Sometimes it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Alex Longeway of Bohemia Manor finished first again. The Eagles' junior overcame a sluggish first 200 meters to capture the 1600 meter state title Saturday at Morgan State – his second championship of the meet. "I got off to a terrible start," said Longeway. "I think I started in eighth place, maybe worse. I got boxed in really bad but I tried to just get out of that mess. I saw [teammate] Zach [Laird] stretched the field out a little bit, which worked to my benefit because that way it didn't come down to who could out-kick each other at the end. Once I passed him I was like, 'Well, I have to give it everything I have. In the last hundred meters, I was just staring at the video board making sure no one came up on me." Longeway defeated runnerup Ryan Hebb of Southern Garrett by .12 of a second. Laird wound up sixth. Winning his first individual state title in the 3200 two days earlier did not affect Longeway's performance Saturday. "That didn't change anything, I don't think," he said. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy. And I knew that I got to just run. It didn't change my confidence. I still knew that I had to work hard." After winning three individual region crowns, Longeway entered the state meet as a title favorite in the 800, 1600, and 3200. "I did think it was definitely a possibility," Longeway said of earning two gold medals. "I was coming into the meet with a lot of confidence. Each race, I knew if I did the best I could, do what I needed to do, I think I'd put myself in a good position and that's what I did." The second state title was as special as the first. "I was just as excited," Longeway said. "My family has been pushing me since the season started so I was happy to see them happy for me. I was equally excited. It feels good." In his first race Thursday, Longeway teamed with Laird, Ryan Fitzwater, and Grant Francheschina to place second in the 4 x 800 relay. He was 12th in the 800, his final race of the meet. After crossing the finish line in both the 3200 and 1600, Longeway placed his right index finger to his mouth, kissed it, then pointed skyward. "Before each race, I pray and I thank God for giving me the gift that He gave me," Longeway explained. "So after each race I thank Him. There are a couple different reasons why I run. I'm thankful to run for people who can't. My cousin (Owen Wevodau) has special needs… I've given him a pair of my spikes. He means a lot to me. He's a huge motivation to me. It's just me being thankful for the gifts that I have. And [Owen] is just a huge motivation for me. It's for him. They're all for him." From the 3200 meter run Thursday night: Even after he had captured his first individual state title, Alex Longeway was still thinking about the team. "It hasn't really sunk in yet, but it's a good feeling though," Longeway said minutes after winning the 3200 meter run at the state meet Thursday in Baltimore. "I laid it all out there. And our team needs points. We're trying to win this thing. I tried to do my part and see what happens." Longeway finished in a time of 9:44, a little more than six seconds ahead of Patterson Mill's Samuel Brosh. Longeway took the lead on the first lap and went wire-to-wire. "I've run like that all season," he said Longeway. "Leading up to this, I didn't know how I was going to run it. But I felt out the race as it went on and that was what I decided to do. I'm glad it worked." Ellie Kuhn of Perryville wins state pole vault title It's said you see obstacles when you lose sight of your goals. The only thing between Ellie Kuhn and her goal of a pole vault state title was a fiberglass bar, approximately 1 1/4 inches in diameter and almost 15 feet long, which stretched across two standards at a height of 9 feet, 6 inches off the ground. Focused on the job at hand, the Perryville High junior never noticed the bar. She soared over it, a smile on her face as she descended toward the mat. "Oh my gosh! I got it!," Kuhn remembered thinking. "I completely stopped my jump. I didn't land on my bottom or anything. I just went down on my feet because I was so excited. I didn't look at it at all and that's like my main thing with pole vault is I look at the bar and I hit it. But I didn't look at the bar on that jump. I turned and saw it was still up. That's crazy. It was awesome." Kuhn's personal best of 9-6 earned her a gold medal at the MPSSAA Track and Field Championship Meet Thursday, May 24, at Morgan State. Megan Koziarski of Southern Garrett was the other vaulter to clear 9-0. The standards moved on Kuhn's initial attempt and she cleared the bar on her second first chance. "That was insane," Kuhn said. "I had no idea I was going to do that but I had been putting in the work all season and I couldn't be more happy right now. I'm ecstatic. That was really exciting for me." Kuhn won when Koziarksi failed on her three attempts. "I wasn't sure because [Koziarksi] was also seeded at 9-6 and I hadn't jumped 9-6 yet, so I was a little nervous coming in," said Kuhn. "She could've just cleared it right away and we still would've been fighting. I wasn't confident about it yet." Kuhn was confident in her own ability, however, and that was a key to victory according to Perryville coach Raissa Moore. "She put together everything she has been working on this season," Moore said. "Early on, she hit 9 feet. She hit it another time. At regionals in the rain, she was feeling great with everything and jumped 8-10. [At the state meet] it was just her day. It was perfect. She didn't let anything cloud her vision of what she wanted to what she wanted to accomplish. Coaches have all the confidence in the world in their athletes but it's up to them to have that confidence, and she had it." Perryville's Leah Clark (8 feet) was sixth and teammate Jadynn Rondone (7-6) tied for seventh. Other Cecil County placewinners Several other Cecil athletes earned points at the state track and field championships.
CLASS 1A GIRLS The first event of the entire meet was of of its most dramatic moments. Boonsboro defeated Bohemia Manor by one-hundredth of a second in the girls 4 x 800 relay. The Eagles' Brooke Walz placed second in the 800. Emani Bell of Perryville was third in the shot put and ninth in discus. Bohemia Manor's Elle Meyer (fourth) and Kirstin Walz (sixth) each earned points in the 1600. The Perryville girls finished eighth in the 4 x 100 relay. CLASS 1A BOYS Cage Jones of Perryville was third in the pole vault amid some controversy. Three jumpers cleared what was supposed to be 14 feet but failed on all three attempts at 14-6. The bar appeared to be significantly lower than 14 feet before meet officials began double-checking the height after each attempt. Jones was the only pole vaulter in the field who had cleared 14 feet previously. Jones missed one earlier attempt so he finished in third. Jones finished his stellar career with two indoor state titles. In the 3200 meter run, the Panthers' Ben Buckless was fourth, one spot ahead of Bohemia Manor's Zach Laird. Buckless was ninth in the 1600. Bohemia Manor's Anthony Egurola was eighth in high hurdles after suffering an injury early in the race. He was fifth fastest time in the heats Thursday. The Eagles' boys were seventh in the 4 x 100 relay. Bohemia Manor finished fifth in the boys team competition. CLASS 2A GIRLS Asia Travers of Elkton was second in the shot put. Annalia Webb of Rising Sun placed second in the high jump. North East's Sophie Kubek finished fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus. The Indians' Niya Khanjar was sixth in the pole vault. CLASS 2A BOYS North East's Connor Yedinak was third in the shot put and second in the discus. The Elkton boys were fifth in the 4 x 100 relay. The Elks' Tashawn Watters placed eighth in the triple jump. Comments are closed.
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