Joe Smith of Parkville said he heard footsteps for much of yesterday's 1,600-meter run at yesterday's Class 3A state indoor track championships at the 5th Regiment Armory.
From the time he took the lead early in the third lap until the latter stages of the race, the Knights junior feared that he was about to be caught from behind.
It was only after the footsteps stopped that the 16-year-old was ++ able to relish his first state title.
Smith won the race in 4 minutes, 40.2 seconds, edging Walt Whitman's Ed Tuford and Broadneck's David Schilling to help Parkville to a fourth-place finish -- the best of any area team.
Linganore of Frederick County swept both the boys and girls meets. Local boys teams in the top 10 were Broadneck (fifth), Poly (seventh) and Franklin (eighth), while the Howard girls finished third and Centennial eighth.
Smith was one of only a handful of local athletes to win an event. But in a meet dominated by out-of-town teams, Parkville's distance specialist said he will cherish the gold medal.
"When I didn't hear [runner-up Tuford] anymore, I knew I had it," said Smith, whose previous best finish at a state competition was a fourth at last fall's cross country championships. "When you win, you just feel a lot better than when you take second or third."
Shawn Carpenter of Franklin also knows the feeling of coming in first.
The senior, who recently won the 3,200 at both the county and regional meets, again came out on top yesterday, beating teammate Alex Taylor by 11 seconds.
Carpenter said he and Taylor, a sophomore, were able to help each other during the course of a race.
"Today we just kept on trading the lead every four laps," said Carpenter. "In the end, whoever goes just goes. We practice that way, we race that way and it's been that way all through cross country and indoor."
The Indians pair also took 1-2 at the regional meet.
Poly also had a good showing, thanks in large part to senior Lloyd Vennie. The Engineers' middle-distance standout took second in the 500 and third in the 300, and teammate David Peterson added a fourth-place finish in the high hurdles.
Parkville's Dave Keller won the shot put.