Given a second chance, North County’s Israel Ogwu wins the 500 at the Class 4A East Region indoor track and field meet

LANDOVER — Sportsmanship, fair play and common sense were on display during Tuesday night’s Class 4A East Region indoor track and field championships.

North County runner Israel Ogwu got pushed and fell while running the 500-meter dash. Thinking his one opportunity to qualify for the state meet was spoiled, Ogwu was crushed.

While the decision to disqualify the runner who caused the incident was easy, addressing the injustice suffered by Ogwu was not. Meet officials huddled and decided to do the right thing.

Ogwu was allowed to rerun the 500 alone on the track. Given a second chance, the senior made the most of it by doing something special.

Ogwu needed to run 1 minute, 9.18 seconds or better in order to place in the top four and earn an automatic berth to the Class 4A state championships. Ogwu, who had the second-fastest qualifying time, dug deep and maintained a high pace for all three laps of his solo race. With the entire crowd at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex cheering wildly, Ogwu sprinted down the home stretch and crossed the finish line in 1:07.29.

It vaulted him into first place and made him region champ.

“Honestly, it was between me, God and the track. So I prayed and said, ‘Lord, let your will be done’ and then I ran as fast as I could,” said Ogwu, acknowledging the challenge of running without anyone to pace with. “I just had to get into the right mindset, that zone, and focus for the entire race. I executed and it felt great.”

Ogwu recalled the moment he realized catastrophe was at hand.

“It was right at this corner after the first lap. I was shoved in the back and knew I was going to fall. I tried to catch myself, but I went down,” he said. “I was really mad. I guess I used that anger for fuel.”

Ogwu thanked the meet officials who did the right thing and allowed him to take another shot at qualifying for the state meet. “I’m extremely grateful. I feel so blessed that I got another opportunity.”

Severna Park swept the team titles thanks to its typically strong distance runners. Liam Hagerty and Alex Lecouras led the way as the Falcons amassed 75 ½ points on the boys side to defeat Dundalk. Cameron Glebocki and Lexi Ensor were the catalysts on the girls side as the Falcons totaled 72 points, just three more than runner-up Broadneck.

“It’s kind of a surprise. We came here and just tried to do the best we could and get as many kids as possible qualified for the state meet. Coming away with the double win is sweet,” Severna Park coach Josh Alcombright said.

It marked a dramatic turnaround from the Anne Arundel County Championships, which were swept by Broadneck. Severna Park suffered a setback at the start of that meet as both its boys and girls 4x800 relay teams were disqualified after winning those races, erasing 10 points on each side.

“We had another two weeks of training after the county meet, so the kids are getting sharper,” Alcombright said. “We had more things go our way in this meet.”

The long jump and triple jump were eliminated from all the regional meets. While Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex has a jumping pit, other facilities hosting region meets do not, therefore state officials removed those two events.

Broadneck coach Josh Webster said that decision really hurt his girls squad, which scored significant points in those two jumps at the county championships. Injuries sustained by multiple athletes over the last few weeks weakened the Bruins on the boys side, he added.

“We invested a lot in sweeping the county championships,” Webster said. “We didn’t perform quite as well today, but the season as a whole has been a great success.”

Hagerty and Lecouras both ran legs on Severna Park’s victorious 4x800 team then finished second in individual events. Hagerty was runner-up to teammate Chris Nunn in the 3,200, while Lecouras crossed a tenth of a second behind Dulaney’s Tyler Dailey in the 1,600.

The Falcons also got a lot of points in the pole vault where John Mclain and Luke Tyler placed second and third, respectively, after both clearing 10 feet, 5 inches.

Glebocki ran away from the field in the girls 3,200, winning by almost 11 seconds. Ensor pulled away from Broadneck’s Stephanie Costello to win the 800. Both Ensor and Glebocki ran legs on Severna Park’s victorious 4x800 relay.

Old Mill’s Joseph DeRosier had a great meet, winning both the 55 hurdles and the 300. He also ran the opening leg of the 4x400 as the Patriots placed first in 3:34.73.

Arundel’s Bryce Hatcher won the 55 after finishing third in the 300. She also ran a leg of Arundel’s winning 4x400 relay.

Dailey was a double-winner for Dulaney, capturing the 1,600 in addition to the 800. Isiah Tancemore scored big points for runner-up Dundalk, winning the high jump after placing second in the 55 hurdles.

Boys team scores

1, Severna Park, 75 ½; 2, Dundalk 67; 3, Broadneck, 58 ½; 4, Old Mill, 57 ½; 5, Meade 52

Boys results

4x800 meter relay

1, Severna Park (Steppe, Hagerty, Smith, Lecouras), 8:15.96; 2, Broadneck, 8:25.93; 3, South River, 8:28.40; 4, Old Mill, 8:53.82

300-meter dash

1, Joseph DeRosier (Old Mill), 35.68; 2, Gunnar Williams (Arundel), 35.74; 3, Jerome Patterson (Dundalk), 36.26; Jaylin Briston (Parkville), 36.50

1,600-meter run

1, Tyler Dailey (Dulaney), 4:24.36; 2, Nikhil Manickam (Dulaney), 4:27.14; 3, Zaidan Lane (Arundel), 4:29.31; 4, Taylor Jarvis (Severna Park), 4:40.64

500-meter run

1, Israel Ogwu (North County), 1:07.29; 2, Matthew Calinda (Meade), 1:08.52; 3, Patrick Robillard (Broadneck), 1:09.00; 4, Liam Lear-Wecht (SR), 1:09.18

55-meter hurdles

1, Joseph DeRosier (Old Mill), 7.50; 2, Isiah Tancemore (Dulaney), 7.65; 3, Gunner Denius (Broadneck), 7.92; 4, Isaiah Parson (Meade), 8.24

3,200-meter run

1, Christopher Nunn (Severna Park), 9:39.23; 2, Liam Hagerty (Severna Park), 9:47.13; 3, Sean Sullivan (Severna Park), 10:18.98; 4, Tyler Bickel (South River), 10:24.17

55-meter dash

1, Brandon Pemberton (Meade), 6.57; 2, Jaylin Briston (Parkville), 6.58; 3, Chase DeJesus (Broadneck), 6.60; 4, Zion Abdul-Wahid (Parkville), 6.65

800-meter run

1, Tyler Dailey (Catonsville), 1:58.43; 2, Alex Lecouras (Severna Park), 1:58.53; 3, Brooks Steppe (Severna Park), 2:00.89; 4, Diego Escalera (South River), 2:01.87; 5, Zaiden Lane (Arundel), 2:02.95 (qualified for state meet on time)

4x200 meter relay

1, Old Mill (J. DeRosier, McGirt, C. DeRosier, Brooks-Foster), 1:32.20; 2, Meade, 1:32.56; 3, Broadneck, 1:33.98; 4, Dundalk, 1:33.99

4x400 meter relay

1, Old Mill, (C. DeRosier, Kress, Witcher, Oseo), 3:34.73; 2, Broadneck, 3:37.48; 3, Meade, 3:38.46; 4, Arundel, 3:39.76

Shot Put

1, Dale Martin (Dundalk), 45-3 ½; 2, Jeremiah Smith (Parkville), 45-3; 3, Jahari Bush (South River), 42-7; 4, Jamal Portis (Dundalk), 41-6 ½

Pole Vault

1, Qaiyon Prioleau (Dundalk), 10-11; 2, John Mclain (Severna Park), 10-5; 3, Luke Tyler (Severna Park), 10-5; 4, Avery Raspa (South River), 10-5

High Jump

1, Isiah Tancemore (Dundalk), 6-0; 2, David Heard Jr. (Perry Hall), 6-0; 3, Nathan Chesla, 5-10; 4, Ian Brown (Annapolis), 5-10

Girls team scores

1, Severna Park, 72; 2, Broadneck, 69; 3, Old Mill 65; 4, Arundel 61; 5, South River 55

Girls results

4x800 meter relay

1, Severna Park (Kelly, Glebocki, Jenish, Ensor), 10:00.14; 2, Broadneck, 10:07.5; 3, Dulaney, 10:07.47; 4, South River, 10:09.14

300-meter dash

1, Zion Pittman (Western), 41.60; 2, Ariana Wright (Old Mill), 41.86; 3, Bryce Hatcher (Arundel), 41.99; 4, Morgan Mims (South River), 42.20

1,600-meter run

1, Catherine Campbell (Dulaney), 5:22.51; 2, Colleen Creswell (South River), 5:24.80; 3, Eleanor Quigley (Arundel), 5:24.86; 4, Maggie Moylan (Annapolis), 5:24.95

500-meter run

1, Noel Evans (Arundel), 1:17.95; 2, Isabella Shanley (Old Mill), 1:18.17; 3, Morgan Mims (South River), 1:18.96; 4, Isabelle Franklin (Meade), 1:20.17

55-meter hurdles

1, Zion Pittman (Western), 8.93; 2, Kennedy Atkins (Annapolis), 9.06; 3, Taleah Williams (Annapolis), 9.19; 4, Fallon Fleming (Parkville), 9.23

3,200-meter run

1, Cameron Glebocki (Severna Park), 11:35.34; 2, Hallie Shepard (Catonsville), 11:46.56; 3, Audrey Denton (Severna Park), 12:06.69; 4, Kathryn Murphy (Severna Park), 12:08.85

55-meter dash

1, Bryce Hatcher (Arundel), 7.14; 2, Jasmine Cook (Old Mill), 7.24; 3, Ariana Wright (Old Mill), 7.30; 4, Taleah Williams (Annapolis), 7.40

800-meter run

1, Lexi Ensor (Severna Park), 2:20.45; 2, Stephanie Costello (Broadneck), 2:23.88; 3, Colleen Creswell (South River), 2:27.09; 4, Rachel Hylan (Meade), 2:27.38

4x200 meter relay

1, Old Mill (Cook, Williams, Beard, Wright), 1:46.00; 2, Western, 1:47.20; 3, Broadneck, 1:50.18; 4, Arundel, 1:51.76

4x400 meter relay

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1, Arundel (Evans, Hickman, Owens, Hatcher), 4:03.41; 2, Old Mill, 4:06.07; 3, Broadneck, 4:10.57; 4, Severna Park, 4:11.67

High Jump

1, Casey Gish (Broadneck), 5-0; 2, Jabria King (Perry Hall), 4-10; 3, Jayla Green (Western), 4-10; 4, Riley McDonald (Severna Park), 4-4

Shot Put

1, Fiona Murray (South River), 34-1 ½; 2, Jillian Zukley (Severna Park), 33-11; 3, Abbigail Finch (Arundel), 33-3; 4, Annabelle Jones (Western), 32-8 ½

Pole Vault

1, Carson Boteler (Broadneck), 10-6; 2, Avery Smith (Broadneck), 9-0; 3, Julia Beatty (Dundalk), 8-6; 4, Taylor Hannon (Broadneck), 8-0