Nearly everyone at Herring Run Park for yesterday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships knew that Calvert Hall had the horses, but only a few expected junior Cory Smith to emerge as the Cardinals' top thoroughbred.
Calvert Hall coach Jim McCoach was among the few.
"It didn't surprise me a bit that he won," said McCoach, shortly after watching Smith collect his first-place award for turning in a winning time of 15 minutes, 57 seconds. "Cory has been improving all season long and this is the kind of course he loves. He's a trail biker and a rock climber and if you put him on a winding, twisting course, he's hard to handle."
Calvert Hall, which won the Maryland Scholastic Association's title the past three years before the organization disbanded, earned the first MIAA crown by placing three runners in the top four and four in the top 15.
After losing to Gilman's Ted Lord by four seconds in last week's dual meet at Calvert Hall, Smith stayed on Lord's hip before making his move in the final 100 yards and winning the sprint to the finish line.
"My plan was to stick with him the whole race and then kick it in in the end and that's what I did," said Smith. "He was picking up the pace a couple of times during the middle of the race but I wouldn't let him get away. I wanted it too bad."
Lord wanted it just as bad, having lost in a similar fashion last season to Calvert Hall's Jonathan Dietrich.
"I'm disappointed I didn't win but I can feel good knowing that he wanted it just as bad as I did," Lord said. "It dulls the pain of losing when you do it to someone who is so gracious about winning. I've had a great rivalry with Calvert Hall and they deserve the championship because they obviously put in the miles."
Dietrich, the defending champion, was third as he finished less than a second ahead of teammate Doug Stewart (16:30).
"We got together before the meet and said, 'Look, one of us has got to beat Lord,' " said Dietrich, in regard to a chat he had with junior Smith and Stewart. "I feel like I won the race because Cory did. I'm happy for him. I couldn't have scripted this any better, except for maybe having me be the winner."