Track And Field

The senior captain capped his four-year varsity career with four victories at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association track and field championships. He ran the anchor leg of the 3,200-meter relay team, which set a conference record, was the best time in the state this year and was fifth fastest in the country (7:42.61). He also anchored the winning 1,600 relay (3:23.42) and won the 800 (1:55.80) and the high jump (6 feet, 1 inch). The performance helped Gilman to its fourth consecutive undefeated season and MIAA title.

The No. 2 Liberty girls repeated as the Class 2A state champions on Saturday, but it wasn't an easy task. The Lions gathered points in an array of events to rally late and win the title at Morgan State. Michelle Keller led the final push that helped Liberty finish with 73.5 points and beat out Largo (62). Last year, Liberty edged out North Hagerstown by 3 1/2 points. This year, Keller finished second in both the high jump and shot put for 16 crucial points to push Liberty ahead.

The Kenwood track and field team is on the rise, thanks to the performances of Travis Jenkins, his teammates and coach Mark Planamente, who has directed the program for the last two seasons. Saturday, the Blue Birds finished in the top 10 in the Pikesville Track Classic, a 40-team meet that is one of the biggest outside of the state meet. Jenkins, a senior, won the long jump (22 feet, 4 inches) and high jump (6-4) in state-best leaps . That performance followed a four-team county meet against Parkville, Loch Raven and Perry Hall in which Jenkins also won the long jump (20-9 1/2)

In both the classroom and running track, Liberty standout Ashley Ross has shown a knack for getting things done in a quick and efficient manner. She maintains a 4.4 GPA and will be graduating a year early to attend the Naval Academy in the fall. She first plans to add to her impressive track resume as she closes out her high school career competing in four events (200 meters, 400, 800 relay, 1600 relay) at this week's Class 2A state track and field championships. The No. 2 Lions are the defending champions.

A junior hurdler and sprinter, Franklin won three individual events, set two meet records and anchored the winning 200-meter relay to help the Patriots finish third at the Anne Arundel County indoor track championships last week. She won the 300-meter dash in 40.82 seconds and the 500 meters in 1:18.89 to claim meet records, and she also won the 55-meter hurdles. A two-time All-Metro selection in track and field, Franklin won the 100 and 300 hurdles at the 2010 state Class 4A championships.

Following up on their UCBAC track and field crown, the Perryville boys won the Class 1A north region title last Saturday at Owings Mills High School. Led by seven first-place finishes the Panthers racked up 134 points to easily out-point runner-up Owings Mills' total of 77. The Perryville girls, meanwhile, placed third with 70 points. Harford Tech won with 149 and Western Tech was second with 138. Perryville, a well as athletes from Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, will compete in the Maryland State Track and Field Championships at Morgan State University today (Friday)

In both the classroom and running track, Liberty standout Ashley Ross has shown a knack for getting things done in a quick and efficient manner. She maintains a 4.4 GPA and will be graduating a year early to attend the Naval Academy in the fall. She first plans to add to her impressive track resume as she closes out her high school career competing in four events (200 meters, 400, 800 relay, 1600 relay) at this week's Class 2A state track and field championships. The No. 2 Lions are the defending champions.

PERFORMER OF THE YEAR Shane Stroup River Hill Has an individual's Maryland high school track performance ever generated more buzz than Shane Stroup's state record-setting 1,600-meter race this season? Spectators at UMBC cheered and watched in awe as Stroup traveled the four laps, each one close to 60 seconds. The smooth-striding senior simply mesmerized the crowd at the state track and field championships as he crossed the finish line in 4 minutes, 7.11 seconds, breaking a 28-year-old mark of 4:08.

On Friday, the junior won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference individual tennis title, beating McDonogh's Jake Gober, 6-3, 6-1. That performance came after Portner won at No.1 singles and No.1 doubles in leading the Gaels to their first team tennis championship since 1984, when they played in the Maryland Scholastic Association. Portner is a lefty who hits a heavy ball with lots of topspin, and he's smart on and off the court. He carries a 4.0 GPA and is in contact with Ivy League schools.

The senior captain capped his four-year varsity career with four victories at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association track and field championships. He ran the anchor leg of the 3,200-meter relay team, which set a conference record, was the best time in the state this year and was fifth fastest in the country (7:42.61). He also anchored the winning 1,600 relay (3:23.42) and won the 800 (1:55.80) and the high jump (6 feet, 1 inch). The performance helped Gilman to its fourth consecutive undefeated season and MIAA title.

The freshman broke a 20-year-old scoring record by two shots to win the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association individual golf championship May 1 at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace. His 71-73-70-214 won by five strokes. The 5-foot-9, 130-pound 15-year-old is believed to be only the second freshman to ever win the title. Navarro's coach, Pete VanZandt, said the teen has the perfect disposition for golf success, never letting his emotions get the best of him. "He never seems to feel the pressure," VanZandt said.

The Kenwood track and field team is on the rise, thanks to the performances of Travis Jenkins, his teammates and coach Mark Planamente, who has directed the program for the last two seasons. Saturday, the Blue Birds finished in the top 10 in the Pikesville Track Classic, a 40-team meet that is one of the biggest outside of the state meet. Jenkins, a senior, won the long jump (22 feet, 4 inches) and high jump (6-4) in state-best leaps . That performance followed a four-team county meet against Parkville, Loch Raven and Perry Hall in which Jenkins also won the long jump (20-9 1/2)

The senior won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at Saturday's Pikesville Track Classic, helping the No. 1 Eagles take second place. Franklin set a meet record in the 300 hurdles when she came across in 42.33 seconds, comfortably defeating Old Mill senior Alexis Franklin (44.01), who beat her in the same race last year at Pikesville. Autumne Franklin won Saturday's 100 hurdles with a time of 14.47 seconds. Set to compete at Harvard next year, Franklin earned All-Metro second-team honors last spring and then made the first team after this winter's indoor season.

In 25 at bats this week, the No. 1 Cardinals' junior catcher had 16 hits - five of them home runs and three grand slams. Two of those grand-slams were game-winners. He also had three doubles, drove in 16 runs and scored another 10. On defense, his fielding percentage was .977. "His stats are somebody's career," Calvert Hall coach Lou Eckerl said. Making the performance more amazing. Murphy had not hit a home run before this week. A three-year starter, Murphy, 6-feet-1 and 210 pounds, has orally committed to Wake Forest.

Colleges Terps win, 4-2, on Montville's walk-off HR Michael Montville hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Maryland (23-13, 6-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a 4-2 win over Duke (13-22, 5-11) on Friday night. With a runner on first, Montville squared to bunt but pulled back and drove a 1-1 offering high over the left-field wall. Maryland has won four games in its last at-bat this season, including two in the past three games.