Mervo coach Freddie Hendricks sat quietly in the bleachers at Westminster High School, the picture of anticipation and worry.
His Mustangs had the perfect shot to win their third straight boys' state title. Trailing Suitland by three points but leading High Point by 11 with one event left, Mervo needed only to come in fourth to take the title. Hendricks liked that scenario, but it still was nerve-wracking.
"We control our own destiny," he said quietly. "You want help along the way, but in the end, you have to do the job."
The Mustangs did just that, taking second in the 1,600-meter relay to lock up their third straight Class 4A championship in the final day of the state meet yesterday.
Mervo finished with 71 points, edging Suitland (66) and High Point (62). The Mustangs got help as Suitland had no one in the final event, but still needed to come through.
The Mustangs got a solid effort from Kaamai Boyd, Garfield Thompson, Antoine Collins and Tyree Byron to take second in 3: 17.82, behind High Point's 3: 15.08.
Some people didn't look for Mervo to be as strong as in recent years when James Carter and Mike Curtis scored many points. But several Mustangs stepped up this year, led by Thompson and Collins.
L "Everybody chipped in to get us some points," said Thompson.
Said Collins: "We had determination, and we worked hard. We just needed everyone to step up, and they did."
Collins and Thompson stepped up, winning the 1,600 and 800, respectively. Both also ran on the victorious 3,200 relay on Thursday.
Byron also chipped in, running on the second-place 400 relay (plus the 1,600) and taking second in the 400.
Edgewood also turned a few heads, coming in third in the Class 1A boys. The Rams (54), who were behind victorious Francis Scott Key (75) and Smithsburg (56) , routed everyone in the North Region meet last week and got a strong performance from several this weekend.
Gio Colon anchored the second-place 800 relay and the third-place 400 relay. Freshman Christopher Suber was part of the runner-up 1,600 relay and took fourth in the triple jump.
Bernard Williams of Carver-Baltimore pulled off a double victory in the Class 3A competition. Williams swept the 100 and 200 for the Bears. Paul Ledebur also had a sweep, his coming in the 110 and 300 hurdles for Harford Tech.
Mary Beth Rollins closed out the C. M. Wright career on a happy note by sweeping the 800 and 1,600 in Class 3A. Rollins topped Jen Geroux of Parkville in the 1,600 by over four seconds and nipped Magruder's Sarah Pettit in the 800 by 1.37 seconds.
Catonsville's Brigid O'Connell also had a close race in the 1,600, edging Michelle Smith of Wilde Lake to take that title.
Catrice Jefferson captured the 300 hurdles championship in Class 3A for Woodlawn. The junior outdueled Karen Crismond of McDonough for the title.
Alisha McClinton did not win any titles but still scored 22 points for Perry Hall despite struggling with an injured foot. McClinton sprained ligaments in her foot while warming up at the region meet, but gamely hung on this week.
She finished second in both the 100 and 200, twice falling to Amber Robinson of Roosevelt and took third in the long jump for Perry Hall.
"My starts were not as powerful as they could have been," said McClinton.
Other team winners were: Atholton (2A boys), Richard Montgomery (3A boys), Smithsburg (1A girls), Central (2A girls), Douglass-PG (3A girls) and Roosevelt (4A girls).
Pub Date: 5/25/97
