Loch Raven boys capture school's first state crown

Waithe carries Raiders with wins in 200 and 400

Class 1A track and field

High Schools

The drought is over for the Loch Raven boys track and field team.

The No. 9 Raiders completed their quest for the first Class 1A state title in school history by scoring one point or more in 11 of 17 events to slip past Allegany yesterday at UMBC.

"These kids created something that was nothing," said Loch Raven coach David Kreller, who also guided the school's cross country program to its first state crown since 1990. "They have shown so much heart and courage. ... They came in here and did it."

The Raiders had 71 points, 17 better than Allegany. Smithsburg and Williamsport tied for third with 52.5 points each.

When Kreller took over the track and field program at the Baltimore County school four years ago, only four members qualified for the state meet. Yesterday, nearly every member was at the championships knowing the team was on the verge of something special after sitting in a first-place tie with Smithsburg on Thursday.

"We knew we had to keep it going to the next day," said senior sprinter Franklin Richburg, who teamed with senior Adam Dickson, junior Quentin Burley and sophomore Mike McKay to seal Loch Raven's win with a second-place outing in the 1,600-meter relay (3 minutes, 27.33 seconds). "Second place wouldn't be good enough."

Senior Stann Waithe led the Raiders' burst by collecting gold medals in the 200 (21.93 seconds) and the 400 (48.57) and a bronze in the 800 (1:59.50).

One of the day's most anticipated races was the 200-meter dash, where the Michigan-bound Waithe met Howard County Indoor Track Performer of the Year and Oakland Mills junior Tony Cole in the final.

Trailing through much of the race, Cole caught Waithe with about 75 meters to go, but Waithe turned on his patented kick to pull out the victory.

Cole, who did win the 100 (10.85) and ran the anchor leg of Oakland Mills' winning 400-relay squad (43.96), said he wasn't as disappointed with his loss to Waithe in the 200 as he was with allowing Waithe to blow past him in the final stretch of the 800 relay on Thursday.

"I'd gladly give away any individual honor I've won to have my relay team share a state title with me," Cole said.

Oakland Mills finished fifth with 51 points - the first time since 1999 the Scorpions have placed lower than first.

On the girls side, W.E.B. DuBois posted the best finish among local teams by placing seventh with 28 points.

Boys

Teams: 1. Loch Raven (LCR) 71; 2. Allegany (ALL) 54; 3. (tie) Smithsburg (SMI) and Williamsport (WIL) 52.5; 5. Oakland Mills (OAK) 51; 6. Boonsboro (BOO) 40; 7. Havre de Grace (HDG) 31; 8. South Hagerstown (SHG) 28; 9. Brunswick (BRN) 23; 10. (tie) Chesapeake-B (CHB), Elkton (ELK) and Southern-G (SOG) 20; 13. Rising Sun (RIS) 16; 14. North East (NEC) 12; 15. Beall (BEA) 10; 16. Clear Spring (CLS) 9. Individuals: 100-1. Cole (OAK), 10.85; 2. Walker (WDB), 11.08; 3. Korkoya (CHB), 11.26; 200-1. Waithe (LCR), 21.93; 2. Cole (OAK), 22.11; 3. Sier (SMI), 22.90; 400-1. Waithe (LCR), 48.57; 2. Bynoe (FOR), 49.80; 3. Burley (LCR), 50.18; 800-1. J.Davis (ALL), 1:57.49; 2. Custer (BRN), 1:58.09; 3. Waithe (LCR), 1:59.50; 1600-1. J.Davis (ALL), 4:18.87; 2. Bates (RIS), 4:33.28; 3. Buchman (WIL), 4:34.33; 110HH-1. D.Robinson (BOO), 14.77; 2. Morrell (BOO), 15.03; 3. Kelly (NEC), 15.60; 300IH-1. Morrell (BOO), 39.02; 2. Lantz (SOG), 40.85; 3. McGann (ALL), 40.88; 400 relay-1. Oakland Mills, 43.96; 2. Elkton, 44.82; 3. Smithsburg, 45.31; 1600 relay-1. Williamsport, 3:26.20; 2. Loch Raven, 3:27.33; 3. Elkton, 3:29.69; Triple jump-1. C.Brown (SMI), 43-03.25; 2. A.Jones (SHG), 41-06.25; 3. Stephens (SOG), 40-02.75; Discus-1. R.Martin (WIL), 166-10; 2. Snyder (ALL), 163-02; 3. Lee (BHM), 143-02.

Girls