Conference championship race at the Maryland Agriculture Center and Farm Park in Cockeysville.
The Dons ran an average time of 16:38 and put four runners in the top 11 to dethrone two-time reigning champion Calvert Hall, 30-47.
Colin Verrett made a strong bid for the individual title, finishing second in 16:17.22, just 3.12 seconds behind champion Cameron Davis of Calvert Hall, to lead the Dons.
Jackson Kodenski (4th, 16:25.83), Charlie Doud (6th, 16:40.41), Carter Bruns (7th, 16:43.84) and Sean Wilson (11th, 17:05.71) all followed closely behind as the Dons got their top four runners across the finish line in a 25 second span.
Loyola coach Jose Albornoz mixed no words in ranking this Dons team against his others.
“I’ve had a lot of good teams, but this group is the best,” said Albornoz. “We lost to only two teams (Hempfield PA at Lehigh and Walt Whitman at Eiite Bull Run — whom we beat weeks later at Seahawk Invite) in close races, all season through 5 invites and yesterday. We’re heading up to New York to run the Jesuit Meet in three weeks then at the end of the month going to Cary to run the NXR Southeast race to see how we do against other top programs.”
Albornoz also described his team’s motivation to achieve goals.
“We have been a dominant team all season and wanted, in this MIAA meet, to place our top 4 in top 7 for All Conference Honors. When we started training last season we were able to put together a decent dual meet season, and even though the MIAA canceled the league meet, we did put together the Baltimore Private Schools Championship run at Loyola (won by Calvert Hall), but finishing a close third in that race was enough to motivate the team to train for this fall. By the time we started training this summer, they were as motivated a group as I’ve ever had.”
Calvert Hall’s Charlie Dance (16:17.98) ran third overall and Ryan Connelly (16:56.61) placed 10th, but it was not enough match the Dons and send the Cardinals to their third consecutive title.
Mount St. Joseph (84 points) finished in third place and had Drew Clark (8th, 16:52.88) and Tony Boscolo (9th, 16:53.87) each claim a top 10 finish. In addition, Gilman’s Pieter Heesters placed 5th (16:32.20), leading his team to fourth place in the team standings.
2021 MIAA A CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM RESULTS
1. Loyola Blakefield – 30
2. Calvert Hall – 47
3. Mount St. Joseph – 84
4. Gilman – 99
5. St. Paul’s – 154
6. McDonogh – 155
7. Archbishop Spalding – 156
8. Archbishop Curley – 168
2021 MIAA A CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
The MIAA B Conference race turned into a barn burner between Severn and Boys’ Latin for the team crown, as the Admirals edged the Lakers, 61-64, while Park’s Noah Cyr (17:29.82) pulled away for a comfortably 20-second victory for the individual title.
To win the championship Severn had to overcome Boys’ Latin’s lead pack of Liam McClure (17:56.72), Sam Makris (18:04.66) and Owen Reid (18:09.07), who finished second, third and fourth, respectively. The Admirals, however, placed all five of the scorers among the first 19 finishers, while BL’s final two scorers came in at 25 and 27. That proved to be just enough for Severn.
Eric Maltz (6th, 18:16.19), Jamison Wildt (8th, 18:28.08) and Timothy Wright (11th, 18:44.42) paced the Admirals.
John Carroll’s Andrew Brown (17:49.29) was the second place finisher in the B Conference and teammate Jackson Holschugh (10th, 18:38.45) also cracked the top 10. Park’s Alex Norbrook (7th, 18:25.63) joined Cyr in the top 10 for the Bruins (83 points) as they finished fourth in the team standings.
Annapolis Area Christian’s Eric Johnson (9th, 18:29.58) also finished in the top 10.
2021 MIAA B CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM RESULTS
1. Severn – 61
2. Boys’ Latin – 64
3. John Carroll – 74
4. Park – 83
5. St. Mary’s – 108
6. Glenelg Country – 134
7. Annapolis Area Christian – 143
2021 MIAA B CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Any cross country coach will tell you that the best way to win a race is to keep your lead runners in bunch. Well, Friends School followed that formula to perfection in Monday’s MIAA C Conference Cross Country Championship race at Maryland Agriculture Center and Farm Park in Cockeysville, as the Quakers routed the field and took home the championship.
The Quakers had all five of their scorers cross the finish line consecutively, in places three thru seven to total just 25 points. The next closest team was Key School with 101 points.
Placing third for friends was Ronald Handwerk, who ran 18:16.20. He was followed by teammates Sam Pate (4th, 18:44.15), Mason Shrive (5th, 18:56.40), Hudson Weber (6th, 18:58.08) and Arturo Guallar-Blasco (7th, 19:05.04). Just for good measure, Friends’ 6th finisher also cracked the top 10 as Chris Davis placed 10th in 19:37.45).
Key’s Andrew Nolan was an easy individual winner, taking the championship with a time of 17:11.48. St. Vincent Pallotti’s Caleb Tenney (17:46.46) was second. Also in the top 10 were Beth Tfiloh’s Elan Vogelstein (8th, 19:18.56) and Chapelgate Christian’s Alex Lawler (9th, 19:37.21).
2021 MIAA C CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM RESULTS
1. Friends School – 25
2. Key School – 101
3. Beth Tfiloh – 109
4. Chapelgate Christian – 132
5. St. Vincent Pallotti – 147
6. Jemicy – 169
7. St. John’s Catholic Prep – 183
8. Saints Peter & Paul – 183
9. Gerstell – 194
10. Indian Creek – 223
11. Concordia Prep – 284
2021 MIAA C CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
