With the wind working against him at Morgan State, Milford Mill's Jordan Leon refused to let anything stop him from exacting revenge. After finishing second to Wilde Lake's David Eisenhauer in the Class 3A state boys 3,200-meter run a few months earlier at the indoor state championships, the senior grabbed a lead in the same event during Friday's outdoor title meet and didn't give it up.
"I know David's been running really well, and I just wanted to beat him," said Leon, who finished first in 9 minutes, 29.24 seconds. "But he's such a good athlete and he always drops a good time. I respect him, and I just wanted to do my thing today."
The second day of the state track and field championships featured schools from the 3A and 4A classifications. All remaining events for all four classifications will continue Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. at Hughes Stadium.
Leon, who has two more individual races Saturday, didn't need a late push or a photo finish in Friday's 2-mile run for redemption. After a few of the leaders broke away from the pack midway through the race, Leon put enough distance between him and Eisenhauer for a comfortable victory.
"The last 400, I knew I've got more foot speed," he said. "So I was just relaxed and loose."
Leon and Eisenhauer will meet again Saturday in the 1,600. At the end of the first day of competition, Leon's Engineers are tied with Reservoir for first place with 18 points.
City, which won the boys 4x200 relay in 1:29.13, is in third place, with Robert Miller running the 100 dash and 110 hurdles Saturday.
In 4A boys competition, Catonsville (18) trails first-place Quince Orchard by two points. The Comets girls are in second, behind Clarksburg. Urbana leads the 3A girls standings. For complete results, visit mpssaa.org.
Centennial's Nicholas Coburn won the shot put in 3A boys with a mark of 49 feet, 3.5 inches, while Catonsville's Zach Delker (53-1.5) won the event in 4A.
Franklin's Amanda Murphy (131-2) was the 3A girls discus winner, and Milford Mill's girls captured the 4x200 in 1:40.85.
As it did last year, Howard County dominated the 3A 4x800 relay, with River Hill winning the boys race (7:58.59) and the Atholton girls (9:29.66) claiming their second straight state title.
"The girls knew coming in, you know, high expectations defending their 4x800 state title," Atholton coach Ivan Alvarado said. "And we had the horses. They were all healthy."
The team's anchor was Jen Bleakney, also the defending 3A state champion in the 800. She already has won county and regional titles in the event this year.
"In the four years that I've been here," Alvarado said," I don't think there's been a girl who gets so hyped to race somebody."
In the 3A boys high jump, Westminster's Tevin Bailey, who already had an indoor state championship, was seeking to round out his high school career with one more gold medal.
An injury had hampered him for much of the outdoor season, but after a second-place finish at the Carroll County championships, the senior bounced back with a win at regionals. On Friday, he recorded a 6-4 mark in his final successful jump in an Owls uniform, which was good enough for another title.
Said Bailey: "I'm excited, and I was coming off jumper's knee, so to get that 6-4 [on the] first try was great."