Fueled by senior Patrick Mozden’s sixth-place finish, Einstein (121 points) narrowly beat Churchill (126) and Whitman (128). When Coach Eric DaSilva saw numerous baby-blue checkered shorts near the front of the pack midway through, he knew his team was going to do what past teams thought wasn’t possible. As each Titans runner crossed the finish line, they huddled around one another, using all their math knowledge to try to figure out where they stood in the standings.
“They were the first group in my 17 years [of coaching] that said, ‘This is possible; we’re going to go for it,’ ” DaSilva said.
Einstein was not considered a true contender but had a clear strategy going in: place as many runners in the middle of the pack as possible by sticking together. It did just that as five runners finished in the top 45. The tightknit group also used its inconspicuous reputation as motivation.
“We weren’t on the radar, but we knew we should have been,” Mozden said.
The girls’ 4A race was also a close finish as Walter Johnson (70) narrowly beat Frederick (71). Despite Frederick having the individual winner, the Wildcats had three runners finish in the top 15: Megan Raue in fourth, Mirae Denaro in sixth and Carolyn Hultman in 13th.
There were no surprises in 3A as the Severna Park girls, last year’s 4A champs, coasted. With every runner donning a shirt that said “We > Me,” the Falcons’ stacked roster stayed true to the program’s mantra in a 53-point win over second-place Howard. Great Mills senior Carter Brotherton ran an 18-minute 33-second 5K to take home the individual championship.
On a Severna Park team loaded with talented runners, Saturday was Josephine Kamas’s turn to show out. The freshman placed fourth in 19:27. As has been the case all season, Severna Park’s depth was its main theme.
Also, the Falcons’ boys’ team placed second (87) behind Towson (72).
“It’s really nice to see [the girls’ team] where we were, just to have the program be great on both sides,” 11th-place finisher Caden Lazzor said.
Severna Park is a team with no single star, but Howard introduced a pair of runners to the state cross-country scene at Hereford. The Lions had second-place finishers in the 3A girls’ and boys’ meets: Freshman Claire Sivitz ran 19:01, and senior Joey Ensor finished in 16:00.
Sivitz came on late in the year, but even she didn’t expect to run as well as she did, nor did her coach.
“I was speechless; it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that happened,’ ” Courtney Mann said.
The host team, Hereford (65), secured the 2A girls’ title, edging Centennial (67). Century freshman Taylor Colson finished in 18:51 to secure the individual championship.
The Centennial boys’ team took home the 2A championship, with David Herzberger placing fifth. Southern junior Eric Penkala won the individual race in 15:47.