It’s an amazing feeling for sure.
Emerging out of the woods to a crowd that hasn’t seen you in 10 minutes, hearing them cheer and shout your name while your facing what’s amounting to a state championship victory lap.
Balancing the focus needed to finish your mission against an ear-to-ear grin, all while your running through a cool fall breeze with the setting sun painting the landscape behind you, as golden as the medal you’re about to receive.
An amazing feeling and moment not many get to experience. But Isabel DeVos now has.
The Harford Tech senior was last seen by the bulk of the crowd at Hereford High School for the Class 1A girls state championship race, running neck-and-neck with Smithsburg’s Cora Gentzel as they took on the treacherous back hill known as “The Dip.” But by the time she reemerged, DeVos was all by herself finishing off her state championship run.
“I just went in super excited. My senior year, I said, ‘No matter what happens, I’m here with my team and I’m going to have a good time no matter what,’” DeVos said. “I’m just so happy I was able to do it. I could feel it going up ‘The Dip,’ that’s where I lost it last year, but this year, I felt good going up ‘The Dip’ and I knew today was my day.”
DeVos finished in 19 minutes, 32.29 seconds, good for a nearly 20-second margin of victory over Gentzel.
“I did not think I was going to be there by myself. I thought it was going to be me and Cora together, we were still going to be fighting for it,” DeVos said. “Last year I went in very, very nervous and I put too much pressure on myself. This year I went in relaxed. Coming out the last 500 meters, I was just ‘Wow. This is where it’s fun. Just stay relaxed and keep going.’”
Not only did DeVos take first, her effort headlined a banner day for Harford Tech in which the boys and girls teams each won team state championships. For the girls, it was the culmination of a year’s worth of work after finishing second last season.
“I just love everything about this team, this year,” senior captain Marley Seaborn said. “All of us are super close and coming into this we said, ‘Let’s put it all out there and let’s do it together as a team.’
“There’s just so much that goes on behind the scenes and last year, we came in second and we said, ‘We want No. 1. We want it for our seniors. This is our last year together and how cool would it be to take it home?’”
Harford Tech totaled 77 points. Smithsburg (90) edged out Patterson Mill (95) for second. Northern Garrett (102) and Liberty (127) rounded out the top five. Behind DeVos for the Cobras were four other top-35 runners: Caroline Bates was 11th (21:45.41), Christina Vanegas (22:26.89) and Seaborn (22:26.92) were 22nd and 23rd, respectively, and Skylar Byrne was 35th (23:33.42).
“I feel like the whole thing was about strategy,” Bates said. “When you run here multiple times, you get the gist of how to do everything. After every time, it’s such an accomplishment, seeing how much better you did and knowing what you can get better on.”
The Harford Tech boys didn’t have a first-place runner. They didn’t have a top-10 runner. But what they did have was a deep and balanced team that no one could match.
Kevin Roeder was the first Cobra across the line in 12th place (17:24.97), but right on his heels were teammates Alex Wockenfuss (15th, 17:34.26), Michael Besser (16th, 17:36.97) and Tanner Carson (18th, 17:40.77). Anthony Manzo put the final touches on a true team championship effort, finishing 31st (18:04.45).
“This is the best team Tech has had in years,” Roeder said. “We’ve consistently packed up. We came through with the region win and we were hoping the momentum carried is, and it’s paid off.”
The result was the first cross country state title in school history.
“We all wanted it really bad. We wanted to make history,” Besser said.
Their efforts culminated in 81 team points, beating out Smithsburg (100), Liberty (124), Patterson Mill (133) and Brunswick (144).
“Our whole team is good. Even up through our seventh runner, all whole team is really strong. We push each other through it,” Besser said. “It helps a lot on the course when you see your teammate run by you. It pulls you along and pushes you and makes you really want it.”
Running in a close pack plays a big role in helping get the most out of each runner.
“We see other Tech guys on the course, we know if we have each other close by, we can push through it and become better runners than we ever thought we could be,” Roeder said.
Liberty’ Schellberg repeats as individual champion
Not too long into the boys race, the question shifted from whether Liberty’s Greg Schellberg could repeat as individual state champ to how much would he win by?
Schellberg’s four-second lead after 1 mile ballooned to 21 after the second. Though Smithsburg’s Michael Wynkoop battled back on the final mile to get within 10 seconds, there was no denying Schellberg a second straight state championship as he finished in 16:19.21.
“That was brutal,” Schellberg said with a laugh after catching his breath when it was all said and done. “My plan going in … Well, the race did not go according to my plan at all. My plan was, if no one went out, just to do what was good for me — and it felt pretty easy. … I realized I was alone and then it was just, put the hammer down and make it to the end.”
Liberty returned as defending 1A state champions but couldn’t put off the repeat in that regard. The Lions still had strong efforts with Neal Sanchez (17:18.41) and Jesse Gresh (17:21.38) taking 10th and 11th, respectively.
“Our team has been trying so hard this entire year,” Schellberg said. “We put it all this work, our fourth runner has been injured, so it’s been interesting these past few races, but I know our team always puts in everything they can. Even if the result isn’t there, I’m still really proud of them.”
Other top finishers
Four other area boys finished in the top 25 — two from Patterson Mill and two from South Carroll. The Huskies had strong showings from Chris Novak (ninth, 17:16.63) and Noah Jahnigen (17th, 17:38.44). South Carroll had Benson Sommerfeldt (17:43.39) and Dario Lavelle (17:43.6) finish 22nd and 23rd, respectively.
In the girls’ race, Patterson Mill’s Abby Horsmon took fourth in 20:17.67. Liberty’s Avery Neilsen was 10th (21:43.34), Havre de Grace’s Chloe Eisner was 13th (21:57.29) and Carver A&T’s Anna Bibo was 14th (21:57.57).
Also in the top 25 were Patterson Mill’s Hannahbelle Wang (16th, 22:03.68), Liberty’s Giada Marrichi (18th, 22:06.29), Patterson Mill’s Stefani Burns (20th, 22:12.52) and Liberty’s Asha Preuss (24th, 22:32.66).
Have a news tip? Contact Anthony Maluso at amaluso@baltsun.com, 567-230-6024, x.com/TonySunSports and instagram.com/TonySunSports.
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