Twice Is Nice

Severna Park Girls Cross Country Repeats As State Champs

The Severna Park boys and girls cross country teams gathered to show off their plaques after finishing as state runners-up and champions, respectively, at Hereford High on November 7.

Posted Thursday, December 7, 2023 1:23 pm

What Severn School sophomore Emma Patrick achieved in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland cross county championships is no small feat.

Patrick, a Severna Park resident, won the IAAM B Conference’s 3.1-mile race in convincing fashion by running a blazing 18:14. That performance was more than a minute faster than runner-up Maddie Wassin of John Carroll.

Patrick’s time was so good that it beat A Conference winner and McDonogh School senior Mark Gorsky by 47 seconds.

Beating the time of an A Conference championship is an uncommon occurrence especially when considering this fall marked Patrick’s first time running cross country. The 5-foot-9 Patrick ran track as a freshman.

“She had a phenomenal season and improved throughout the year,” Severn School cross country coach Skip Sensbach said. “She has put in the time and effort to make herself the best she can be.”

By Tom Worgo

In his early years of coaching Severna Park High School’s boys and girls cross country teams, Joshua Alcombright would get anxious at the Maryland state championships.

He felt a lot of pressure.

“I was way too nervous,” Alcombright recalled.

Alcombright is calmer now at meets and the reason is summed up in one word: winning.

The Severna Park girls team captured their second straight state championship (3A this year; 4A last year) at Hereford High on November 7 while the boys team made a solid run at the title and finished second.

The Falcons’ boys team has won the state crown eight times since 2012, including five in a row from 2017 to 2022.

Severna Park (66 points) posted a convincing state win over Howard (119) this year.

“It’s good to see the girls in the spotlight,” Alcombright said of the girls titles. “It means a lot to us because the girls were in the shadows of the boys.”

Severna Park freshman Josephine Kamas paced the Falcons with a fourth-place finish and five of her teammates placed in the top 25 to lead them to the title.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to run with that bull’s-eye on your back,” Alcombright said. “They were the best team in the state all year.”

Kamas, who had no running experience before high school, started the season on the junior varsity team, but Alcombright quickly promoted her to varsity.

Once there, she moved from No. 6 to No. 1 by the end of the season.

Kamas, who finished third in the county championships, ran a 19:27.59 at states to place behind Great Mills winner Carter Brother (18:33.65), runner-up Claire Sivitz (19:01.29) of Howard and third-place finisher Lauren Stein 19:10.48 of Towson.

“She has a big engine in terms of aerobic capacity,” Alcombright said. “She learned a lot as the season went on. She realized she could run closer to our top two girls, and then at the state, said, ‘I can do this.’”

Severna Park’s other top performances came from sophomores Kathryn Murphy (14th; 10:56.85) and county champion Jocelyn DiAngelo (15th; 19:56.10) and seniors Kaylee Jenish (23rd; 20:41.69) and Madison Davis (27th; 20.58.64).

The group guided the Falcons to their third state championship since 2018.

“Last year was a surprise that we won,” Jenish said. “This year, we just wanted to carry on the program’s tradition.”

On the boys side, Severna Park senior Jarvis Taylor (16:18.58) finished third at states behind Towson winner Kieran Mischke (15:50.10) and runner-up Joey Ensor (16:00.38) of Howard.

“He was our number-one runner for all or a majority of the season,” Alcombright said of Taylor, a second-place regional finisher. “At the end of the season, he really started to make his presence known statewide. He did his job at states and just got beat by two really good runners.”

The Falcons’ other top finishers who helped them to second place overall (97 points) behind Towson (72) were juniors Caden Lazzor (11th; 16:41), Cooper Alahuerdian (25th; 17:04.11) and Leo Havens (33rd; 17:21.73) and sophomore Ty Maddox (22nd; 17:03.13).