[Baltimore Sun] Anne Arundel County championships: Every winner from Saturday’s showcase
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The AACPS Showcase, featuring six varsity county championships, took place in its second year at Annapolis High on Saturday. Below are stories recapping each.
This article will be updated.
Boys cross country
Old Mill’s Tsedeke Jakovics and Southern’s Eric Penkala moved to the front of the pack right off the starting line, and those two standouts ran shoulder-to-shoulder for approximately two miles.
Jakovics made his move on the steep hill located in the woods of the Annapolis High course, accelerating during the incline just past the 2-mile mark.
Penkala was unable to respond and Jakovics pulled away to win with a time of 15 minutes, 51.52 seconds on the 3.2-mile course. It was a powerful performance for Jakovics, a senior who has been battling illness.
“I came in here a little bit sick and took a bunch of medicine to feel better,” Jakovics said. “I knew I had to be conservative in the first mile and a half. I wanted to conserve my energy as best I could. It was a very chill first mile. … I think I heard 5:03 when we came through.”
Penkala crossed the line inside the Annapolis High stadium in 16:12.49, almost exactly 21 seconds behind Jakovics.
“I felt pretty good going up the hill so I started to open up the gap. When I got to the part where it keeps inclining, that’s where I really made my move.”
Jakovics finished third at last year’s Anne Arundel County Championships because he kicked too soon and ran out of gas, getting passed by Arundel’s Zaiden Lane and Penkala.
“I just had to be really patient in this race. I’ve been learning how to be patient when it comes to cross country. I’m just a lot smarter at racing,” Jakovics said.
Senior Cooper Alahverdian finished fifth to lead an impressive team-wide performance by the Severna Park boys. Senior Caden Lazzor took seventh for the Falcons, who posted a low score of 54 points — a whopping 58 better than runner-up Crofton.
Boys Team Results
1, Severna Park, 54; 2, Crofton 112; 3, Old Mill, 84
Boys Individual Results
1, Tsedeke Jakovics (OM), 15:51.52; 2, Eric Penkala (SO), 16:12.49; 3, Owen Infante (SR), 16:23.92; 4, Campbell Gelineau (CR), 16:31.98; 5, Cooper Alahveridan (SP), 16:36.78
Girls cross country
Sophomore Josephine Kamas led a one-two-three sweep as Severna Park put forth a powerful team performance in the girls’ race.
Kamas outkicked teammate Kathryn Murphy at the finish to capture the individual championship with a time of 19 minutes, 26.07 seconds. Murphy, a junior and the defending county champ, finished almost 18 seconds later.
Freshman Lexi Fitzsimmons took third as Severna Park posted a remarkably low score of 15 points — 58 less than runner-up South River. Natalie Bowman and Jocelyn DiAngelo were fifth and sixth for the Falcons, who placed seven runners in the top 10.
“You can tell our team is really close. We train together all the time. When it comes time for race day, we all work together and whoever has the energy at the end finishes,” Kamas said.
Kamas said each team member has their strengths. Fitzsimmons is a strong starter so she led the pack of seven Falcons for the first mile or so. Murphy is strong on the hills so she moves to the front at that point.
“We literally work together until we can’t anymore than we break apart. Today, we stayed together for a really long time,” Kamas said. “It’s great that we all get to experience the happiness and joy of winning as a team. I’m thrilled to be the champ and I’m so proud of our team.”
Girls Team Scores
1, Severna Park, 15; 2, South River, 73; 3, Crofton, 81
Girls Individual Results
1, Josephine Kamas (SP), 19:26.07; 2, Kathryn Murphy (SP), 19:43.90; 3, Lexi Fitzsimmons (SP), 19:59.96; 4, Isabel Meadows-Soto (OM), 20:11.77; 5, Natalie Bowman (SP), 20:21.87
Cheerleading
The moment defending county champion Glen Burnie’s name was called, Meade cheerleading began to cry.
Cheerleaders in glittering black, silver and purple gripped each other’s hands so tightly, the blood left their fingers. Tears streamed down their cheeks. Some gasped, some laughed.
“You know when you can almost taste it, like when you’re about to have a great dinner and you can smell it? We had that,” coach Tierra Snowden said. “They was crying because that’s how hungry they were before they got to the mat. It was a hit.”
A half-point lifted the Mustangs over Glen Burnie, which only claimed its first county title a year ago and first state title a handful of years back.
“Knowing I beat Glen Burnie? I was just shocked,” junior Mala’khy Campbell said. “I didn’t know what happened.”
The Mustangs have never once heard their names called last at a county championship, let alone regionals or states. They’ve never gotten to experience the tension of waiting, the building excitement as team after team earned sixth, fifth, and so on.
Meade always accepted those placements with a grin, if it was lucky. Last fall, despite a strong start to a performance, a mid-routine injury took them out of the running. They advanced to regionals anyway, but not beyond.
“We’ve been underdogs for so many years,” Snowden said. “I’ve been doing this for eight years and we’ve never been first place. So to get here? My goal was to hit. And we hit!”
Everything Meade did seemed to cut through the air like a knife — its fliers soared, every word of its cheer could be heard.
Glen Burnie actually edged Meade on stunts and pyramid by 0.6 points and tosses, dance and cheer by 0.1. But it was the Mustangs’ jumps and tumbling that far and away separated them from the Gophers, 39.2 to 38.2.
Practicing recovery, Snowden said, earned them that near-perfect mark. They’d prepared for every possible error.
Meade will next compete in the 4A Regionals on Nov. 2 at APGFCU Arena in Harford County.
“We just gotta believe in ourselves,“ Campbell said. “And know anything is possible.”
Scores
Meade, 115.85; 2. Glen Burnie, 115.80; 3. Arundel, 113.70; 4. Chesapeake, 113.75; 5. Northeast, 110.95; 6. Broadneck, 110.85.
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