They did it in different ways, one with a bevy of top finishers in the distance events and the other behind overwhelming strength in the relays and hurdles, but for the River Hill girls and the Mt. Hebron boys the final results were as similar as they come.

Both squads utilized their strengths and managed to spread out the rest of their points well enough to roll to comfortable victories at the Howard County championships May 7 and 8 at Long Reach High School. River Hill's girls posted 110 points to win by 24.5; Mt. Hebron's boys finished with 97.5 points, 26.5 ahead of second place.

It was quite the turnaround from last spring for both teams, as neither finished better than eighth at last year's county championship meet. For complete results from this year, see High School Wrap-up.

"Everything started for us during indoor when we won our first county championship there, and it's carried right over to outdoor," said River Hill coach Earl Lauer, who actually predicted his team would score 109 points beforehand. "Everyone will talk about (Anna) Demaree and (Katie) Harman, but it was the others chipping in big chunks here and there that made the difference."

It was the same story for Mt. Hebron, which was coming off its own indoor county title.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but there was definitely some confidence from indoor," Mt. Hebron coach Tony Bell said. "The biggest thing is they felt like they've been there before. We had an injury and a (disqualification), which meant we didn't get some points we thought we would, but other guys stepped up so we didn't miss a beat."

River Hill's Demaree shines

On the girls' side, no one had a better two days than River Hill freshman Anna Demaree. She kicked things off by winning the 3,200-meter run in 11 minutes, 36.72 seconds, a time that was three seconds better than her teammate Katie Harman. She also was a member of the River Hill 4x800 relay that finished first.

The following day, Demaree used a quick start in the 1,600 to again edge Harman, this time by less than a second.

"I have to have a good start, like go out faster than I usually do to get in good position," said Demaree, who crossed the line in 5:12.58 in the 1,600. "I'm better at staying ahead than trying to catch people."

A rough start, however, didn't deter Demaree in the 800. After initially getting caught on the inside and falling toward the back, she quickly moved to the outside and pulled into first by the 300-meter mark. She went on to win her fourth gold medal of the meet in a time of 2:23.39.

"She's still only 14 years old, so I don't want to put too much pressure on her, but the potential is there. She could very well be the best girl to ever come out of this county by the time she graduates," Lauer said.

Harman followed up her pair of second-place efforts with a third in the 800 and Dorehn Coleman had a breakout meet of her own, finishing second in the 200 and 400 dashes and third in the 100. Other key contributors for the Hawks were Lauren Knauff (second in the 100 hurdles) and Ryann Dannelly (third in the high jump).

"You can't go into a meet one dimensional, and more than any other year we've developed the non-distance events," Lauer said. "We got some points in areas that River Hill doesn't traditionally get points."

Howard's girls proved the importance of depth by garnering only a single first-place finisher, yet still finishing second with 85.5 points.

The team's 4x400 team won with a time of 4:09.30, and the other three relay squads came in second. Elyse Borisko, who finished third in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Meredith Mill, who finished second in the 800, fourth in the 1,600 and fifth in the 3,200, led the Lions' distance efforts. Tiffany Bonner (third in the discus) and Dana Perry (third in the triple jump and fourth in the high jump) had solid meets as well.

Long Reach's Funmi Alabi won the 100 and 200 dashes, in addition to also helping the Lightning 4x100 relay team capture gold. Alabi's teammate, Aneesha Scott, won the 400. Wilde Lake's Shianna Smith was a multi-event winner as well, capturing titles in the shot put and discus.

Other meet winners included Wilde Lake's Christina Johnson (100 hurdles), Marriotts Ridge's Ali Green (300 hurdles) and Jocelyn Henline (pole vault), Mt. Hebron's Eryn Donaldson (high jump), Oakland Mills' Gabrielle Barnes (long jump) and Atholton's Danielle Gibson (triple jump) and Tatyana McFadden (200 and 400 wheelchair events).

Mt. Hebron boys step it up

In the boys' team competition, Mt. Hebron's Jackson Jordan set the bar for the Vikings in the 110 and 300 hurdles events, taking first with times of 15.09 and 40.14 seconds, respectively. And while those 20 points were big, Bell said it was the depth in those events that was even bigger.

"Jackson did what we expected, but Josh (Bair) and Brad (Tucker) were what really helped us rack up the points," he said. "If Brad doesn't get disqualified in the 110, then we have three guys in the top four in both hurdle races. Still we are talking over 30 points in two events."

Bair placed third in the 300 and fourth in the 110 hurdles, while Tucker took fourth in the 300. Mt. Hebron also built its cushion in the relays, taking first in the 4x200 and 4x400, while also taking second in the 4x800. Add in a second place showing by Sean McCarthy in the 400 and a second-place effort by Jerrell Jones in the triple jump and the runaway victory was underway.

The Vikings actually could have done even better had it not been for a first-day knee injury to Dijoun Davis that kept him out of the high jump, triple jump and 4x100 relay.

Second-place Hammond (71 points) had its fair share of success stories as well. Nate Gant was one of three athletes on the boys' side to win more than one event, as he took first in the long jump and 100 dash, while also finishing second in the 200. Gant said the long jump, where he posted a distance of 21-00.50, was the event he wanted the most.

"I've been jumping most of my life and I think that's why it matters a little more to me," Gant said. "It wasn't my best jump this year, I did 22 during indoor, but I was happy."

Gant's teammate, Phillip Moorehead, who had previously been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the fourth meet of the indoor season, turned heads as well. Running in only his second race this spring, Moorehead crossed the line in 50.11 seconds to win the 400 dash.

"The doctor was actually saying that I probably wasn't going to be able to run the whole spring, so I was pretty depressed," Moorehead said. "But then somehow my hamstring just started getting better and everything was way ahead of schedule. It just makes you appreciate the sport so much more. Win or lose, just being out here again was an amazing feeling."

In the distance events, Atholton's Graham Bazell started things off on Wednesday by winning the 3,200 in 9:32.24, which was 13 seconds ahead of Howard's Joey Thompson.

The next day, however, belonged to Thompson, who later admitted that he was worried about being burned out and having nothing left after rigorous cross country and indoor seasons. His winning times of 1:58.78 in the 800 and 4:18.86 in the 1,600, however, proved otherwise.

"I was hoping to win, but I was kind of setting myself up mentally for a loss, especially after Graham ran 4:19 last week," said Thompson regarding the 1,600. "I knew I was going to need something special to beat him today and I wasn't really sure if I had it in me. But I felt good and once I passed him after the third lap I knew I had it."

Long Reach came in third with 62 points, led by Obi Ukwuoma's first-place finish in the 200, Alvin Thomas winning the shot put and its 4x100 relay team taking gold.

Other winners included Wilde Lake's Marquese Pratt (high jump) and Brian Severson (pole vault), River Hill's Adam Davis (triple jump), Centennial's Jake Robbins (discus) and Howard's Ben Newman (200 wheelchair event).

E-mail Brent Kennedy at bkennedy@patuxent.com.

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