There will be those who think Eric Schuler's victory over Robby Creese in Tuesday's Howard County boys cross country championship race was an upset. But don't put Schuler in that group.
The Reservoir senior made his move past the midway mark on the Centennial course and pulled away. Schuler went on to score a surprisingly easy victory over River Hill's Scott Heydrick and Creese, who hadn't lost in-county since last fall.
Creese won the county, regional and state titles last fall and every race this year until taking 10th at the recent Georgetown Prep meet. He beat Schuler by about 10 seconds earlier this year, but this time was different.
"I always knew I could beat him," Schuler said. "I really wanted to work the second half of the race."
Schuler seized the lead with about a mile left and took charge to finish in 16 minutes, 43.75 seconds. Heydrick came on for second in 17:07.98, ahead of a fading Creese (17:15.90), who was bothered badly by asthma problems at the end.
"I just planned to make my move a little later," Creese said. "I couldn't get it [done]."
The No. 5 Atholton boys won the team title with 58 points, easily out-distancing No. 9 Glenelg (104). Rylan King (fifth) and Connor Belson (seventh) led the Raiders, who had little trouble.
Things were closer on the girls side. LeAnne Young won to lead No. 6 River Hill to a five-point victory over No. 7 Mount Hebron.
Young ran the third-fastest time ever on River Hill's course last week, and her 20:16.74 edged Reservoir's Alyse Gibson (20:21.97) for the top spot. The Hawks put three runners — Young, Meghan Heneghan and Kendall Auth — in the top 10 to finish with 51 points.
Rachel Yep (fifth) led Mount Hebron (56 points), but Young's victory proved to be very important.
"I just wanted to run fast and do my best," Young said. "It was really good and really fun."
Boys soccer
No. 6 Gilman 2, No. 3 McDonogh 1, 2OT: After a scoreless first half, Ryan Tucker found the net to give the host Greyhounds (14-2-3) a one-goal advantage. Kyle DeVinney scored for the Eagles (16-4-1) to tie the score at 1.
With six minutes remaining in the second overtime, Sam Wancowicz scored to give Gilman the victory.
No. 8 Calvert Hall 3, John Carroll 1: Zach Wenger, Yianni Sarioglou and Justin Breidenstein scored goals to lift the Cardinals (14-4-1) over the visiting Patriots.
Archbishop Curley 2, No. 14 Loyola 0: The host Friars (8-9-1) moved into fifth place in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference with their victory over the Dons (7-2-1), who are in sixth.
Steven Anderson and P.J. Koscher scored in the second half, and goalkeeper Jason Gordon made six saves in the shutout.
Girls soccer
No. 3 Mercy 3, St. Mary's 0: Alexis Prior-Brown scored two goals and recorded an assist as the host Magic (13-2-3) defeated the Saints. Alexandra Niedoba also scored a goal and added an assist.
No. 4 C. Milton Wright 7, Patterson Mill 1: The Mustangs (13-1-1) won the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship with their victory over the visiting Huskies. Megan Frailer and Kelly McKinny scored two goals apiece.
Volleyball
No. 4 Towson d. Lansdowne, 3-0: The visiting Generals won with the help of Kelly Lacy, who recorded nine aces and 14 kills. Sarah Kennedy added five kills.
No. 6 Archbishop Spalding d. McDonogh, 3-0: Kristen Seeba was perfect on all 21 of her serves and recorded three aces along with 15 assists to lead the host Cavaliers into the semifinals of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference tournament.
No. 9 Mount Hebron d. Marriotts Ridge, 3-0: On Senior Night, the senior class led the host Vikings to a victory over the Mustangs.
"It was Senior Night," Mount Hebron coach Michael Moynihan said. "They all played, and they all played well."
No. 10 St. Paul's d. Bryn Mawr, 3-2: Haley Fitzgerald recorded 10 kills and 29 assists, and Sarah Bowman had 29 digs and went 23-for-25 on serves to lift the visiting Crusaders over the Mawrtians and into the semifinals of the IAAM A Conference tournament.
No. 14 Broadneck d. Chesapeake-AA, 3-0: Alli Graf recorded 17 assists and 11 digs to spark the victory for the visiting Bruins. Dinah Jones led the team with eight kills.
Baltimore Sun reporters contributed to this article.