Longtime McDonogh coach Jeff Sanborn is stepping down from indoor and outdoor track duties after this spring. His girls team sent him off with an indoor track championship over the winter and another title Saturday, but neither was easy.
The Eagles didn't lock up their victory over Maryvale until the last event of the winter meet, and had even more trouble this time. McDonogh did not even take the lead until the last few events, and edged Maryvale by six points for its 12th consecutive Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland title.
On the boys' side, Gilman won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association team title. The Greyhounds earned three wins in the field events to take an early lead, and they remained atop the standings.
McDonogh senior Maggie Seybold led the way with wins in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters. She also ran on the victorious 3,200 relay team in the two-day meet — which began Tuesday at Spalding and finished Saturday at Calvert Hall — and said the Eagles badly wanted Sanborn to exit as a champion.
"He's given us so much," Seybold said. "We just wanted to give something back. He's like family to us. I was worried a little bit, but our team has a great habit of showing up at the right time."
They did it again Saturday. Maryvale led for most of the meet, but Seybold's third victory, in the 800, pushed McDonogh into first place with a three-point lead. The Eagles had a 10-point edge heading into the last event, the 1,600 relay, and their third-place finish locked up the title.
McDonogh finished with 170.5 points, while rapidly improving Maryvale ended at 164.5. The Eagles also got two wins from Lakin Hatcher (long jump, 200), while Maryvale's Cameron Hinton (400), Paige Adams (high jump), Alicya Guckert (pole vault) and its 1,600 relay team emerged victorious.
"This team's got a lot of heart, and we really gave it a run," Maryvale coach Jason Miller said.
John Carroll's Holly Driver also turned in a strong performance, scoring victories in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Among the boys, Jelani Roberts led Gilman with victories in the 100 and 200. The Greyhounds also won the 1,600 relay as they finished with 142.5 points, easily beating out Loyola (116.5).
But it was the success in the field events that really helped Gilman roll. Arik Smith (shot put), Kasim Hill (long jump) and Gram Davis (pole vault) each won their events to give Gilman a comfortable lead.
"We just had a lot of guys with big performances," Roberts said. "We did it across the board."
McDonogh's Mikey Singer (800, 1,600) and Calvert Hall's Lawrence Cager (triple jump, high jump) both won two events.
City
Robert Miller won three events and helped City edge Poly in the city title meet that ended Saturday at Mervo.
Miller won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles as well as the 200 dash. The Engineers also won the 800 relay, while Dominic Brooks captured the high jump. City finished with 139.5 points, just beating out Poly (136.5).
William Henderson and Steven Thomas' combined five victories in field events led Poly. Henderson took first in the high jump, triple jump and long jump, while Thomas won the shot put and discus, but it wasn't enough.
Digital Harbor had an easier time winning the girls' title, scoring 162 points and beating out City (145) and Poly (142).
Achol Odolla's win in the 3,200 was the lone first-place finish for the Rams, but Digital Harbor got 13 top-three finishes in 18 events.
Ijeoma Ike-Amaechi of Poly helped the Engineers stay close with victories in the 800 and 1,600, and teammate Deja Stevenson won the long jump, triple jump and 300 hurdles.