North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine wins state gold indoors in 3,200

Daniel Kauffman, The Herald-Mail

LANDOVER, Md. — With four laps to go in a tightly contested Class 3A girls 3,200-meter run during the MPSSAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday, River Hill's Lauren Virmani moved past North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine to take the lead.

It reminded Stine of a similar move Virmani made past her a year ago en route to a state title in the same event.

"I got a little stressed out when that happened," Stine said. "I didn't want a gap to form because that's what happened last year. I wanted to stay within striking distance and give myself a chance to close it down."

North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine (1) and River Hill's Lauren Virmani race side by side during the Class 3A girls 3,200 during the MPSSAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Stine won in 11:03.58, with Virmani second in 11:07.93.
North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine (1) and River Hill's Lauren Virmani race side by side during the Class 3A girls 3,200 during the MPSSAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Stine won in 11:03.58, with Virmani second in 11:07.93.

Stine, a junior, had more in the tank than Virmani on the closing lap, surging back into the lead and pulling away to win by more than 4 seconds for her first career state indoor gold medal, clocking 11:03.58.

Earlier this month in the 3A West championships, Stine set the Washington County indoor record in the 3,200 in 10:58.60, becoming the first county girl to break 11 minutes indoors.

"This season, I definitely put in more work than I ever have before," said Stine, who also won 3,200 state gold outdoors last year, when she clocked her personal record of 10:54.42. "I'm taking every practice as seriously as every meet."

Stine, Virmani, Great Mills' Carter Brotherton (third in 11:11.15) and Severna Park's Jocelyn DiAngelo (fourth in 11:14.25) ran in a pack for much of the race, with Stine leading the majority of the laps.

"I knew it was going to be fast and that everybody could maintain a solid pace," Stine said. "With four laps to go I really tried to put it all out there. I had to be ready for any move and ready to respond when it did happen."

Back to back! Smithsburg's girls repeat as Maryland Class 1A indoor track & field champions

Williamsport's Richard Sanon finished second in the Class 2A boys 55-meter hurdles in 7.89 seconds.
Williamsport's Richard Sanon finished second in the Class 2A boys 55-meter hurdles in 7.89 seconds.

Williamsport junior Richard Sanon and South Hagerstown senior Riley Troxell earned state silver, and North Hagerstown sophomore Walker Mason went home with state bronze on Wednesday.

Sanon lowered his personal record in the boys 55 hurdles to 7.89 seconds in the Class 2A final. But he failed to get over both the first and the last hurdle clean, and the second stumble was especially costly as Huntingtown's Xavier Dailey beat him to the line in 7.84 seconds to claim the gold.

"I'm disappointed," Sanon said. "I feel like I need to work harder because I didn't reach my goal."

In the Class 3A girls pole vault, Troxell made it look easy as she cleared 10 feet, 3 inches without any misses in the competition to that point. She missed her three attempts at 10-9, which would have been a personal record, and settled for silver as Oakdale's Lillian Schultz soared over 11-9 for gold.

"I'm very happy," said Troxell. "I'm trying out new poles, bigger poles, longer lengths. Coach (Sam) Shipley says big things are coming. I'll keep working for outdoors. Eleven feet is the goal."

North Hagerstown's Walker Mason finished third in the Class 3A boys 3,200 in 9:49.65.
North Hagerstown's Walker Mason finished third in the Class 3A boys 3,200 in 9:49.65.

In the Class 3A boys 3,200, Mason executed a near-perfect race. He tucked in along the rail among the lead pack of six or seven competitors for several laps, and as the race started splitting apart late, he made his move up into third, where he finished in a personal-record 9:49.65. His performance ranks eighth in county history indoors, and No. 1 by a sophomore.

"Just the other week (in practice) we were doing 800-meter repeats and hammering the last lap hard. That feeling really helped me out today," said Mason.

"I don't think it's that big a deal," he added of his accomplishments. "There's so many people ahead of me. There's still work to be done."

Other Washington County place-winners Wednesday were:

  • North Hagerstown's girls 4x800 relay (Rian Johnson, Anna Chamberlin, Jayla Kaplan and Ella Hajel), Class 3A, sixth in 10:06.89.

  • North Hagerstown's Ryder Johnston, Class 3A boys 55 hurdles, seventh in 7.89.

  • North Hagerstown's Kalel Salifou, Class 3A boys high jump, tied for seventh with a leap of 5 feet, 10 inches.

  • South Hagerstown's Jack Rhodes, Class 3A boys shot put, eighth with a throw of 41 feet.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Stine, Sanon, Troxell, Mason win medals in state indoor track & field

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