Numbers were down for the Catonsville High girls outdoor track team this spring, but the attitudes were up for the young squad that will only get better after not sending any athletes to the Maryland State Track and Field Championships this weekend.
The Comets scored just four points in the stacked Class 4A North Region meet and they placed 12th among 12 teams.
Those points were scored by junior Lucy Delker in discus, where she finished fifth with a throw of 86-feet, 9 inches.
Only the top four finishers in the region advance to the states, but if Delker keeps making strides she will be there next year.
Delker is the sister of 2015 Catonsville High graduate Zach Delker, who finished first in the Class 4A outdoor state championship meet in shot put last spring and third in discus.
"She (Lucy) is somebody who works exceptionally hard," Catonsville coach Sandra Gallagher-Mohler said. "She learned by example from her brother, but she has carved it out as a sport for herself."
Delker narrowly missed scoring a point in shot put, but her ninth-place finish (29-10) was one place short.
"She is not living in Zach's shadow," Gallagher-Mohler said. "She is making a name for herself and she really cares about it. She's ready to do great things. She definitely has the work ethic."
Delker's top discus throw last year was 80-feet, 9 inches, but she set her personal record this season with a throw of 93-feet, 10 inches in her first meet on March 21.
Another strong addition to the girls team was sophomore Marshae Moore, who was 16th in the 400 meters (1:08.48). She also ran the 100 meters and placed 13th in the preliminaries.
"We expected this year to be a rebuilding year and an opportunity to set the tone for who we are, so on the girls side our numbers are small, but we are really excited to build around Marshae," Gallagher-Mohler said. "She is a great kid. She trained with the boys all year. She has so much talent and we are just going to keep building her up."
They can also build on freshmen distance runners Eva White (13th, 6:01.77) and Sharon Kalb (14th 6:07.97) and junior Caroline Tippett (6:47. 41,) who all ran in the 1,600 meters and are also on the cross country team.
"On the girls side we are so young that we are making sure that they understand that even though the times that we ask them to run in varsity positions that they are building and this is a process," Gallagher-Mohler said. "This is not something that happens overnight. It's not something that happens in a year."
With the low numbers, the runners often find themselves isolated in their training.
They have been training on their own a lot," Gallagher-Mohler said. "We don't have a lot of depth this year so it's a lot to ask to make sure you are hitting your paces and hitting your times when there is nobody around you. We are looking to enhance that through our cross country athletes and additional athletes that come out just for track."
Catonsville boys 10th
Junior thrower Everett Miller scored eight of the 13 points for the Comets, who finished 10th in the Class 4A North Region track meet held at Sherwood High.
Miller was the only Comet who will compete in the state championship meet at Morgan State University on May 28.
Miller qualified with a fourth-place throw in shot put (41-feet, 2 inches) at the regional meet. He was sixth in discus (111-2).
"He has definitely made a big improvement," Gallagher-Mohler said. "I think he also has time to really devote to it, to really learning technique and he identified himself as a thrower now and he takes it seriously. He's worked on strength and a lot of skill work."
Also scoring in regionals for the Comets were junior Graham Strzelecki, seventh in the 3,200 meters (10:19.29), and senior Halim Joseph, who was eighth (10:25.71).
Both set personal records.
"When you know that Dulaney can go 1-2-3 and that Howard is seeded 4 and 5, with any potential for Sherwood or Paint Branch to hop in there, it's demanding," Gallagher Mohler said of the race won by Dulaney's Eric Walz, who was followed by Lion teammates Elijah Hawkins and Andrew King. "We went into that race saying we are going to run smart. We are not going to let the race dictate our race class and if the opportunity presents itself you go hard and you go after it, but we were looking for personal bests."
Sophomore Drew Nicolaus was 21st in the 1,600 meters.
Senior Shaun Miller was 13th in the 800 (2:09.60) and Joseph (2:12.42) was 17th.
"Shaun and Halim are going to be huge losses for the team, not only with leadership, but a lot of leading by example and a really great work ethic," Gallagher-Mohler said.
Junior Ken'yon Webb scored two points in the 110 hurdles with a seventh-place finish (16:37).
Sophomore Timothy Huynh was 19th in the 300 hurdles.
In the individual 400, Miller was ninth (53.53) and sophomores Joe Capka (20th) and Joseph Tsunami (25th) also ran.
The 400 relay squad of Webb and seniors Rodney Henderson, Elijah Rivera and Zaire Crosby narrowly missed scoring with their ninth-place finish (46.75).
"No one competed scared. That's not the culture we are teaching them and that's something to be proud of," Gallaher-Mohler said. "Everybody feels that they deserve to be there, they just need more time."