The year just keeps getting better for the Fallston girls track and field team.
After winning the Class 3A-2A state crown in indoor track this past winter, the No. 4 Cougars extended their run to the spring by capturing the inaugural Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship at C. Milton Wright High in Bel Air yesterday.
The boys title appeared to be a nip-and-tuck battle between No. 9 C.M. Wright and Bel Air, but the host Mustangs pulled ahead late in the meet to win by a comfortable 41-point margin.
The conference combines the nine schools in Harford County with the five in neighboring Cecil County.
Fallston's fiercest competition for the girls crown came from rival C.M. Wright, which had lost to the Cougars in a regular-season dual meet and the Mustang Relays last month.
But the Mustangs' 12-point victory in the UCBAC's Chesapeake Division championships jolted Fallston.
"It was disappointing because we all did what we had to do, but they ran better," said senior Alyssa Evering. "Today, we put 110 percent into it."
Evering was a key contributor for the Cougars, who totaled 160 team points. The University of Connecticut-bound sprinter claimed the 100-meter dash (12.27 seconds), the 200 (25.48 seconds), the 400 (57.40 seconds) and the triple jump (33 feet, 4 inches).
Other Fallston gold medalists were senior Dana Welsch in the high (5-0) and long (15-9.5) jumps, junior Kristin Baxivanos in the 100 high hurdles (15.97 seconds), senior Katie Dilworth in the discus (94-4) and sophomore Nadia Pinna in the pole vault (9-6). Baxivanos, Pinna and Welsch teamed with sophomore Samantha Taylor to take the 400 relay (51.49).
C. M. Wright, with 114 points, boasted two titlists: junior Megan Ravenscraft in the 800 (2:22) and senior Kelli Buck in the 1,600 (5:08.00).
In boys competition, the Mustangs compiled 151 points, courtesy of a four-victory effort from senior Barshied Bowman.
Bowman collected the 400 (49.89) and the 800 (2:01.4). He joined seniors Josh Kres, Jason Rice and Chris Rye to capture the 1,600 relay (3:30.26) and teamed with Kres, Rye and senior Kyle Wettlaufer to take the 3,200 relay (8:18.49).
Bel Air's boys finished second with 100 points and a champion, senior Adam Berry, who won the 100 (11.05) and ran legs of the winning 400- (43.20 seconds) and 800-relay (1:31.40) squads.
Havre de Grace senior Lamar Clayton took three golds - 110 high hurdles (14.88), the 300 intermediate hurdles (39.58) and the triple jump (43-8.5).
