LANDOVER — In a meet dominated by teams from Western Maryland and individuals from the Washington, D.C., region, the girls from Manchester Valley managed to avenge a disappointing second-place finish last year, earning a Class 1A team state championship in the process.
Out of the four team title winners from Monday's Class 1A and Class 2A indoor track and field championships at the Prince George's County Sports and Learning Complex, the Mavericks were the only school not from Frederick or Washington counties to be crowned.
Oakdale swept in the boys (49 points) and girls (73) team standings for 2A, while Smithsburg nabbed the boys 1A title with 72 points.
Led by senior Katie Leisher, who took first place in the 1,600 (5:23.48) and 3,200 (11:40.40), and ran on the winning 4x800-meter team relay and second-place 4x400 team relay, Manchester Valley's 96 points were good enough to best Smithsburg's 86.
"We're really proud of ourselves, because we work and put so much effort in," Leisher said. "Just working together and coming together is really what it's all about."
The Mavericks brought only 11 girls to the meet, earning points from all but one.
Liz Leahy won the high jump (4 feet, 11 inches), finished second in the hurdles and sixth in the 55-meter dash. Hailley Baughman won the pole vault (8-6), and Kayla Geho won the shot put (33-10.50).
Lizzie Colson was second to Pikesville's Senait Weaver (1:21.38) in the 500. Emily Cheatwood was seventh for the Mavericks as well. Sabrina Pawlus was eighth in the hurdles, and the team finished third in the 4x200 team relay.
"Our approach was just to come in here and win our individual events, and we started the day exactly how I told them we would," Manchester Valley coach Eric Baumgardner said.
Aside from the Manchester Valley girls team, Carroll County was well represented in both the 1A and 2A classifications.
North Carroll's Molly Walsch took home first place in the 1A girls 800-meter run (2:30.30), narrowly escaping Weaver's late effort.
"Senait from Pikesville, her legs are sky high, so I was worried she was going to out-kick me at the end," said Walsch, who won the same event last year. "But, luckily I held her off … I gave it all I had."
In the 2A girls 55-meter dash, Liberty's Erin Patrice (7.30) finished first — her twin sister, Kara, who won the event last year, placed third. Century's Kylie Davis won the 300-meter dash in 40.77, and South Carroll's 4x400 team — without a single senior runner — won as well.
For the boys, Manchester Valley's Nathan Gill recorded a 6-4 to win the 1A high jump. Century won the 4x800 team relay in 8:17.62, and fielded pole vault champion Nick Neral, whose 14-06 winning mark earned him a second consecutive state title.
From Baltimore, Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology's Deonta Parnell won the 1A title in the 500 (1:10.08), and the Northwestern boys 4x200 team relay (1:36.02) finished first as well.
Loch Raven's Bryan Howell won the 2A boys 55-meter hurdles in 7.77, while Owings Mills' Juston Christian won the 55-meter dash (6.51). Hereford sophomore Mike Nash won the shot put with a mark of 48-03.50.
On the girls side, Hereford's 4x800 team relay finished first (9:45.14) in 2A competition, and the 4x200 team relay from Western Tech won in 1:47.82.
Manchester Valley's win marks its first-ever girls state indoor track and field championship.
While the team won the outdoor title last spring, Baumgardner said this one meant something extra to the group — which, based off regionals, may have gone overlooked.
"This is the only meet that really matters," Baumgardner said. "I don't care what seed times tell you. It's all about getting here and performing when it's time."