One of the closest Carroll Cup races in its 14-year history will likely also go down as one of the most peculiar.
The absence of spring sports turned this year’s chase for the Cup into a two-leg event, and Century High School clipped rival Liberty by 1.5 points to retain the chalice.
The Carroll Cup is awarded each year by the Carroll County Times to the school that accumulates the most points based on regular-season standings in each varsity sport. Points are given based on order of finish in the standings, with six for first place, five for second place, and so on in descending order (ties are broken, if possible, based on head-to-head results).
Bonus points are awarded for any regional or state championships won.
Century finished with 65.5 points between the fall and winter seasons, with Liberty coming in second at 64 points. The Knights totaled 22.5 points during the winter to the Lions’ 21, which gave them the Cup title after being tied through the fall at 43-43.
Century claimed its ninth Carroll Cup overall, and third in four seasons, without piling up a bunch of county championships. The Knights won one Carroll County Athletic League crown in the fall, and three in the winter.
But consistency prevailed ― they had runner-up and third-place finishes in the county standings for many sports, along with bonus points for regional and state championships ― and athletic director Randy Pentz said that’s the goal every year.
“I can never leave out the strength of our community, and I say our community ... runs from Liberty all the way to South Carroll,” said Pentz, who also praised Century’s coaches and athletes for what they do on the playing fields. “The strength and the commitment from the parents, and what they’re willing to do for their kids. That’s important.”
Pentz’s first school year as Century’s AD was 2006-07, which was also the first for the Carroll Cup. Plenty of success has followed, but Pentz said while he’s pleased to be keeping the Carroll Cup in Eldersburg, he’s also thinking about the county’s plight when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic knocking out spring sports.
“I want to say two-thirds is better than nothing ... but I would have rather had a spring season be included in the overall [Cup] standings,” Pentz said. “Just for the sake of all Carroll County athletes, and especially our seniors. You have to have big feelings for all of those athletes who didn’t have a spring season.”
Century won a CCAL title in boys basketball this winter — the Knights’ fifth in seven seasons — and had a boys-girls sweep at the county indoor track meet, the school’s first in five years.
Liberty took second in the winter standings with 21 points behind a county runner-up finish in girls basketball and a third place in boys basketball, and also added a pair of bonus points from those programs — the teams each won Class 2A West Region 1 titles, the boys’ first regional crown in school history and the girls’ first in a decade.
South Carroll was third this winter with 20.5 points, followed by Westminster (20), Manchester Valley (15.5), Winters Mill (six), and Francis Scott Key (3.5).
The Owls placed third in the overall Cup standings with 51 points, with the Cavaliers finishing fourth (47) and the Mavericks fifth (28.5). Westminster was third after the fall season with 31 points, followed by South Carroll (26.5) and Winters Mill (17.5).
Century secured its lone fall county title in girls soccer, but finished second in boys soccer, field hockey, and volleyball, and third in boys and girls cross country, golf, and football. Plus, the Knights garnered six bonus points along the way — two apiece for its boys soccer and volleyball regional and state titles, and two more for girls soccer and field hockey regional crowns.
Century won the inaugural Carroll Cup in 2007, and reeled off five straight from 2010-14. The Knights added another Cup in 2017 and won again last year. Liberty won in 2015 and 2016, Westminster won its only Carroll Cup in 2018, and North Carroll claimed titles in 2008 and 2009.
“It does bring a certain sense of excitement, from season to season to season,” said Pentz, who posts newspaper clippings on a bulletin board with the school’s athletic hallway adjacent to the gymnasium for Century’s athletes to follow.
“The kids read all of this, and it is exciting. ... It just shows you the strength of Carroll County in the state of Maryland, in most of our programs. People know Carroll County.”