Boys
Top performer
Matt Waranius, Chesapeake, senior: After winning county and region titles in the high jump, Waranius capped his banner season as the lone individual state champion from Anne Arundel in the Class 4A-3A championships at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover. Waranius, who set a county meet record at 6-6 and won the region at 6-4, nearly broke the 21-year-old state record of 6-9 by Westminster's Bob Smith in 1980, with his jump of 6-8. He did it on his second try to best Arundel junior Brian DeVaul, last year's county champion, who came in at 6-6 unable to get over the bar at 6-8. "I had been trying all season to reach 6-8 and I did it," said Waranius, who was the Cougars' MVP as a junior. His consistency in the high jump led the Cougars to their best season for indoor track in school history.
The team
Jeff Blass, Arundel, senior: County runner-up in the 3,200 run as a junior, Blass elevated his performance to county and region champion. Blass won the county gold medal by six seconds with a time of 10:21.0 to lead his team to sixth place. He won the 4A-3A East region title by five seconds with a time of 10:35.6 to lead the Wildcats to a fifth-place finish.
Mike Brown, Annapolis, junior: Brown established himself as one of the area's top hurdler/sprinters by winning the state 110 hurdles outdoors last spring, and added the county 55 indoor hurdles at 7.6 this season. "Mike is clearly one of the state's best hurdlers," said coach Mike Ballard. Brown finished second in a photo finish in the county 55 dash, helping the Panthers to third place, and was runner-up in the 4A-3A East region 55 dash.
Matt Death, Chesapeake, senior: A very consistent sprinter, Death played a major role in the Cougars' banner season capped by their sixth-place finish in the 4A-3A state meet. Death ran a leg of the Cougars' 800 relay that was sixth in the states and runner-up in the 4A-3A Central regional along with their 1,600 relay. He was also fourth in the 300 and fifth in the 55 dash at the regional. In the county meet, Death was second in the 300 dash and ran a leg of the second-place Cougars' winning 1,600 relay that came in at 3:38.4.
Shawn Freshwater, Chesapeake, sophomore: Freshwater, who transferred to Chesapeake, was key to the Cougars' success as the county's top sprinter. Freshwater placed fourth in the 4A-3A state 55 dash (6.6) and anchored their sixth-place 800 relay after piling up the points in the county and region meets. The 300 (36.6) and 55 (6.4) dashes went to Freshwater in the county championships, and he won the 4A-3A Central 55 meters (6.4) and was third in the 300 dash (38.4).
Brian Grubel, Severna Park, sophomore: This 10th-grader burst onto the indoor track scene by setting a county meet record in the pole vault at 12-6, a foot better than his nearest competitor. Grubel went on to win the 4A-3A East region meet with a vault of 11-6 at Baltimore's 5th Regiment Armory, enabling the Falcons to tie for second with Oxon Hill (41 points each) behind Eleanor Roosevelt (48). One of a handful of county athletes to place at the states, Grubel soared to 12-0, good for third place.
Dusty Lieb, Archbishop Spalding, senior: Coming off his boys cross country Runner of the Year season in the fall when he won five invitationals, Lieb fought off tendinitis before beginning the indoor season in January. Not 100 percent, Lieb, the county's premier distance runner who will run cross country and outdoors at the University of Pennsylvania, finished runner-up in the 2-mile at the MIAA championships. He came in at 10:01 behind Chris Wright of Mount St. Joseph, who won at 9:54.
Scott McGregor, Broadneck, senior: Coach Dana Dobbs said his Bruins "could not have won the county boys title without Scott." Somewhat of an unsung sprinter, McGregor was third in the county 300 dash behind Chesapeake's Freshwater and Death to contribute to the Bruins' winning total of 70 points over Chesapeake's 67 3/4 . McGregor also gained points in the 500 dash.
Jeremy Moore, Broadneck, senior: Moore didn't reach his goal of a state championship in the shot put, but it didn't diminish his accomplishments. Moore cleaned up in the county and region meets with a county record toss of 55-10 3/4 (by three feet) and 51-3 3/4 for first in the 4A-3A Central, but lost the state title to longtime nemesis Vidas Gowda of Frederick, 57-9.5 to 56-7. The 6-foot-1 and 295-pound Hawaiian native, who is being recruited by several schools, won three straight county indoor titles and owns seven overall.
Craig Schmidt, Broadneck, senior: A very reliable distance man, Schmidt was second in the county 1,600 run, three seconds behind Severna Park's Trent Slacum and third in the 4A-3A Central regional before placing in the states. Schmidt was the county's highest finisher in the 1,600 at the 4A-3A state meet, taking sixth place with a personal best of 4:38.40.
Trent Slacum, Severna Park, senior: An All-County performer in cross country, Slacum, who plans to run all three seasons at Salisbury State University, was the county and region champion in the 1,600 run. His county winning time of 4:42.1 was his best, but his first-place 4:49.2 in the 4A-3A East regional enabled the Falcons to finish second to region and eventual state champion Eleanor Roosevelt. At the states, Slacum ran a leg of the winning 3,200 relay which finished second to Magruder, but took the gold when the latter was disqualified for an illegal baton exchange.
Jason Sparkman, Broadneck, senior: A double-winner at the county meet in the 500 (1:09.5) and 800 (2:04.1) runs, Sparkman led the Bruins to the Anne Arundel County championship. He then won the 4A-3A Central region in the 800 at 2:05.6 to help Broadneck to a fifth-place finish. Sparkman capped his indoor career with a personal best of 2:01.10 to take second in the 4A-3A state championship meet.
Girls
Top performer
Eva Tukarski, Arundel, senior: Coach Ira Queen said that Tukarski "was captain and leader of a very special group of girls." Tukarski's versatility and endurance led the Wildcats to the county girls championship by 85-84 over Annapolis, to a fifth-place finish in the 4A-3A East regional and seventh in the 4A-3A state meet. The U.S. Naval Academy-bound Tukarski was easily the county's top female performer in the states with fourth-place finishes in the 300 dash (40.90, personal best) and 55 hurdles (8.9) and third place as a member of the Wildcats' 4 x 200 relay. Arundel finished seventh in the states. Tukarski won four gold medals at the county meet, two individuals in the 300 (42.0) and 55 hurdles (8.9) and two relays, the 800 and 1,600. The latter relay edged Broadneck, 4:11.9 to 4:13.7, to win the girls' county title in the final event of the meet. Arundel did not fare as well in the 4A-3A East regional tying for sixth, but Tukarski grabbed fourth place in the hurdles and seventh in the 300, and the 800 and 1,600 relays were third and fifth, respectively.
The teams
Cecile Currier, Severna Park, junior: It's no shame to finish second to favored Annapolis senior Erin Masterson in the county 800 and 1,600 runs, but that's what Currier did. Currier's 5:27.4 was two seconds behind Masterson in the 1,600 and her 2:30 in the 800 was eight seconds behind Masterson's county record. In the 4A-3A East region, Currier placed fifth in the 800 at 2:27.8 to help the Falcons finish eighth.
Meg Dentler, Arundel, senior: While Dentler will play goalie for the George Mason lacrosse team, her overall performance in the shot put will not soon be forgotten. Dentler won the county title with a throw of 34-10 3/4 , was third in the 4A-3A East regional at 33-1 and fifth in the state meet with a toss of 33-5.
Maleeka Diggs, Annapolis, junior: A county and region champion in the high jump, Diggs was third in the states with a leap of 5-2. The state winner from Suitland jumped 5-4, the same number Diggs put up to win the 4A-3A East region gold medal.
Roxanne Hall, Arundel, senior: A county champion in the 500 with a time of 1:22.5, Hall also ran legs on the Wildcats' county-winning 800 and 1,600 relays. A veteran sprinter, Hall was also part of the third- place Arundel school record 800 relay that came in 1:45.70 in the state meet. The same foursome with Hall was also third in the 4A-3A East region 800 relay at 1:49.7.
Alexandra Hartfield, Arundel, junior: This is just another Wildcats sprinter who put up individual points while participating on relay point-makers. Hartfield was the county champion in the 55 dash with a personal best of 7.2 seconds, third in the 4A-3A East region and fourth in the states at 7.4 in each of the last two. In addition, Hartfield ran a leg of the county champion 800 relay, which took third in the state with a school record time.
Erin Masterson, Annapolis, senior: Masterson, the county's top distance runner, closed her senior indoor season by winning three gold medals - 800, 1,600 and 3,200 - at the county meet, the 1,600 in the 4A-3A East region and placed second in the state 1,600 and third in the 800. She set a county meet record in the 800 with a time of 2:22.0 nearly matching it in the states at 2:22.8. Her time of 5:09.90 in the state mile established a Class 3A record.
Nashira Rawls, Arundel, senior: The fourth key sprinter/relay performer on the county-champion Wildcats, Rawls ran legs on the winning 800 and 1,600 relays. She was a main cog in the state third-place 800 relay that set a school record at 1:45.70.
Natalie Scurto, North County, freshman: The youngest member on either of the boys or girls All-County teams, Scurto stunned county observers by placing fifth in the 1,600 run at the state meet with a personal-best time of 5:21.10, joining Erin Masterson as the only other county girl in the top five. "Natalie only needs to realize the phenomenal talent she has," said veteran North County coach Ed Harte. Scurto was third in the county (5:31.2) and fourth in the 4A-3A Central (5:34).
Susan St. Cyr, Broadneck, junior: A pleasant surprise for the Bruins this season, St. Cyr emerged as an outstanding performer in the 800 and contributor to the county champion 3,200 relay (10:25.3) that was second in the 4A-3A Central (10:30.1). St. Cyr ran a personal best of 2:23.93 in the 800 to place sixth in the state meet. She was third in both the county (2:30.3) and the region (2:28.7).
U'tonna Sherrod, Spalding, junior: An All-County repeater as a distance runner, Sherrod successfully defended her IAAM championship in the 2-mile run and was runner-up in the mile. Sherrod ran a 12:40.3 to dust her nearest opponent by 12 seconds. She won the two-mile event in all four meets in which she competed this winter.
Kerra Strum, Annapolis, junior: Strum gave coach Mike Ballard points he didn't anticipate coming into the season. Emerging with the pole, Strum won the county championship with a vault of 7-6 and was fourth in the 4A-3A East region with an identical hoist. Her efforts brought the Panthers within one point of winning the county title.
Coach of the Year
Skip Lee, Chesapeake: Three years ago in his rookie season, Lee had a total of 19 boys and girls on his indoor track team. This season, nearly 120 came out and Lee, a graduate of Old Mill and the University of Maryland where he was captain of the Terrapins cheerleaders, led the Cougars to their greatest season ever in indoor track and field. Second in the boys county meet to Broadneck by 70 to 67 3/4 , the Cougars bested Broadneck in both the 4A-3A Central region meet and the state championships. Chesapeake finished third in the region with 65.5 points behind Mervo (89) and Westminster (75) and surprised everyone at the states as the county's highest finisher tied for sixth place with 19 points. "It's a tribute to the kids and their hard work," said Lee, who has earned the respect of his peers. "They set seven all-time school records, six in the boys and one in the girls." Lee's girls squad took seventh in the county meet with Kerry Calabrese second in the pole vault and lose just one senior. "We return a couple key juniors on the girls team and our depth is improving," said Lee, who also coaches the outdoor team. "And a lot of kids walking the hallways are starting to come out and get interested in the program. Things are looking up."