Smithsburg leaves no doubt as MPSSAA Class 1A girls track & field champion
LANDOVER, Md. -- If you need to know anything about the Smithsburg girls track and field team, it's this: The Leopards are not interested in second place.
So when they finished second in last year's MPSSAA Class 1A state team standings, there were no celebrations.
"They all remember the feeling of getting second last year, and we ran great. We just got beat," said Smithsburg coach Adam Rudy. "I remember getting the (runner-up) trophy, and the girls wanted nothing to do with it. They didn't want to be near it, didn't want to take a picture with it."
All they wanted was for a year to pass -- 361 days, to be exact -- to make it right in their eyes.
"Today, they really wanted to prove to themselves and everybody else that they were the best," Rudy said, "and they took care of business."
The Leopards got another trophy Thursday afternoon at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex. This time, they were all too happy to accept it.
Smithsburg finished with 112 points, easily outscoring runner-up Allegany (79) and third-place Western Tech (73), to secure the only thing that mattered to the Leopards: A championship.
"The goal was to go back to back (indoors and outdoors), and we knew it would be really special," said star sprinter Jenna Howe. "We worked really hard for it."
"This is the first time in school history any Smithsburg team has won indoor and outdoor (state titles), and the first time any team has won cross country, indoor and outdoor," Rudy said. "They made some history today, and I told them to leave no doubt out there."
State track day 1: North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine adds to her title collection
State track day 2: Boonsboro's Caroline Matthews is golden again
Smithsburg earns third relay gold
The Leopards punctuated their team title with the only gold medal-winning performance by a Washington County athlete or relay team on Thursday, setting a school record in the 4x400 relay. Grace Ellis gave Smithsburg the lead right from the start, and Taylor King, Kayla Hawbecker and Howe stayed out front for the win in 4:05.75.
"I really wanted to win the 4x400 because we won it last year," Ellis said. "I was stride for stride with about 150 meters to go (in the opening leg) when I got a burst of energy. That put the team in a great spot."
"Winning this is just a great way to end the meet and put us in great spirits," said King. "We knew we had what it takes, and we did it."
The Leopards won the 4x200 and 4x800 titles on Wednesday.
Howe earns a trio of silvers
Howe was on the track early and often on Thursday, and earned silver in each of her three individual events.
In the 100, she recovered from a bit of a slow start, accelerating to the line to finish in 12.57 seconds. That was significantly quicker than her 12.76 in the prelims the day before.
"My performance yesterday was not great, so I had to get in the right head space. Once I did that, I knew I'd be good," Howe said. "It's a lot better than yesterday, so I'll take that."
Next up for Howe, roughly an hour later, was the 400. She left everything she had on the track and claimed her second silver of the day with a personal record of 58.43. She then spent several minutes sprawled on the grass outside the track.
"I knew what I had to do. I had to go out really hard and finish really well," she said.
Howe had about a half-hour to recover for the 200, but that was long enough to find the energy to muster her third and final silver of the day, in 25.78.
"Jenna is the heart and soul of this team," Rudy said. "To score 24 individual points and then anchor that 4x400 relay to a school record, that's a really, really special day."
Stine, Gentzel earn silver in 1,600
North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine and Smithsburg's Cora Gentzel each finished second in their respective 1,600-meter runs Thursday.
Coming off a gold-medal performance in the Class 3A 3,200 on Tuesday, Stine ran a personal-best 4:57.55 in the 1,600 -- just 1.45 seconds off the Washington County record -- to add silver to her collection.
"This is the first time I've been competitive in the (1,600) at states," said Stine. "To finish second and get a PR is great."
Gentzel produced a strong finishing kick in the Class 1A race and also set a personal record while earning silver, clocking 5:19.14.
"The (1,600) is definitely my favorite in my heart," Gentzel said. "The 3,200 didn't go my way (Wednesday, when she finished sixth), so I wanted to step it up today to help get that state title."
Bronze for four county athletes
Four Washington County athletes earned bronze medals Thursday. They were:
Richard Sanon, Williamsport, 2A boys 110 hurdles, 15.02
Kayla Hawbecker, Smithsburg, 1A girls 1,600, 5:21.37
Kailyn McCauley, Clear Spring, 1A girls shot put, 33-9 1/2
Dana Hammond, Clear Spring, 1A girls high jump, 4-8
Making their points
Other place winners (top-eight finishers) were:
Taylor King, Smithsburg, fourth, 1A girls 300 hurdles, 48.67
Grace Ellis, Smithsburg, fourth, 1A girls 800, 2:22.03
Ryder Johnston, North Hagerstown, fourth, 3A boys 300 hurdles, 39.33
Daniel Apiou, Clear Spring, tied for fourth, 1A boys triple jump, 42-6
Kayla Hawbecker, Smithsburg, fifth, 1A girls 800, 2:22.71
Tyler Younker, Smithsburg, fifth, 1A boys 800, 2:00.13
Michaela Gross, Smithsburg, sixth, 1A girls 1,600, 5:32.97
Cora Gentzel, Smithsburg, sixth, 1A girls 800, 2:24.64
Nick Cullember, Clear Spring, sixth, 1A boys discus, 142-9
Caroline Matthews, Boonsboro, seventh, 1A girls 1,600, 5:33.69
South Hagerstown, seventh, 3A girls 4x100 relay (Wynter Cephus, Trinity Savage, Chloe Gietka and Jessica Franklin), 50.41
Leah Howe, Smithsburg, eighth, 1A girls 100 hurdles, 17.76
In addition, North Hagerstown's Rian Johnson ran the fastest time by a county girl since 2015 in the 800, placing ninth in 3A in 2:17.43. The Hubs' boys 4x400 relay team of Johnston, Nathan Silla, Sullivan McGreevy and Donovan Baldwin set a county record in 3:24.99, placing 10th in 3A.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Smithsburg's girls win MPSSAA Class 1A track & field team title
