As happy as Lauren Centrowitz was about winning her second consecutive Anne Arundel County cross country championship yesterday, nothing brought a wider smile to her face than knowing her Broadneck team captured the girls crown for the first time in more than two decades.
"That's the best part - to win as a team," said the standout junior. "Last year was tough because we thought we had won, but we didn't. ... So this is great."
In the boys race, sophomore Will Eden of Annapolis claimed his first county title, and Severna Park grabbed the team championship at the 3.5-mile course at Arundel High in Gambrills.
Centrowitz's 33-second win over teammate and sophomore Emily Nagle was somewhat expected, but the top-ranked Bruins' finish in the team portion was surprising.
The Severna Park girls had captured 17 of the last 19 county crowns, including the last five.
But efforts from Centrowitz (21 minutes, 00.8 seconds), Nagle (21:34.4), senior Sophie Thibodeau (fifth in 22:23.9), junior Susan St. Cyr (sixth, 22:48.2) and freshman Casey Jamison (14th, 23:53.5) helped Broadneck defeat the No. 5 Falcons, 28-44.
The Bruins joined the 1996 Arundel team and the 1993 Old Mill squad as the only programs to claim a county championship during what otherwise has been a Severna Park reign.
Broadneck coach Dana Dobbs singled out Jamison's performance, because for three weeks, she has been battling a leg injury that has kept her out of consistent training.
"I told her today, 'You're running, and you need to be tough.' She was exactly that," Dobbs said. "When you can get a gutsy performance like that from a freshman, it speaks volumes for her character."
The Falcons did not walk away empty-handed. The second-ranked boys team grabbed its fourth county title in five years without placing a runner in the top 5.
Senior Chris Magette (seventh, 18:55.7), senior Zach Ludington (eighth, 18:59.8), senior Daniel Abed (12th, 19:10.0), junior Charles Himmelheber (20th, 19:23.0) and senior Pete Middleton (23rd, official time unavailable) helped Severna Park edge the No. 7 Bruins, 66-73.
"This group of boys is amazingly focused and determined," Falcons coach Ed Purpura said. "After that first mile, they really went to work back in those woods. They wouldn't accept getting beat."
After posting 70 miles-a-week training runs in the offseason, Eden capped a stunning reversal from his 17th-place finish at last year's county meet. His time of 17:58.9 was more than 14 seconds faster than that of South River senior Steve Plummer (18:13.3), with whom Eden trained in the offseason.
He became only the Panthers' second individual titlist since William Garrett accomplished the same feat in 1989.
Asked what his expectations were, Eden replied, "To win. I didn't think of anything less than that."