Broadneck

The Anne Arundel County cross country championships often brought frustration to the Broadneck girls over the years. On Thursday, everything finally changed. No. 6 Broadneck placed five runners in the top 10 and rolled to a surprisingly easy victory over South River and No. 4 Severna Park in the race at Annapolis. The Bruins wanted to run as a pack and used the strategy to perfection. For the boys, top-ranked Severna Park had little trouble repeating as team champions. The individual titles both went to Annapolis runners as Hale Bullen set a course record with his win in the boys' race, and Sarah Sykora edged out Broadneck's Ellie Smith in the girls' race.

Rich Holzer took over the Meade football program last season, and the Mustangs have already clinched their first back-to-back winning seasons in a couple of decades. At 6-2, the Mustangs are in fifth place in a tight race for one of four Class 4A East regional playoff berths. Arundel and Old Mill have clinched their spots, while Broadneck is currently third and South River, fourth. However, Meade, Broadneck and South River all have 6-2 records with two games left, so the final two spots are still up for grabs.

Before this season, Broadneck kicker Adam Greene didn't elaborate much on his goals for his senior year other than to say he hoped to break a few school records. Saturday, he broke two and also set a state record. The All-Metro kicker hit three field goals in the No. 12 Bruins' 44-21 homecoming victory over North County - two 41 yarders with a 28 yarder in between. His second field goal was the 25 th of his four-year career, breaking the previous state record of 24 set by Linganore's Alex Eckard in 2009.

No. 4 Severna Park jumped on No. 9 Broadneck early and played good defense late to defeat their Anne Arundel County rival, 25-11, 19-25, 25-15, 25-23. Senior Mel Kapelewski led Severna Park, who is undefeated, with 10 kills, while sophomore Sophie Hoekstra chipped in 14 digs and two aces for the Falcons. Last year's team lost no one, and Severna Park looked prime for a run deep into the playoffs. Then the Falcons lost their coach. Enter Tim Dunbar, a teacher at the school for years and the former coach at Bryn Mawr.

The South River girls soccer team has taken a more positive and direct approach to its halftime talks this season. No longer do the No. 7 Seahawks say: "This is what we need to do in the second half …" Instead, they boldly state: "This is what we're going to do ... " Playing at Anne Arundel County rival Broadneck on Wednesday with the game tied at the break, South River banked on going at the No. 6 Bruins hard, not letting up and getting the...

Most high school football teams feel pretty confident about scoring once they move into the red zone. At Broadneck, the Bruins only have to reach the Greene zone. With All-Metro kicker Adam Greene, the Bruins have a chance to score every time they cross midfield. Last season as a junior, he kicked an Anne Arundel County record 55-yard field goal - just shy of the state record of 59 set by Havre de Grace's Shane West in 2003. Greene, who has hit 31 of his last 32 extra points and has put 16 of 17 kickoffs in the end zone this fall, also hit a 50-yard field goal last season.

The two best field hockey teams never met at the Archbishop Spalding Invitational on Saturday. No. 5 Broadneck (5-1) and host No. 11 Cavaliers (5-2) both went 2-0 on shutouts. The Bruins beat Seton Keough, 1-0, and Chesapeake-AA, 2-0. And Spalding beat the same two opponents, Chesapeake-AA, 5-0, and Seton Keough, 1-0. Spalding's Anna Kennedy scored twice against the Cougars and Katie Kreis had the game-winner against the Gators. Soccer Meade 1, Long Reach 0, OT: Freshman Colette Pierce scored the game-winner to lift the host Mustangs (3-0)

The senior forward scored clutch goals to lead the No. 5 Bruins to big victories against perennial state powers No. 6 Severna Park and Bethesda-Chevy Chase last week. In a 2-1 win over the defending Class 4A state champion Falcons, Meehan scored a goal in each half to help the Bruins (2-1) snap a four-game losing streak against their Anne Arundel County rival that dated back to 2009. On Friday, Meehan also scored twice as the Bruins defeated Class 4A state runner-up Bethesda-Chevy Chase, 4-0. Now in her third year on varsity, Meehan finished with seven goals and two assists in her junior year.

A week into the new school year, Broadneck center midfielder Emily Lord is loving her senior gig. She's quick to say it's completely different. She's finished with her classes at 10:30 a.m. every day. In her third year on varsity, she is a captain for the No. 6 Bruins. And she's learning a new position after playing her first two years at forward. It has been a lot to take in, and Lord is excited and primed for a banner year. Lord showed a fine ability to distribute the ball last season - finishing with eight assists to go with three goals - and she'll have the chance to set up teammates even more this fall with the ball at her feet more in the middle.

UPDATE (10:30 p.m.): The player was discharged from Shock Trauma and Old Mill athletic director Craig White saw him and his father as they arrived at school to get the family car. An Old Mill junior varsity football player was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center by Maryland State Police helicopter Friday afternoon after an accident during warmups for the Patriots' first junior varsity game of the season in Millersville. Old Mill athletic director Craig White said the player sustained a neck or head injury during a “freak accident” in warmups.