Park Track And Field Girls Are Winter County Champs Once Again

This year’s county championship for the Severna Park girls indoor track and field team was by no means a foregone conclusion.

Competing on January 21 at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex, the Falcons trailed late in the meet, with Arundel in the lead and strong teams from Annapolis and Broadneck lurking in contention. The Lady Falcons needed points in their final two events — triple jump and pole vault — to overtake the Wildcats and win.

They got what they needed. Claire Kintzley took third in triple jump, netting 6 team points, and Sarah Adams won her third straight county crown in pole vault to claim 10 points and push the Falcons to the title.

The Lady Falcons (94.5 points) topped the Wildcats (87.5) to win their fourth consecutive indoor county crown, while Severna Park’s boys placed third behind Arundel and South River.

“I am super proud of all my teammates on both the boys and girls sides,” said Adams, a senior and three-time pole vault county champion. “This was the girls fourth consecutive team county title, which is amazing. I’m happy that I was able to get those 10 points in vault and proud of Claire for getting those last winning points in triple to secure another championship for Severna Park.”

Browse high-resolution prints and downloads of photos in this gallery. Photos by Colin Murphy

Adams cleared 10 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault finals to win the event. The 4x800 relay team of Grace Cambon, Cara Vandemeulebroecke, Caroline Gage and Brenna Mullaney won the race in 10:01.36 to claim another single-event county title.

The Falcons’ winning day was fortified by a slew of strong performances. Mullaney placed third in the 500-meter dash. Mullaney, Sophia Zell and Kelsie O’Neill finished 5-6-7 in the 800. Zell, Alyssa Combs and O’Neill went 5-6-7 in the 1600. Zell was fourth in the 3200, Cambon was fifth and Vandemeulebroecke was seventh. Adams took fourth in the 55-meter hurdles. Kintzley, in addition to taking third in triple jump, tied for fifth in high jump and placed fifth in long jump for a total of 13.5 team points. Rebecca Praley placed third in shot put, and Molly Meyers was fifth. Janice Chukwu placed seventh in the 300-meter dash.

On the boys side, Carson Sloat was a county champion for the Falcons, winning the 1600 in 4:24.17. Sloat, Jake Gelfand and Jack Muldoon swept the podium in the event, finishing 1-2-3.

“I’m super proud to win this event because I only started running the 1600 last spring and really didn’t have all that much experience with the event,” said Sloat. “Sweeping the event with two of my best friends was also an amazing experience because we’ve been running together for so long, and we’ve been friends for longer. I know this is something we would have never thought about doing two years ago, but we have all worked so hard, and we now see it paying off. We constantly push each other at practice, taking turns pacing the group in workouts and supporting each other as the reps get harder. I think that is what makes our team so successful: everyone wants to work hard and push their teammates to work hard too.”

Like their girl counterparts, the Severna Park boys 4x800 relay team of James Dennison, Eddie Sullivan, Nick Engleman and Colin Mullaney also claimed the county championship in the event.

Sloat also placed second in the 800, in which Muldoon and Engleman placed third and seventh, respectively. Dennison was third in the 3200, while Philip Bansemer and James Glebocki were fifth and sixth, respectively. James Henson placed fourth in the 300, fifth in the 55-meter dash and sixth in long jump for a total of 12 team points. Adam McLean was seventh in the 55-meter hurdles. John Tyler was second in high jump, clearing 6 feet. Matthew Tagle was seventh in pole vault. Brauch Murray was fifth in shot put.

Adams lauded the team’s work ethic and support of each other.

“Winning counties four years in a row doesn’t come easy, and I know that everyone (including the boys) works so hard for each other at practice and at meets,” said Adams. “Severna Park’s track program has been so successful because we have great coaches, depth, and a well-rounded team that’s able to score in almost all the events.”

Broadneck’s girls finished fourth and the Bruin boys took fifth. On the girls side, Anna Janke was county champion in the 1600. On the boys side, Joe Simpson was county champion in shot put, throwing 49 feet, 9 inches.

Browse high-resolution prints and downloads of photos in this gallery. Photos by Colin Murphy