It's no coincidence that the two standout distance runners — Hereford's Sarah Coffey and Milford Mill's Jordan Leon led their teams to victory at the Baltimore County indoor track and field championships Tuesday night at the Fifth Regiment Armory.
Coffey won the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races and she finished fifth in the 800 to help the Bulls to their ninth consecutive indoor track title.
“I’ve never coached anyone like him before,” said Milford Mill coach Sharon Johnson, who has coached half of her 35 years at Milford. “His work ethic is phenomenal and he makes everyone else work around him. They don’t have a choice.”
Leon ran 4:52.80 in the 1,600 and 10:06.80 in the 3,200.
Milford won the meet despite having just seven guys.
Travis Walker (500), Jonathan Johnson (300) and Orion Jones (55 dash) won sprint races for the Millers.
“We’ve got a lot of talent starting with the sprints, to what I’m running,” Leon said.
Milford Mill also won the 800 and 1,600 relays.
Catonsville's Sequan Smith won high jump and his teammate Ben Mansfield won pole vault.
Loch Raven's Bryan Howell won the 55 hurdles and the Dulaney relay team of Sean Smyth, Rex Ledesma, Elijah Hawkins and Andrew King won the 3,200.
While Coffey was the top performer for Hereford's girls, coach Brad Duval praised her, along with junior Alicia Kozlowski and senior Catie Denz.
“Without those three doing the events they did, we wouldn’t have been here. Those three are the superstars for this meet," said Duval, whose past teams have come to the county meet as prohibitive favorites. “This was the best one so far because I knew how close we would be with Milford."
Kozlowski and Denz were joined by freshman Kylie Nause and sophomore Hannah Ace on the victorious 3,200 relay squad (10:18.30).
Coffey knew it would be close so she never balked at running the 800 after winning the other races.
“Today is a team day so we want to win as a team and that’s all that mattered,"she said.
Hereford didn't have any other individual winners, but they scored points in high jump from Alexandra Butz (second), Emily Behan (fourth) and Anna Watt (fifth) and the pole vault with Hannah Boliek (second) Butz (third) and Mia Navarro (fifth).
Franklin's Nyjari McNeil (500 and 800) and Olivia Gruver (high jump and pole vault) and Milford's Yinka Alabi (55 dash and 55 hurdles) were double winners. Catonsville's Taylor Giles won shot put.
Boys results
55 dash: 1. Jones (MM), 6.67; 2. Johnson (Ken), 6.79: 3. Ramos (Ran), 6.85.
300: 1. Johnson (MM), 37.70; 2. Jackson (MM), 37.90; 3. Harris (WT), 38.40.
500: 1. Walker (MM), 1:10.20; 2. Wilkins (WT), 1:10.70; 3. Johnson (MM), 1:11.40.
800: 1. Leon (MM), 2:03.40; 2. Wilkins (WT), 2:03.60; 3. Walker (MM), 2:05.30.
1,600: 1. Leon (MM), 4:32.80; 2. Carvalho (Dul), 4:34.00; 3. Walz (Dul), 4:36.30.
3,200: 1. Leon (MM), 10:06.80; 2. King (Dul), 10:18.80; 3. Smyth (Dul), 10:29.40.
55 hurdles: 1. Howell (LR), 8.01; 2. Jones (Fra), 8.35; 3. Glenn (PH), 8.39.
800 relay: 1. Milford Mill, 1:37.70; 2. Randallstown, 1:38.90; 3. Owings Mills, 1:39.90.
1,600 relay: 1. Milford Mill, 3:39.20; 2. Western Tech, 3:44.30; 3. Pikesville, 3:45.60.
3,200 relay: 1. Dulaney, 8:51.90; 2. Hereford, 9:02.20; 3. Perry Hall, 9:10.40.
Shot put: 1. Mason (Fra), 49-06.25; 2. Delker (Cat), 49-04-50; 3. Nash (Her), 46-00.
Pole vault: 1. Mansfield (Cat), 12-0; 2. Huang (Dul), 11-0; 3. Madro (Dul), 10-0.
High jump: 1. Smith (Cat), 5-8; 2. Gardner (Woo), 5-6; 3. Madro (Dul), 5-6.
Girls scores (top 5):
1. Hereford, 91; 2. Milford Mill, 74; 3. Dulaney, 56; 4. Franklin 55.5; 5. Western Tech 23.
Results
55 dash: 1. Alabi (MM), 7.47; 2. Blackwell (Lan), 7.59; 3. Okeke (Tow), 7.60.
300: 1. Sharp (MM), 41.60; 2. Blackwell (Lan), 43.40; 3. Roney (Ran), 43.70.
500: 1. McNeil (Fra), 1:17.70; 2. Sharp (MM), 1:22.40; 3. Roney (Ran), 1:22.70.
800: 1. McNeil (Fra), 2:24.80; 2 Meek (Dul), 2:27.90; 3. Ciattei (PH), 2:30.10.
1,600: 1. Coffey (Her), 5:21.30; 2. Meek (Dul), 5:27.70; 3. Kozlowski, (Her), 5:31.50.
3,200: 1. Coffey (Her), 12:10.50. 2. Admiraal (Tow), 12:16.30; 3. Gaeng (Dul), 12:16.90.
55 hurdles: 1. Alabi (MM), 8.62; 2. Robinson (Dul), 8.90; 3. Woodson (MM), 8.94.
800 relay: 1. Milford Mill, 1:49.00; 2. Western Tech, 1:50.70; 3. Dulaney, 1:52.90.
1,600 relay: 1. Western Tech, 4:15.00; 2. Dulaney, 4:17.30; 3. Milford Mill, 4:19.60.
3,200 relay: 1. Hereford, 10:18.30; 2. Dulaney, 10:21.40; 3. Perry Hall, 10:50.70.
Shot put: Giles (Cat), 36-02; 2 Murphy (Fra), 34-10,25; 3. Vasquez (Over), 30-11.25.
Pole vault: 1. Gruver (Fra), 12-6; 2. Boliek (Her), 10-6; 3. Butz (Her), 9-0.
High jump: 1. Gruver (Fra), 5-0; 2. Butz (Her), 4-10; 3. Gilbert (Fra), 4-10.