Calvert girls win 2A South cross country meet; Rams boys finish ninth

By TAMMY SHOWALTER

Staff writer

It is possible to overcome the odds and Calvert’s girls cross country team has done that, with the help of junior Courtney Mattson and some well-received freshmen varsity runners.

Oakland Mills High School in Columbia was the place to be on Friday afternoon for the Class 2A South Region cross country championships as Calvert captured its third straight girls team championship on Friday with 36 points.

Patuxent finished fourth with 110 points. Lackey finished 10th with 293 points.

A foot injury made Mattson unavailable to compete for quite a while, but she made a statement in Columbia.

Mattson placed third overall, first in the conference and first for Calvert, with a time of 19 minutes 45.05 seconds, a personal best this year for her.

“Going in, I knew that I wasn’t at my best this year, but I did feel good,” Mattson said.

Mattson said that although she is a self-motivator she did have some fear.

“At first, I was scared that I wouldn’t get back, but I learned that yes, it is hard work, but it’s doable, it is possible [to recover].” Mattson said.

Mattson will get one final run coming Saturday at the state championships at Hereford High School in Parkton.

“My goal this year is to do good or better than last year and I finished eighth,” Mattson said. “I want to do the same or improve. I don’t want to do worse.”

Calvert head cross country coach John Major said each time he saw Mattson come around the course she had a big smile on her face.

“That told me she’s back,” Major said.

Major said his team is ready for states. With Calvert’s girls soccer team still alive in the 2A playoffs, he may be down a couple runners, but said he’s very optimistic about the race.

“We should be deep enough [with numbers],” Major said. “We were missing a couple for regionals and still came through. We had four freshmen in the top six for the girls. I think this is the first race where Courtney has felt good all year. She was in her racing shoes for the first time at practice last week.”

Calvert’s Elizabeth Hite finished fifth, second for Calvert in 20:03.43. Hannah Aris placed sixth (20:03.93). Patuxent’s Rachel Herzog finished 10th overall, first for the Panthers, in 20:42.76.

McDonough’s top runner was sophomore Rachel Elmore (23:20.81) and Lackey’s top finisher was senior Jessiree Elder (24:49.30).

For the boys, it was Marriotts Ridge of Howard County that won the meet with 52 points. Patuxent finished third overall with 80 points. Calvert took home fifth with 146 points and McDonough finished ninth with 265 points.

Patuxent sophomore Trent Herzog won the boys meet in 16:57.04.

Patuxent’s second boy to cross the line was junior Noah Oster in 17:58.99. Adam Oster finished third for the Panthers (18:17.85).

Sophomore Jordan Blankenship finished first for Calvert, 12th overall, in 18:04.64.

McDonough’s top runner was sophomore Kyle Thompson (19:00.65) and Chauncey Beatty finished second for the Rams in 20:54.15. Freshman Cyle Martin was Lackey’s top runner with a time of 21:16.80.

tshowalter@somdnews.com