Performer of the Year
Kyle Farmer,
Oakland Mills
Farmer, a sophomore, must be wondering what he can do for an encore. For the second straight season the area's sprint king won four gold medals at the state track meet, posting Class 1A meet records in the 200 (21.51 seconds) and 400 (48.85), and winning the 100 (10.83) and long jump (21 feet, 9 inches). He took up the long jump just a few weeks ago.
He improved upon all his state times from the previous year when he ran the 1,600 relay instead of long jumping. His 200 state time was the best of any classification. No Baltimore-area athlete beat his times in the three sprints at the state meet.
Farmer actually ran faster at the Howard County championships, producing area bests in the 100 (10.5) and 400 (48.3), and earning the Iron Man Award as the meet's top performer. He won the 100 there and in his first long jump competition finished second.
Farmer also finished first in the same four events at the Class 1A South region championships.
He was an All-Metro indoor track performer on Oakland Mills' state championship team, winning a come-from-behind anchor leg on the state 1,600 relay, the final event, to give his team a one-point victory. He was one of the top scorers on Oakland Mills' state championship soccer team. Farmer is also a good student with a 3.3 GPA.
"If there's anything Kyle can't do, no one's discovered it," said Oakland Mills track coach Sam Singleton.
"He's only a sophomore, and his up-side is tremendous. He's probably going to be the best ever to come out, and we've had some great sprinters at Oakland Mills."
Coach of the Year
Charles Shoemaker,
Wilde Lake
Shoemaker started from scratch seven years ago to build Wilde Lake's track program into the prominence it now enjoys. With a team of 50 boys, the Wildecats won their second straight county and regional titles and finished third at the Class 3A state meet. Their only county title before Shoemaker's arrival was in 1973.
His salesmanship encourages large turnouts, not only for track but for cross country, which he also coaches. And the resulting depth pays dividends in the form of place points.
Distance running is his personal specialty; he has run five marathons. His cross country teams have won two state titles.
Ifeanyi Ani,
Westminster
Ani, a senior, set a school record in the long jump (22-3) at the Class 4A state meet, finishing third with the second-best jump by a Baltimore-area athlete this season.
Injuries slowed Ani early this season, but he recovered in time to win the county long jump (20-0 1/2 ) and triple jump (43-2 1/4 ).
He finished third in the triple jump (46-2) at the state meet. That was also a second-best distance by a Baltimore-area athlete.
Ani's performance at the state meet helped Westminster to fifth place in Class 4A, the program's highest finish in recent years.
Ani won the Central Maryland Conference long jump at 21-3.
At last year's Carroll County championships, he won the long jump and triple jump.
Joel Brown,
Woodlawn
Brown, a senior headed to Ohio State on a full track scholarship, won state Class 3A gold medals in the 110 (14.23) and 300 (39.8) hurdles, but failed to duplicate his 3A record times of 14.07 and 37.33 set a year ago.
His state 200 open time was 21.94, good for second place, but not as good as the area-best 21.2 that he ran at the Baltimore County championships.
Brown won both hurdle events and the 200 open in the Class 3A North region.
He's a national champion in the 60-meter indoor hurdles.
Brown was an All-Metro performer last spring.
He was named the All-Baltimore City/County indoor boys top performer in March.
Felix Isuk,
Gilman
Isuk, a senior, simply dominated competition in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association in the throwing events over the past two seasons.
This season, the muscular 6-3, 230-pounder launched the best throws in the shot put (55-7) and discus (156-10) events by a Baltimore-area competitor.
He's a two-time MIAA champion in both events.
Indoors, Isuk won the shot put three straight seasons.
Isuk, who bench-presses 340 pounds, is a two-time All-Metro football player. Last fall, as a linebacker-lineman, Isuk earned All-Metro Defensive Player of the Year.
Isuk, who carries an "A" average, is headed for Harvard to study biomedical engineering.
Huguens Jean, Howard
Jean, a senior first-year jumper who barely cleared 5-6 during his first day of high jump practice, turned in a stunning performance at the Howard County championships.
He broke a 24-year-old county record with a jump of 6-8 1/2 .
Then he broke his own record by jumping an area-best 6-9 to win the Class 2A South Region before finishing second at states with a 6-8.
He also took second in the state triple jump (43-8), the same place he finished at counties and regionals.
His third event was the long jump, in which he finished third at the county meet.
Jean most likely will attend UMBC.
Aaron Johnson,
Calvert Hall
Johnson, a senior, was the class of the MIAA 800 runners with a 1:58.2 at the championships.
He also won the 800 at the Mount St. Joseph and Glenelg invitationals.
In addition, he's a solid miler who finished second behind Chris Knott's sensational 4:32.1 in the MIAA championships.
Johnson, UMBC-bound, also anchored Calvert Hall's area-best, school-record-setting 3,200 relay (8:05.3). His best 1,500 meters was 4:04, which he ran at the Capitol Classic meet at UMBC.
"He's a very strong runner with good speed as a middle-distance runner," said coach Mary Bondyra. "Even as a junior, he was really good. But this year, he's kind of come into his own."
Clevon Johnson, Woodlawn
Johnson, a junior, won the Class 3A state 800 with an impressive 1:56.8, just one-tenth second off the area's best. Only the 4A state race was faster.
He also won the Baltimore County 800 championship (1:58.1) and finished second in the county 1,600 (4:29.4).
At regionals, he won golds for the 800, 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay.
Johnson ran on a strong 1,600 relay (3:23.95) that finished second at states, five one-hundredths of a second behind Wilde Lake, which recorded the area's fastest time.
Johnson was also a member of the All-Baltimore City/County indoor team.
He was second in the indoor 800 meters at states (2.04.3) and fourth in the mile (4:36.7).
Eric King,
McDonogh
King, a junior, burst onto the scene in his first season of track and field competition.
He won the 100 in a meet-record 10.8 seconds at the Maryland Private Schools Championships at McDonogh. The time would have been fast enough to win a state public school championship in Class 2A and put him in the running for a state title in Class 1A and 4A.
He also won the long jump at the state private school meet with a leap of 20-6 1/4 . His overall performance helped McDonogh to a fifth-place finish at the meet.
In the MIAA Championships, he finished second in the long jump and won gold medals on two relays.
He finished second in the 100 dash at the Knights Invite.
Chris Knott,
Loyola
Knott, a senior bound for Texas A&M;, was one of the top three distance runners in the Baltimore area.
Spurred by a 60-second first loop, he ran an excellent 4:23.1 to win the MIAA 1,600 championship. He was sub-2:05 halfway.
He came back with an almost equally impressive 9:39.4 effort in winning the 3,200.
Knott also won the 3,200 at the Mount St. Joseph Invitational.
"His times have come down steadily all year," said Calvert Hall coach Mary Bondyra.
In the indoor MIAA meet, Knott ran 9:53.1 in the 2-mile to win the title.
He was also a member of the All-Baltimore City/County indoor track team.
Alan McDavid,
Calvert Hall
McDavid posted the second-fastest 100 time (10.6) in the Baltimore area and the second-fastest 200 time (21.8).
He was a 30-point-plus scorer at nearly every meet for the Cardinals, dominating the 100, 200 and 400 in the MIAA.
McDavid set a meet record (21.7) in the 200 at the Glenelg Invitational, and won the sprint triple at the Mount St. Joseph Invitational.
He's a devastating anchor runner on the 400 relay, and can run the fastest leg on the 1,600 relay when called upon.
"Alan is the kind of kid who comes up to the level of whatever competition is there," said Calvert Hall coach Mary Bondyra. "Thank God he is a junior."
Tony Pesce, Atholton
Pesce, a senior who'll pole vault for Clemson, had the area's best performance this season when he cleared 14-2 at the Class 2A South Region meet.
He went on the repeat as state champion with a 14-0 vault.
Pesce, who is the second straight Atholton pole vaulter to win back-to-back state titles, following in the footsteps of Mike Eshoo, also won the Howard County title at 13-0. He holds the Howard County meet record at 14-7 1/2 .
This is his second All-Metro selection. He is a two-time All-Howard County pick.
He'll study mechanical engineering at Clemson.
Pesce went undefeated the entire indoor season, winning the 1A-2A state championship.
Jason Santucci,
Westminster
Santucci, a premier senior distance runner for four years, finally won his first state outdoor championship, running a 9:25 personal best in the 3,200 at Class 4A -- the fastest time by a Baltimore-area runner this season.
He won the Carroll County 3,200 title, breaking a 13-year-old meet record by running 9:38.2. He also won the Class 4A East region 3,200 title. Santucci, who'll attend Monmouth University (N.J.), finished second in the state 1,600 (4:22.52).
He won both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Westminster Invitational and finished second in both events at the Central Maryland Conference championships.
Indoors, Santucci was the CMC champ in the 1,600, and also won region titles in the 1,600 and 3,200.
North County
Scott, a junior following the footsteps of former All-County teammate Eric Larson, carved out a name for himself in the hurdles.
He went undefeated until the state meet, winning the Anne Arundel County 300 (40.5) and 110 (14.3) and the Class 4A regional 300 (39.6) and 110 (14.1).
The 14.1 was the fastest time by a Baltimore-area hurdler.
Scott slipped to 14.57 at states, however, to finish third behind hurdlers from Northwestern of Prince George's County and Gaithersburg of Montgomery County.
Scott also captured two championships in the annual Knights Invite, which was hosted by North County.
Andrew Sterling,
Wilde Lake
Sterling, a senior headed to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, lost his Howard County 100 and 200 sprint titles to Kyle Farmer this year but bounced back to win the Class 3A East region titles in both those events.
His only losses in those events were at the county and state meets. He won both events at the Westminster and River Hill invitationals.
Sterling ran on Wilde Lake's winning 400 and 1,600 relays at the state meet and finished third in both the 100 (11.0) and 200 (22.33). The Wildecats posted the area's fastest 1,600 time (3:23.9).
He produced the third-best time in the Baltimore area in the 100 (10.74), lowering his county title time (10.9) of the previous year.
Chris Suber,
Edgewood
Suber, a 6-5, 195-pound junior, won the Class 2A long jump (22-5) and triple jump (45-4) in a comeback from major knee surgery that cost him his sophomore track season. He had finished fourth in the state meet in both those events as a freshman.
"Chris carried our team for the past three weeks, winning three gold medals in the county, and two golds and a silver at the regionals," said coach Roy Norris.
Suber's state long jump was the second-best in any classification and the best this season by a Baltimore-area athlete.
At the county meet this season he won the long, triple and high jumps.
Suber also plays football and basketball for the Rams.
Victor Thillet,
Old Mill
Thillet, a junior, won the Class 4A state 1,600 title convincingly (4:17.7) over Jason Santucci of Westminster in an area-best time.
Thillet also won the Anne Arundel 1,600 county title and the Class 4A East Region 1,600 title.
In the 3,200, he won the county title (9:44.7), finished second at regionals (9:54.8) and third at states (9:44.9).
He also won the county 800 (1:58.4).
Thillet showed versatility in the ability to lead all the way or come from behind to win.
Thillet was named the boys top indoor performer in Anne Arundel County in March. He won the Class 3A-4A state title in the 1,600 (4:34) indoors. He nearly won the 3,200 crown, losing by 0.3 second.
The All-Metro boys track teams
First team
Name School Yr.
Ifeanyi Ani W'minster Sr.
Joel Brown Woodlawn Sr.
Kyle Farmer Oak. Mills Sr.
Felix Isuk Gilman Sr.
Huguens Jean Howard Sr.
Aaron Johnson Calvert Hall Sr.
Clevon Johnson Woodlawn Jr.
Eric King McDonogh Jr.
Chris Knott Loyola Sr.
Alan McDavid Calvert Hall Jr.
Tony Pesce Atholton Sr.
Jason Santucci W'minster Sr.
Chris Scott N. County Jr.
Andrew Sterling Wilde Lake Sr.
Chris Suber Edgewood Jr.
Victor Thillet Old Mill Jr.
Second team
Name School Yr.
Elvin Addison Hickey Sr.
Bob Bergin Mt. Hebron Sr.
Jared Craig W'minster Jr.
Norman Forrest Mervo Jr.
Jerome Goodman N. County Jr.
K. O. Gray So.-AA Sr.
Dan Liden Old Mill Jr.
Bobby Mead S. Carroll So.
Kevin Merrick Mervo Jr.
Jeremy Moore NE-AA So.
Ben Morris Annapolis Sr.
Mike Prada River Hill Sr.
Derrick Stanfield Milford Mill Sr.
Odell Taylor Mervo Sr.
Greg Vincent Dulaney Sr.
Reynard Wilson Perry Hall Sr.
Note: The All-Metro boys track teams were selected by Rick Belz after consultation with The Sun staff and area coaches.