Falcons, Bruins Among Best Of The Best At State Meet

Severna Park’s Knight, Broadneck’s Baluyot And Ahmar Win Individual Crowns; Lady Falcons Shine As A Team In Second-Place Finish

The Severna Park girls track and field team shined at the 4A state championship meet on February 20 as athletes from the Severna Park and Broadneck boys and girls squads had strong showings on Maryland’s biggest stage.

Qualifying for the state meet in any event is itself a tremendous accomplishment, and both schools sent sizable contingents of qualifiers to compete at the meet at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover. Severna Park had 11 girls and seven boys compete in the meet, while Broadneck was represented by nine boys and seven girls.

The Severna Park girls totaled 49 points to finish second out of 33 teams, only four points behind Walter Johnson’s winning score of 53.

PHOTO GALLERY: Severna Park, Broadneck track and field at 4A/3A state championships

Falcon junior Emily Knight met the lofty expectations preceding her by winning individual crowns in the both the 500 and 800. Knight repeated as indoor 4A champion in the 500 with a time of 1:15.74 and added the 800 championship to her resume by clocking a 2:20.11.

“I was really excited,” said Knight. “I felt pressure, since I won [the 500] last year, to do it again this year. I knew it was going to be a really hard race, and it was, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and my coaches pushing me and believing in me and knowing I could do it, and just making me better this whole season.”

Knight also anchored the Falcons’ 4x400 relay team that placed second, a unit that included Olivia Hubbart, Katie Soverns and Izzy Kintzley.

Kintzley placed fourth in the 500 to bank five points for the Falcons’ team score.

Other Lady Falcons having fine showings at the state meet included Sarah Adams and Catie Cambon. Adams placed second in pole vault by clearing 10 feet, 0 inches, earning eight big points for the Falcons. Cambon placed fifth in the 3200 and helped achieve a fourth-place finish on the Falcons’ 4x800 team that included Hubbart, Brenna Mullaney and Sophia Zell.

Abbi Jones competed in the 300 and finished 11th. Chloe MacDonald and Abigail Vandenberg qualified for the state meet in high jump and finished 21st and 23rd, respectively.

On the boys side, the Falcons finished 23rd and had several solid performances out of their contingent. Garrison Clark placed fourth in the 3200, while Sam Martin finished 10th and Jonah Lane finished 17th. Alexander Chaisson finished 11th in the 1600. The 4x800 team of Lane, William Reed, Martin and Chaisson placed seventh to earn two team points. The 4x400 relay team of Kyle Martin, Max Boettinger, Lane and Reed finished ninth.

The Broadneck boys placed seventh out of 31 teams, led by the field exploits of pole vaulter Jaren Baluyot and shot-putter Elian Ahmar.

Baluyot won an epic vault-off with Urbana’s Yuri Brunner that took over an hour to complete. The pair both cleared 13 feet, 0 inches but missed their attempts at 13 feet, 6 inches. The bar was progressively lowered as both jumpers missed multiple attempts at 13 feet, 3 inches and then again at 13 feet, 0 inches as fatigue took its toll. Baluyot finally cleared 12 feet, 6 inches on his 12th vault of the night to win the state championship, his fourth straight 4A title in pole vault dating back to the spring 2016 outdoor season.

Ahmar threw a whopping 56 feet, 9.5 inches on his second attempt to win shot put by almost a foot over runner-up Andrew Birgin of Walter Johnson.

The 4x800 team of Brady Morrissey, Brennan Shute, Jonah Svendsen and Spencer Tate placed sixth. The 4x400 team of Morrissey, Tate, Keegan Houser and Gage Moye finished 11th.

Tate finished 12th in the 1600. Benjamin Switzman competed in pole vault and cleared 11feet, 0 inches to finish ninth.

On the girls side, the Bruins got a typically stellar day from the Janke sisters. Olivia Janke was runner up in the 3200. Anna Janke scored seven total points by placing fourth in the 1600 and seventh in the 800. The 4x800 team of Anna Janke, Olivia Janke, Madison Palmer and Madeleine Hurley initially won the race by three hundredths of a second over South River before it was determined they executed a baton exchange illegally by overstepping the designated exchange area, and the team was disqualified.

Amanda Nash, Julia Cates and Jordan Rawlings all competed in pole vault and cleared 7 feet, 0 inches.

The Broadneck boys placed seventh as a team, and the Bruin girls were 11th.

PHOTO GALLERY: Severna Park, Broadneck track and field at 4A/3A state championships